Fact check: Anonymous SPS board campaign flyer uses inaccurate spending, test score data

An anonymous campaign flyer that inaccurately states how much Springfield Public Schools spends per student has been circulating in support of two board candidates.

It also alleges students are exposed to "woke ideology" and "explicit sexual material."

The unsigned flyer arrived in neighborhood mailboxes last week in an envelope with no return address. Included in the envelope were official campaign mailers from the two candidates supported by the flyer, Landon McCarter and Chad Rollins.

Reached by email Friday, McCarter responded: "This letter was not sent by my campaign, I am also aware that the numbers are off."

Rollins said the unsigned letter or flyer was also not from his campaign but he knew it had been sent. He did not disclose who sent it.

"It was written by a supporter who had reached out to me and wanted to support me in my candidacy and has asked to remain anonymous," he wrote.

The flyer inaccurately states SPS spends an average of "over $20,000 per pupil" — the true number is $12,062, according to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE — but accurately states that most area districts spend "an average of less than $11,000 per pupil."

In Missouri, the average amount spent per student is $13,152. Area district spending amounts range from $9,801 in Republic and $9,928 in Nixa to $10,518 in Branson and $10,776 in Logan-Rogersville.

The flyer uses the erroneous per-pupil spending amount — along with old, inaccurate or cherrypicked student test score results — to urge support for McCarter and Rollins. It does not mention the other candidates, Judy Brunner and incumbent Shurita Thomas-Tate.

It states: "One would think for that cost SPS would be graduating students ranking high in math, science, and reading comprehension. Not so."

Flyer does not include 'paid for by' information

According to the flyer, only 34% of Missouri students scored at or above the grade level in math but it does not give a year. It only references math scores at the high school level, noting Kickapoo was higher than the others, but does not give math scores for any other schools.

The most recent state test scores, released in mid-August, showed 39%, not 34%, of all Missouri students were at or above grade level in math.

In Springfield, 36% of students met the benchmark in math for the 2021-22 year, which is slightly below the state average. It is also lower than many neighboring districts.

The flyer urged voters to do their own research by looking at high school rankings from U.S. News & World Report, a business magazine.

That appears to be the source of the flyer's inaccurate and incomplete information. Unlike the websites for SPS and DESE, which have updated details on spending and student achievement levels, the magazine ranks high schools and colleges based on data that is typically a year or two old.

Citing the inaccurate numbers, the flyer urged voters to "elect new leadership to the school board" and touted McCarter and Rollins as "family men of faith" who manage successful businesses, have new ideas and will focus on teaching academic subjects.

"We should not be encouraging studies of woke ideology, CRT, gender pronouns, gender identity, and explicit sexual material that is not age-appropriate for children. Parents are probably not aware this ideology is exposed to our kids," the flyer continued.

More:Springfield school board: Candidates explain why they ran, plans to improve SPS if elected

It then stated "sensitive subjects" should be learned from parents, family and churches. "Social political agendas have no place in the school curriculum."

According to the Missouri Ethics Commission, any person publishing, circulating or distributing campaign material about any candidate for public office must comply with "paid for by" disclosure requirement.

This anonymous campaign flyer does not include that information.

A closer look at SPS spending per student

The News-Leader reached out to the Springfield district to find out why its average per-pupil spending is slightly higher than area districts.

"The main reason for the difference between SPS and some of our immediate neighbors like Ozark and Nixa is due to the high amount of federal dollars we receive per student for students in poverty," said John Mulford, deputy superintendent of operations.

During the 2021-22 year, nearly 47% of all Springfield students qualified for free or reduced price school lunches, a national measure of poverty. As a result, more federal funding was sent to Springfield.

He added the Springfield's average grew recently because of federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, funds, which were distributed based on enrollment and designed to help support student learning during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Prior to last year, our average spend per pupil was in the $9,500 to $10,400 range," Mulford said. "Our federal spend per student was $1,000 more than Ozark and $1,200 more than Nixa."

More:April 4 election could be turning point as conservative groups seek to remake SPS board

Mulford said the only way to get close to the $20,000 quoted in the flyer is to take "our entire budget and divide it by total enrollment."

However, the state calculates average spending per student in a district based on the operating budget, not the entire budget. "Capital funds are not included in the 'per pupil' expenditures so calculating this way would not be accurate,' he said.

The flyer appears to use the state-approved formula for the per-pupil spending in area districts but then used a different and inaccurate way to calculate the amount for Springfield.

Claudette Riley covers education for the News-Leader. Email tips and story ideas and criley@news-leader.com.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Anonymous SPS board campaign flyer uses inaccurate data to make case