Friday News Roundup: Week of January 24-28

At Ed Money Watch, we discuss and analyze major issues affecting education funding. In our Friday News Roundup, we try to highlight interesting stories that might otherwise get overlooked. These stories emphasize how federal and state policy changes can affect local schools and districts.

Delaware Governor Proposes Increases in State Higher Education Aid, Won’t Make Up for Loss of Stimulus Funds

Iowa Governor Proposes Ending Free Preschool Program

Texas Senate Considers Slashing Aid for Schools, Medicaid in 2012 Budget

Delaware Governor Proposes Increases in State Higher Education Aid, Won’t Make Up for Loss of Stimulus Funds
Delaware Governor Jack Markell this week released his fiscal year 2012 budget proposal. In it he requested $219.8 million in state aid for higher education, an increase of roughly 1.5 percent from the $216.5 million the state spent last year. However, without the federal stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that have propped up the higher education budget over the past two years, Delaware’s public universities will actually see a decrease of about $18 million, or 6 percent, in overall aid. University officials say they knew the federal funds would expire and were able to consolidate administrative departments and trim spending on athletics programs to maintain their budgets. More here…

Iowa Governor Proposes Ending Free Preschool Program
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad this week submitted a fiscal year 2012 budget proposal to the state legislature. In the budget, he proposed cutting a state program that provides free universal preschool for the state’s four-year-olds. Iowa lawmakers approved the universal preschool program in 2007 to ensure that all four-year-olds had access to preschool services. If continued, the program is projected to cost $71 million in fiscal year 2012. Instead, Governor Branstad would provide preschool vouchers on an income-based sliding scale to parents of four-year-olds. Families at the lowest end of the income scale would receive larger vouchers. His proposal is estimated to cost $39 million in the coming fiscal year, a 39 percent reduction from the universal preschool plan. More here…

Texas Senate Considers Slashing Aid for Schools, Medicaid in 2012 Budget
Texas State Senator Steve Ogden this week submitted a $158.7 billion budget plan for the 2012-13 fiscal biennium that would cut state and federal spending in Texas by $28.8 billion, or 15 percent, from current levels. Ogden’s budget would not introduce any new taxes or tap the state’s rainy day fund. Instead, it would cut $9 billion from what K-12 schools would have received under the current funding formulas over the two fiscal years. Ogden’s plan would also eliminate some Medicaid benefits for poor adults. Federal law prevents state lawmakers from restricting eligibility without losing federal funds, so reducing services is the easiest way to cut Medicaid costs. More here…

Briefly Noted

• Washington state legislators consider shortening the school year by three days.