From MissouriNet.com:

A legislative leader is relieved, but not surprised by the State Supreme Court ruling that upheld the school funding formula.

Senate President Pro Tem Charlie Shields, a Republican from St. Joseph, was instrumental in writing the new school funding formula approved by the legislature in 2005. He chaired the joint legislative committee that reviewed the old formula and considered changes. The committee reviewed what the top 113 school districts in the state spent to educate their students.

Missouri has 523 school districts. Funding varies greatly among them. The State Supreme Court ruling highlighted the disparity in spending per pupil, noting in the ruling written by Judge Mary Russell that the Diamond R-IV School District in southwest Missouri’s Newton County spent $4,704.11 per pupil in the 2004-2005 school year while the Gorin R-III in northeast Missouri’s Scotland County spent $15,251.28 per pupil. Tax bases among Missouri school districts vary widely as well, ranging in the 2004-2005 school year from $19,605 in assessed valuation per pupil in the Cooter R-IV School District, in southeast Missouri’s Pemiscot County, to $416,679 in the Clayton School District of St. Louis County.

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