Montana School funding survey waning

With just three days to go, four in 10 school districts have yet to respond to a complex, 22-page survey designed to help lawmakers finish developing a new school finance system, an expert hired by the state told a legislative panel Thursday.

The survey, released online earlier this month, is due Monday. To date, just 22 percent of districts have completed it, with another 35 percent reportedly in the process and 43 percent unresponsive, University of Montana professor Merle Farrier said.

Officials had hoped for an 80 percent return rate, although Farrier told the Quality Schools Interim Committee he could still perform a valid analysis with 60 percent returned.

"The bottom line is we have to go with what we get," Farrier said.

Full Story: http://www.billingsgazette.com/index.php?id=1&display=rednews/2005/07/22/build/state/25-funding-survey.inc