Friday News Roundup: March 26-April 2

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>Illinois</b><b> State House Approves 4-day School Week</b></p>     <p><b>Florida</b><b> House, Senate Work to Agree on Education Budget</b></p>     <p><b>Minnesota</b><b> Legislature Works through Weekend to Agree on Supplemental Budget Deal</b></p>     <p><b>Alabama Education Budget Picture not as Bleak as Predicted</b></p>   <p>&nbsp;</p><p><b>Illinois</b><b> State House Approves 4-day School Week</b><br>The Illinois State House of Representatives this week <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-03-22/news/ct-met-four-day-school-week-20100322_1_4-day-school-week-school-districts-shorter-summer-vacations">approved a measure</a> that would allow school districts to limit the school week to four days instead of five. The measure requires students to be in school for the same number of hours as they are currently under the five day school week, which would mean extending school days or shortening summer vacation. Lawmakers passed the measure to help school districts save money on transportation and utility costs. The Chicago Teachers Union opposes the measure and says that it would place an undue burden on the state’s children to address the budget crisis. The measure will now be considered in the State Senate. <a href="http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2010-03-22/news/ct-met-four-day-school-week-20100322_1_4-day-school-week-school-districts-shorter-summer-vacations">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Florida</b><b> House, Senate Work to Agree on Education Budget</b><br>Lawmakers in the two houses of the Florida State Legislature have crafted t<a href="http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/04/01/lawmakers-work-to-bridge-divide-in-education-budget/">wo separate K-12 education budget proposals</a> for fiscal year 2011, and now must work to come to a consensus. Under the State House of Representatives budget, per pupil spending would be cut from current levels by $52 to $6,814, whereas the State Senate budget would increase per pupil spending by $39 to $6,905. The discrepancy in spending comes from differing assumptions over how much tax revenue estimations. The Senate budget assumes that all 67 counties in the state will raise property taxes and relies on revenue a deal with the Seminole Tribe over a gambling compact that has yet to be finalized. The House budget doesn’t count on revenue from either source. The two legislative houses will iron out differences in a conference committee. <a href="http://www.jaxobserver.com/2010/04/01/lawmakers-work-to-bridge-divide-in-education-budget/">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Minnesota</b><b> Legislature Works through Weekend to Agree on Supplemental Budget Deal</b><br>Lawmakers in the Minnesota  State Legislature worked on negotiations through the weekend to come to an agreement on a <a href="http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/minnesota-budget-project/house-and-senate-agree-supplemental-budget-bill">supplemental budget bill</a> to cut the state’s $1 billion budget deficit by $312 million in the current 2010-11 fiscal biennium and an additional $419 million in the 2011-12 fiscal biennium. The supplemental budget bill did not include K-12 education or health and human services, but did cut $47 million from the state’s higher education budget over the two fiscal years. Under the supplemental budget bill, state colleges and universities will be funded at 2006 levels in 2011-12. It also makes one-time cuts to funding for work-study, library services, and community college emergency grants. <a href="http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/blog/minnesota-budget-project/house-and-senate-agree-supplemental-budget-bill">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Alabama Education Budget Picture not as Bleak as Predicted</b><br>Despite warnings of the potential for massive teacher layoffs or a shortened school year, <a href="http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/03/2010_alabama_legislature_educa.html">Alabama lawmakers</a> recently proposed a K-12 public education budget for fiscal year 2011 that is not nearly as slim as projected. Lawmakers used $34 million in windfalls from a lawsuit and $67 million in windfalls from a bond issue, along with other funds, to craft an education budget that would allow school districts to keep roughly the same number of state-funded teachers as the current year. The education budget remains pared down, and doesn’t include money for classroom supplies or library books. It also likely does not provide enough money to avoid layoffs of school support staff. <a href="http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2010/03/2010_alabama_legislature_educa.html">More here…</a></p>     <p><b>Briefly Noted</b></p>     <ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc"><li>New        Jersey <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/nj_schools_protest_aid_jobs_cu.html">students protest</a> Governor Chris Christie’s proposed cuts to the      state K-12 public education budget.</li></ul><!--break-->