Friday News Roundup: Week of March 26-30

Connecticut governor’s education plans take hit in revised budget

Idaho House passes public schools budget for 2013

Concerns hover over California illegal school fee legislation

Senate panel considers New Jersey education budget

Connecticut governor’s education plans take hit in revised budget
Connecticut lawmakers scaled back Governor Dannel Malloy’s education reform proposals for fiscal year 2013 this week as the Democratically-controlled joint House-Senate budget committee issued a recommendation for a more constrained budget proposal. For example, Malloy recommended $22.9 million for efforts to turn around the state’s lowest-performing schools, but the committee recommended only $10.8 million. Appropriations Committee members also proposed less funding than Malloy had requested for charter school students and implementation of a new statewide teacher evaluation system. They also proposed more funding for science education than Malloy had included. The Governor said that the committee would have to produce a recommendation with many more reforms and a higher funding level before he would sign it. More here…

Idaho House passes public schools budget for 2013
The Idaho House passed a budget proposal this week that would fund state programs for fiscal year 2013. The budget includes $1.27 billion in general funds, $56 million more than in fiscal year 2012. Though this represents a 4.6 percent increase in state funding, slow growth in federal support means that this will represent on 0.4 percent growth in overall state revenue. Still, one lawmaker says the increase in funding will permit more funding for schools next year. Other legislators have said that the funds won’t be sufficient to cover increased costs for teacher salaries, promised to faculty once the economy recovered. The plan also includes numerous education reforms; among them, increasing minimum teacher salaries and implementing merit pay bonuses. More here…

Concerns hover over California illegal school fee legislation
The California state legislature is working on a bill that would enforce existing laws against schools implementing student fees, but the bill’s future may be in jeopardy. The bill was passed out of the Assembly Education Committee and is currently before its Appropriations Committee. However, special interest groups have argued that the bill would only further hurt schools struggling with spending cuts. The director of education advocacy for the ACLU of Southern California, Brooks Allen, said that a UCLA survey last year found that one-fifth of public school principals reported instituting fees at their schools for instructional materials. The fees run counter to a 1984 state Supreme Court decision that found charges for children for extracurricular activities and participation in courses to be unconstitutional. The legislation before lawmakers now would require districts to review school finances annually and report to the local school board any improper fees, as well as establish a reporting system for parents to submit complaints. More here…

Senate panel considers New Jersey education budget
The New Jersey Senate Budget Committee is currently reviewing Governor Chris Christie’s proposed education budget and reforms. Education Commissioner Christopher Cerf testified before the committee this week, pushing for the reforms included in the budget. Christie’s 2013 budget, which would include an additional $135 million over fiscal year 2012 levels for public K-12 schools, also reforms the school aid formula. It would provide less funding for economically disadvantaged students and English language learners, but would increase overall per-pupil funding. State Senator Paul Sarlo, chairman of the Senate Budget Committee, says that schools would receive less under Christie’s proposed budget in fiscal year 2013 than they did in 2010. In all, the proposal provides $7.82 billion for education in fiscal year 2013, roughly $100 million below 2010 levels. More here…