GOV. MARK SANFORD does a disservice to South Carolina public education with his proposed state budget, which comes nowhere close to meeting the basic needs in our K-12 schools.

Gov. Sanford proposes only a modest restoration of the devastating cuts classroom funds have sustained in four consecutive years. Our state’s schools are reeling and the governor has not offered to restore their most basic foundation funding. He proposes no new spending to foster the innovation required to remediate for years of failure. He proposes to cut state assistance, supplemental services that have the most impact in struggling, poor, rural school districts. Gov. Sanford’s public education budget is a non-starter for supporters of our K-12 schools. It should be treated as such in the General Assembly.

The document shows a clear lack of understanding of public schools, their mission and their daily challenges, a lapse that contrasts sharply with the impressive homework the governor did on other areas of state spending. It is ignorant of the reporting and accountability measures already imposed on our schools, ascribing great mystery to facts that are widely distributed public information. Consider this statement: “The amount of money we spend on education — whether as a total amount or on a per-pupil basis — is not well-understood or well-publicized, and thus, decision-makers are not properly armed with complete information.” The governor then calls for a new law requiring the State Department of Education to give him and the General Assembly an annual report on school spending.

Give us a break. This public information is widely available, including a school-by-school, per-pupil spending number printed on every school’s state report card. These expenditure reports, including one on the Education Department’s Web site, detail federal, state and local education dollars. There is no credible argument that the department or school districts are deceptive about their total expenditures. If the governor or members of the General Assembly are ignorant of these widely available facts, shame on them.

Gov. Sanford proposes to further drain state classrooms of their most essential funding. He offers $1,810 toward the state-defined Base Student Cost. This building block for classroom funding is at $1,743 after receiving cut upon cut upon cut. The formula adopted by lawmakers in 1977 says it should be at $2,234. That law, the Education Finance Act, aspired to build a foundation for every child, in every school and district. It offers a way to increase school budgets on a rational plane, keyed to the number of children attending classes, their needs and the rate of inflation. You can argue the formula needs to be improved, and a group of rural school districts is suing on that charge. However, there is no credible argument this formula should be starved as the governor proposes.

How much more would it take to keep the promises state leaders have made to our children? State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum sets that figure reliably at $457 million, contrasted with the governor’s $30 million. That would restore classroom funds to their required level and address several critical needs, such as replacement of dilapidated school buses. That would move public schools forward. The governor offers only a half step up after several giant steps back. State lawmakers must act aggressively to restore basic funding. If they cannot find the resources through cuts elsewhere, they must raise state taxes to pay for this most important public mission.