St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 4

JUN 2 1933 '4A ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH WEDNESDAY. JUNE 2. 1993 Schools to restore all cutbacks, give teachers a raise in a year and restore reserves, he said. School districts have been waiting eagerly to see what the state's new education package will mean ever since the Legislature approved it May 14.

Gov. Mel Carnahan signed it into law last week. As expected, most St. Louis-area districts, wealthier than the state average to begin with, didn't do well under the new formula. For them the message is that they will have to come up with more local money over the next several years.

From page one which can expect to get about $300 more per pupil this year under the new plan. Superintendent W. William Bell called the estimate "wonderful news," but he said state aid alone will not be enough to restore all the cutbacks the district has been forced to make. Passage of a tax increase along with more state aid would allow the district As more state aid is moved into the poorer school districts, the well-to-do districts will be seeking more tax increases to make up for the freeze on their own per-pupil aid, said Gary Wright, executive director of the Cooperating School Districts of SL Louis County. Under the plan, school districts won't get any less per-pupil aid for the 1993-94 school year than they received this year.

But the wealthier ones won't be getting any more, and over time, inflation will eat into that amount. Local support will become crucial, said Wright That means residents will see more proposals for tax increases. And there may be more districts getting into financial distress. Robert E. Bartman, Missouri's commissioner for elementary and secondary education, acknowledged that many SL Louis area school districts will feel the pinch under the new plan.

But, he said he saw some pluses for the wealthier districts here. Unlike some other states that have revised their school aid formulas, Bartman said, Missouri put no cap on the amount of money school districts can spend, and did not require well-heeled districts to share their wealth. In addition, the new formula has a hold-harmless rule that says no school district will receive any less in state aid than it received this school year. Wright agreed with Bartman's assessment that Missouri's formula is more equitable than other states such as California's. "What they tried to do here is level everyone out, rather than try to level anyone down," said Wright "In California, they agreed on a spending level per pupil.

If you were below that, they brought you up, if you were above it they brought you down. This doesn't do that." Wright said a look at the Affton and Jennings school districts helps explain the new formula. Both districts have about the same student enrollment and tax rate. The difference is that Affton has a much higher property tax base than Jennings. As a result Jennings will get large increases in state aid, and Affton will stay the same.

Another school district whose per-pupil aid is frozen is the Parkway School District Parkway Controller Bruce Ellerman said the district's per-student aid would remain frozen at the hold harmless level "ad infinitum." Phil Sutin of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed information for this story. Tax Increase Is Not Legal, Hancock Says By JoMannies Post-Dispatch Political Correspondent Rep. Mel Hancock, R-Springfield, contends that tax increases approved by Gov. Mel Carnahan and the Missouri Legislature violate the state's Hancock Amendment The constitutional amendment, which Hancock wrote as a member of the state Legislature, restricts tax and fee increases without a public vote. Hancock threatened Tuesday to block the increases by filing suit or by attempting a replay of his initiative petition effort that put the Hancock Amendment on the books in 1980.

Hancock also is appealing to the public for donations to help pay the legal expenses he expects to incur if he fights the tax increases in court Hancock said his office had been flooded with calls from voters angry over roughly $500 million in higher taxes the Legislature approved to pay for improvements in public schools and to expand public health programs. The tax increases include tobacco products, personal income and corporate income. The Legislature also set a higher minimum property tax rate for school districts. Hancock said at a news conference here that he was not debating the merits of how the additional tax money would be spent. His concern, he said, is that the tax increases were approved without a public vote.

"What is happening right now is exactly the reason why we passed the Hancock Amendment," Hancock said. Carnahan contends that the tax increases are legal. But Hancock cited a recent opinion by state Auditor Margaret Kelly that questions the legality of the tax increases that will help pay for additional spending of $310 million for schools. School Funding Equalization To Begin In Texas, Pending Suits Rep. Mel Hancock Gathering anti-tax support Hancock said he had not spoken out against the school-tax measure while the Legislature was in session because "I didn't think it would pass." The measure won approval in the session's final days.

Hancock, a former businessman in Springfield, led a three-year effort to get the amendment approved by voters. In 1988, the attention he drew from that effort helped him get elected to Congress. Hancock met with reporters in the lobby of an office building in Clayton, where he had just finished a meeting with about 20 GOP activists, including some state legislators. Hancock said several lawyers had volunteered to help determine whether a lawsuit would have a chance. He said he was leading a populist fight, not a partisan one.

Hancock quipped that he wanted to make a public point, referring to the governor, that "I'm not the Mel who is raising your taxes." "If people want to call this 'the Battle of the that's fine with me," he added. even out funding available to Texas' 1,048 school districts. Schools rely on state money and local property tax funds. A measure approved by the Legislature on Friday was signed Monday by Gov. Ann Richards.

Under the measure, the 109 districts that exceed the maximum wealth level can choose from several options: Merging their tax bases with one or more poorer districts; sending money to the state; contracting to educate students in other districts; consolidating voluntarily with one or more districts; or moving some property to another district's tax rolls. District Current New Formula New Formula Formula1 1st Year1 4th Year1' ST. LOUIS St. Louis $1,890 $Tli90 $2224 ST. LOUIS COUNTY Affton 462 462 462 Bayless 1,136 1,136 1,136 Brentwood 295 295 295 Clayton 290 290 290 Ferguson-Florissant 1,067 1,067 1,147 Hancock Place 1,354 1,745 3,473 Hazelwood 882 913 1,200 Jennings 950 1,254 2,579 Kirkwood 306 306 306 Ladue 291 291 291 Lindbergh 296 29(3 296 Maplewood-Richmond Hts.

676 676 676 Mehlville 780 780 780 Normandy 1,998 2,143 3,072 Parkway 295 295 295 Pattonville 338 338 338 Ritenour 1,135 1,201 1,666 Riverview Gardens 1,387 1,620 2,761 Rockwood 576 576 576 Special 787 772 868 University City 1,466 1,466 1,654 Valley Park 634 634 634 Webster Groves 606 606 606 Wellston 2,441 2,640 3,853 FRANKLIN COUNTY FranklinCo. R-2 1,305 1,346 1J49 Lonedell 1,221 1,358 2,105 Meramec Valley 1,203 1,236 1,591 New Haven 1,088 1,284 2,230 Owensville 1,158 1,299 2,051 St. Clair 1,225 1,225 1,381 Spring Bluff 1,224 1,277 1,710 Strain-Japan 1,628 1,628 1,628 Sullivan 1,104 1,118 1,362 Union .1,126 1,253 1,942 Washington 628 707 1,125 JEFFERSON COUNTY Crystal City 1,324 1,324 1324 DeSoto 1,411 1,566 2,419 Dunklin 1,210 1,254 1,646 Festus 1,248 1,258 1,535 Fox 1,465 1,504 1,931 Grandview 1,438 1,438 1,541 Hillsboro 1,397 1,476 2,042 Jefferson Co. R-7 543 543 543 Northwest 1,332 1,453 2,165 Sunrise 1,428 1,486 1,978 Windsor 1,325 1,443 2,140 ST. CHARLES COUNTY Fort Zumwalt 1,038 1,139 1719 Francis Howell 1,158 1,293 2,025 Orchard Farm 940 1,032 1,558 St.

Charles 1,201 1,201 1,201 Washington 628 707 1,125 Wentzville 603 611 754 LINCOLN COUNTY Elsberry 1,240 1,256 1550 Silex 1,288 1,288 1,360 Troy 1,212 1,280 1,768 Winfield 1,332 1,332 1,587 WARREN COUNTY Warren County R-3 1,053 1,126 1597 Washington 628 707 1,125 Wright City 1,182 1,185 1,423 uuuug hid ul gi rt i Mmm Aid for each student AUSTIN, Texas (AP) A plan aimed at equalizing spending between rich and poor school districts in Texas will go into effect while the state's poorer school systems challenge its constitutionality, a judge ruled Tuesday. That will allow state funds to be distributed this summer so schools can open on time this fall. State District Judge F. Scott McCown said he would presume that the measure was constitutional until challenges were filed. He set a July 15 deadline for objections.

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