ANOTHER INFLUENTIAL voice has been added to those calling for restoration of basic classroom funding for our state’s public schools. The state Education Oversight Committee has recommended the Legislature return to full funding of the legally mandated Base Student Cost within three years.

This basic building block for classroom funding was adopted by lawmakers as part of the Education Finance Act in 1977. It should be providing $2,234 per student in 2004-05. However, after receiving cut upon cut, the allotment is at $1,857. This state money is the lifeblood of many school districts — the money they use to pay the teachers and keep the lights on. The state’s underfunding of its own formula has meant cuts to classroom needs in some areas, local property tax hikes in others.

Our state must do better, particularly as any improvements in the economy boost state revenues. State Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum has called for full, immediate restoration of the Education Finance Act’s requirements, a step that would take $315 million in state funds. That is the right thing to do, and it is the stance that principled lawmakers who support our public schools will back. For those who can’t take that step, the EOC has proposed an interesting idea. That is to restore the Base Student Cost over a three-year period. That’s not as good as doing it right away. However, it is certainly preferable to the current situation, which envisions no replenishment plan at all.

Ms. Tenenbaum, who notes it is her legal duty to be frank and accurate in assessing the schools’ needs, says those needs go beyond restoring the Base Student Cost. In testifying at Gov. Mark Sanford’s budget hearings, Ms. Tenenbaum said state schools need $61.2 million for Education Accountability Act programs, $75.1 million to sustain our school bus system, $22.5 million for technology, $11.6 million for textbooks and $10.1 million to expand early childhood education efforts.

The EOC is calling for funding increases to maintain teacher salaries at the Southeastern average and to increase college loan assistance for teachers. The panel’s budget recommendations would increase funding for Advanced Placement and Gifted and Talented programs, which help to draw the highest performance out of students capable of working at that level.

On the issue of standards and accountability, the EOC is proposing a reduction in the funds needed to provide assistance to schools rated unsatisfactory or below average on state school report cards. There are fewer of those schools today, and the EOC stresses that additional state help must not become an entitlement in those districts that have improved.

All told, Ms. Tenenbaum’s proposals would require some $350 million in new state dollars while the EOC’s package represents a $170 million increase for 2005-2006. The bottom line, whichever approach lawmakers might favor, is that the state is not doing enough today to keep its obligations to our public schools. Several reasonable and responsible proposals to fix that are on the table. Lawmakers have no excuse not to remedy the situation this year.