The Schleswig-Holstein question is an essentially pointless conundrum enjoyed by students of European history.
Lord Palmerston, twice the British prime minister in the mid-19th century, summed it up by saying: 鈥淭he Schleswig-Holstein question is so complicated, only three men in Europe have ever understood it. One was Prince Albert, who is dead. The second was a German professor who became mad. I am the third, and I聽have forgotten all about it.鈥�
Just as much a conundrum, but far from pointless 鈥� critical, in fact 鈥� to the future of sa国际传媒鈥檚 kids, is the ever-shifting funding structure that supports sa国际传媒 public education.
Understanding how and why school-district funding is constructed is always a challenging task facing school trustees and their staff.
Even trustees who have been in the game for a while, as well as trustees who have forgotten everything they knew about the previous year鈥檚 budget, often find understanding this year鈥檚 funding grant and their responsibility to allocate it a brand new learning experience.
It will come as good news to trustees and district administrators that the Ministry of Education鈥檚 new and well-qualified funding-review panel has, as its mandate, stability, predictability, transparency and responsiveness to local needs as they deliberate on the creation of a new funding formula.
A statement from the Ministry of Education, which described those guiding principles, predicts that a new funding formula, to be ready for the 2019/20 year, will distribute more than the $5.75 billion it allocated to school districts for the 2017/18 school year.
Stability and predictability for the system will be welcome given what a brief review reveals of the changes, updates, amendments and modifications to the provision of funding for public education in sa国际传媒 since 1981. The history of school-district funding makes the Schleswig-Holstein enigma seem comparatively straightforward.
Residential property taxes came out in 1981, then back in again in 1986 after the 鈥渇iscal framework鈥� was introduced. That lasted a few years, and then in 1990, 鈥渂lock funding鈥� replaced it, and residential taxes came out of education funding again.
In 1992/93, the Spangelo review of public-education funding produced additional committees on accountability, education finance and technical review of allocation. A system of targeted funding for Aboriginal students and students with special needs was introduced along with a cap on administration costs.
In 1994/95, yet another funding-allocation system was introduced, followed by school-district amalgamation in 鈥�96/鈥�97.
Amalgamation of 75 school districts into 60 saw small districts and their up-until-then generous operating budgets swallowed up by larger school districts with less generous operating grants. Admittedly, amalgamation brought savings, but the savings went to the provincial coffers, not the districts鈥�.
In 2002/2003, further adjustments moved the funding system to 鈥渇ocus on per-pupil allocations.鈥�
Given such an erratic history, predictability is an elusive goal because, every year, it seems, things happen over which school districts have had little or no control, but which have major cost implications.
Contract negotiations between government and the unions are just one example of outside influences, while the recent Supreme Court of sa国际传媒 decision that effectively restored 2002 class sizes is another.
So the first task of the new funding-review committee, even before they begin to envisage what a future funding formula will look like, will be to review the history of these various previous attempts at fiscal reorganization to 鈥済et it right鈥� and figure out why attempt after attempt was soon set aside in favour of the newest best idea.
Bringing transparency to a new funding formula will also be a challenge.
Understanding school district budgets requires a working knowledge of why there are 12 different funding categories under 鈥淔unction 1: Instruction,鈥� which absorbs about 83 per cent of the total budget.
As well as Function 1, there are also three budget categories for Function 4: Educational, business and district administration. This adds up to about 3.5 per cent of the total budget.
Then there are the schools themselves and other buildings. Together, operations and maintenance of buildings, along with transportation (if the district uses a school-bus system), account for seven more funding categories and about 12 per cent of the budget.
Altogether then, there are about 22 different categories that describe how a school district receives funding and then allocates its operating budget, all the while avoiding the dreaded black hole of deficit.
The comparison with the Schleswig-Holstein question becomes clearer. Good luck to the new review committee, but remember what Lord Palmerston said. You will do better than that.
Geoff Johnson is a former superintendent of schools.