Friday News Roundup: Week of May 28-June 1

North Carolina House seeks to add millions to schools

New Hampshire education funding amendment deal reached

Rhode Island House committee approves $8.1 billion budget plan that boosts school aid

Louisiana Senate panel restores $340 million to state budget cut by House

North Carolina House seeks to add millions to schools
The North Carolina state House of Representatives this week released a fiscal year 2013 budget totaling $20.3 billion. The budget, designed by the Republican-controlled House, includes one-time $250 bonuses and an extra week of vacation for all teachers, but eliminates an existing $121 million reserve earmarked for teacher and state employee performance pay. Legislators did increase funding over 2012 levels, though, for local school districts, including $333 million meant to replace federal stimulus dollars that are set to expire in the current fiscal year. The House budget will also reduce the amount that schools are scheduled to return to the state in the 2013 school year from $503 million to $170 million. The bill includes no new taxes or revenue increases, in stark contrast to Democratic Governor Bev Perdue’s proposal that increased sales taxes by three-quarters of a cent. More here…

New Hampshire education funding amendment deal reached
New Hampshire lawmakers this week reached a deal with Governor John Lynch on a proposed constitutional amendment that would give authority over funding for public schools to the legislature. Since a 1997 state Supreme Court ruling, the state has provided all school districts with a set per-pupil base funding level from state general funds and state property taxes. Legislators, though, would prefer to annually determine the amount of aid distributed per pupil. The language of the amendment would allow the state to prioritize funding to economically disadvantaged districts, and would make it more difficult for stakeholders and advocates to challenge state education laws in court. Three-fifths of each chamber of the legislature must now approve the amendment; if passed, it will be placed on the ballot in November. Two-thirds of voters must vote for the amendment for it to become law. More here…

Rhode Island House committee approves $8.1 billion budget plan that boosts school aid
The Rhode Island state House Finance Committee voted this week to approve an $8.1 billion fiscal year 2013 budget. The budget is higher than the budget Governor Lincoln Chafee proposed earlier this year, which totaled $7.9 billion, and adds about $11 million to public schools over fiscal year 2012 levels. It does not, however, include Governor Chafee’s proposed tax on meals and beverages. Revenue from that plan would have been earmarked for public schools, but a $102.7 million surplus in fiscal year 2012 allowed the legislature to increase school aid without generating additional revenue. In addition, the legislature approved a plan to consolidate the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, the Board of Governors for Higher Education, and other state public school and college agencies into one single agency headed by a state education chancellor. More here…

Louisiana Senate panel restores $340 million to state budget cut by House
Louisiana’s Senate Finance Committee this week voted on a fiscal year 2013 budget that increases annual state spending by $340 million compared to an earlier version of the state budget passed by the House. The Senate budget would reverse about $70 million in House spending cuts to public colleges and universities and increases funding from fiscal year 2012 levels.  The Senate’s fiscal year 2013 budget is still about $100 million below Governor Jindal’s original proposal, but is closer to his proposed spending level than the House budget. The Finance Committee, in the same session, approved the transfer of $204.7 million from the state’s rainy day fund to help close a $220 million shortfall in the current fiscal year 2012 budget. The legislature is set to adjourn on June 4, so lawmakers are required to reconcile the differences in their budget bills before then. More here…

Briefly Noted: The Michigan legislature is set to miss its own June 1 deadline to complete the fiscal year 2013 budget due to a disagreement among Republicans over how to divide $36 million in university funding across colleges. The House and Senate have reached an agreement on funding for public K-12 schools, but continue to negotiate the higher education budget.