IMPROVING
K-12 FINANCIAL ANALYSIS, PT. 1
A financial analysis model should be
created to augment the existing Arkansas Public School System Computer Network
(APSCN) accounting/reporting system, with the adequate appropriation of funds. (Murphy
Commission, Policy Foundation project, 1998 recommendation)
(February
2012) The creation of a uniform accounting system for Arkansas K-12 school
districts is one reform of the post-Lakeview policy environment.
The
system presents district data in 89 separate categories, including some
discussed by the Policy Foundation in a 1998 report.1 The state Department of Education presents
the data in an annual statistical report.2
The
annual report can assist parents seeking answers to questions. Parents, for example, can examine the categorical
allocation of tax dollars within districts.
These include regular instruction, general administration, maintenance
and operation of plant services, student transportation, instructional staff
support, school administrative services, and debt service.3
The
department reports data on an annual, not multiyear
basis. An accounting snap shot presents
a different financial portrait than an album.
The 2009-10 report shows debt service in the Pulaski County Special
School District declining from $11,109,010 (2009-10 actual) to $ 11,041,745
(2010-11 budget), less than one percent.
The more meaningful comparison is the multiyear percentage increase—nearly 130 percent--in Pulaski County
Special’s debt service, which was reported as $4,850,007 (2005-6).
Recommendation
The
state Department of Education should also report educational data (categories 1
thru 89) to parents on a multiyear basis.
--Greg
Kaza
1 Policy Foundation, “Streamlining
and Cost-Saving Opportunities in Arkansas’ K-12 Public Education System”
3
“Expenditures for paying the district’s debt,
including principal, interest and fiscal fees.”