Friday News Roundup: Week of May 3-7

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.

 <p><b>New Jersey Education Chief Plans Reforms to Help in Race to the Top Competition</b></p>     <p><b>Vermont</b><b> Lawmakers Will Likely Extend Session to Finalize Cost Savings Bill</b></p>     <p><b>Minnesota Legislature Passes Supplemental Budget Bill, But More Cuts May Loom</b></p>     <p><b>Illinois</b><b> Cigarette Tax Proposed to Restore  State Revenue</b></p><p>&nbsp;</p>     <p><b>New Jersey Education Chief Plans Reforms to Help in Race to the Top Competition</b><br>New Jersey Education Commissioner Bret Schundler this week announced that he will introduce a <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/nj_education_chief_plans_to_pr.html">package of reforms</a> to strengthen the state’s application for the second round of the Race to the Top competition. Schundler indicated that the reform package, which he developed with Governor Chris Christie, would include merit pay for teachers, based in part on student achievement. He said the reform package will also include giving parents more choice, closing failing schools, and possibly reforming teacher tenure. The New Jersey Education Association (NJEA), the state’s largest teachers union, opposes merit pay and tenure reform and says it won’t sign on to the state’s Race to the Top application if these measures are enacted. NJEA didn’t sign on to the state’s first round application either. <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/05/nj_education_chief_plans_to_pr.html">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Vermont</b><b> Lawmakers Will Likely Extend Session to Finalize Cost Savings Bill</b><br>Vermont lawmakers have been pushing to finalize a bill in the State Senate that would produce <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100507/NEWS03/100506031/Vermont-senators-delay-debate-on-Challenges-bill">$38 million in savings</a> in fiscal year 2011. The Challenges to Change bill was stuck in the Senate Appropriations Committee, where lawmakers debated the education and economic development portions of the bill, until Thursday. Lawmakers were arguing over language that would require school districts to shave 2 percent off their budgets when they write them this winter. Some lawmakers wanted to soften language to simply urge the reduction, but others worried about repercussions if school districts failed to meet the target. Because the session is set to end at midnight on Saturday and House of Representatives and Senate rules state that debate cannot start until 24 hours after any bill is finalized, it looks likely that the session will be extended into next week to complete the cost savings bill. <a href="http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100507/NEWS03/100506031/Vermont-senators-delay-debate-on-Challenges-bill">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Minnesota Legislature Passes Supplemental Budget Bill, But More Cuts May Loom</b><br>Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed a supplemental budget bill in April to help reduce the <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/nextdegree/2010/05/07/17984/sen_pappas_we_will_be_looking_under_every_stone_for_dollars">state’s budget deficit</a> that cut the higher education budget for the fiscal 2010-2011 biennium. However, the state still faces a $408 million shortfall, and no area of the budget is safe. Chair of the State Senate Higher Education Budget and Policy Division Sandra Pappas warns that more cuts to the higher education budget are possible even though the system can’t shed much more. The state’s higher education grant program for low-income students received $144 million in the budget for each year of the biennium. But tn the current fiscal year 2010, more students qualified for the grants than were expected and the program had to borrow from the fiscal year 2011 funding. As a result only $122 million remains for the 2010-11 school year, far less than is needed. <a href="http://www.minnpost.com/nextdegree/2010/05/07/17984/sen_pappas_we_will_be_looking_under_every_stone_for_dollars">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Illinois</b><b> Cigarette Tax Proposed to Restore  State Revenue</b><br>Illinois lawmakers have been working this week to address a <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703686304575228582377071698.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_PoliticsNCampaign_4">$13 billion budget deficit</a> in the current 2010 fiscal year, which equals nearly half of the state’s general fund revenue. The state legislature is considering a number of measures to restore revenue, including borrowing more money, granting Governor Pat Quinn emergency budget powers, and/or enacting tax increases including a proposed 1.5% state income tax increase (from 3% to 4.5%) and a cigarette tax increase from 98 cents a pack to $1.98 per pack over two years. While none of these proposals are final, the state Senate passed a bill that would <a href="http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2010/05/cigarette-tax-increase-could-provide-ill-education-funding/">direct funds from the cigarette tax </a>to the state’s Medicaid fund and then be distributed to specific programs like education. Some lawmakers worry that Governor Quinn would have discretion over these funds and might choose not to spend them on education. More <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703686304575228582377071698.html?mod=WSJ_WSJ_US_PoliticsNCampaign_4">here</a> and <a href="http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/political-fix/political-fix/2010/05/cigarette-tax-increase-could-provide-ill-education-funding/">here</a>…</p>     <p><b>Briefly Noted</b></p>  <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li>The South Carolina      department of education <a href="http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12444255">lays of 80 employees</a> to balance budget.</li></ul><!--break-->