The issue of funding for public education in Montana moved up to the front burner last week when Gov. Brian Schweitzer made the rounds of newspaper editorial boards to warn school administrators that merely asking for more money isn't going to cut it anymore.

He said that K-12 schools, which have received a 26 percent boost in state funding during Schweitzer's tenure, need to explicitly show what they've done with the additional income and exactly why they now say they need still more.

Politically, the governor is on firm ground. There is a growing perception among Montanans -- and not just fiscal conservatives -- that school funding is becoming a black hole into which money disappears no matter how much is appropriated. Of course the situation is far more complicated than that, but these days the onus is on school officials to explain their financial plight in ways that both political leaders and the average Montanan can understand.

Generally speaking, as Schweitzer never tires of pointing out, school funding woes go back to the administration of Gov. Marc Racicot when state support of schools not only did not keep up with inflation but actually lost ground in terms of real dollars.

Now, despite recent increases, school administrators say they've already been forced during those long, lean years to cut expenses to the bone -- at the same time that competition for highly skilled teachers has forced them to raise salaries. "We have found all the efficiencies available through 14 years before the present administration," said Joanne Schrupp, president of the Montana School Boards Association.

School administrators say recent increases have been welcome, but have only staunched the bleeding, not solved the underlying problem. They say that with a state-funding hike of 1.9 percent set for the next fiscal year, many schools are facing program cutbacks, stagnating teacher salaries and more crowded classrooms. The problem seems particularly grim for schools like those in Helena that are prevented by school equalization rules from seeking higher local mill levies.

One cause of schools' financial shortfalls has to do with shrinking enrollments. Because state support is based on the number of students, fewer kids in the classroom translates into less money (and thus smaller funding increases than what politicians like to talk about). It may seem that fewer students should mean lower costs, but that's not the case. Losing a few kids doesn't make it any cheaper to run school bus routes, heat school buildings, or pay teachers.

Nor do tight budgets allow schools to address one of the most pressing needs of education today -- the need to keep up with technological innovations in order for the U.S. workforce to compete on the world stage.

Still, the perception of that school-funding black hole remains, and it won't do much good to grouse at the governor and his tough budget talk. Educators can't be blamed for a school-funding system that is so complicated and murky that few Montanans really understand it. But the time has come for administrators and school boards to figure out how to really convince Montanans, from the governor on down, that they aren't crying wolf.

To listen in on the Editorial Board meeting with Gov. Schweitzer (+45 min.), click the play button below: