Friday News Roundup: Week of September 28-October 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.

Michigan Governor to Veto Budget Cuts

States Are Not Using Stimulus to Boost Aid for Schools

Education Professionals Ask Illinois to Fund Programs

Alabama Budget Cuts Loom as Tax Revenues Shrink

Michigan Governor to Veto Budget Cuts
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm vowed this week to veto a budget approved by the state legislature that includes deep cuts. The budget deal brokered in the state legislature after a two hour government shutdown would cut nearly $1.3 billion from the state’s earlier agreed upon fiscal year 2010 budget. The cuts include a 2.9 percent reduction in the K-12 budget and deep cuts to Michigan’s higher education Promise Grants for low income students. Alternatively, Governor Granholm has proposed cutting $2.2 billion in spending from the budget and increasing taxes by $1.1 billion. State Republicans insist they will not approve any tax increases. The current budget crunch is only one indicator of the state’s flawed tax system, which has led to frequent budget shortfalls and two state government shutdowns in three years. State lawmakers have introduced bills in both Houses which would require members to forfeit their pay each day the budget is delayed. The state has 30 days to come to an agreement and finalize a budget deal. More here…

States Are Not Using Stimulus to Boost Aid for Schools
A U.S. Department of Education official says states are not using federal economic stimulus money as Congress and the Obama administration intended. Instead of using the additional funds to supplement state aid to schools in accordance with federal guidance, some states are simply using the money to plug budget holes. The inspector general for the Department of Education singled out Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut as states that have cut their investments in education and replaced them with stimulus money. Pennsylvania has yet to finalize a state budget, leaving the state’s education funding up in the air. In Massachusetts, officials argue that they have complied with the guidance given them by federal officials. These officials argue that federal rules and regulations only require that states use economic stimulus funds under the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to maintain education funding at 2006 levels, which allowed many states to make significant cuts to education. More here…

Education Professionals Ask Illinois to Fund Programs
Members of the Illinois State Board of Education’s (ISBE) Finance and Audit Committee are seeking advice through a series of hearings on what the fiscal year 2011 budget should include. The participants requested that the state board provide funding for programs and grants that benefit students and schools. This year, many education programs have been cut or eliminated, and ISBE must make recommendations to the state for what to fund next year. The experts who testified asked the ISBE to restore programs for textbooks, agriculture, consumer education, career and technical education, early childhood, and truancy prevention. More here…

Alabama Budget Cuts Loom as Tax Revenues Shrink
Appropriations for Alabama’s fiscal year 2010 general and education trust funds, which became law this week, are already subject to cuts as the state’s revenue shrinks more than was projected earlier. Alabama state law requires Governor Bob Riley to declare proration – across-the-board-cuts – if the state’s budgeted spending outpaces revenue. Cuts to the $6.24 billion education trust fund budget could mean teacher layoffs and salary freezes. School districts may also have to turn to shrinking reserves or loans to survive the school year. Cuts won’t be finalized until state officials finish calculating the state’s tax receipts next week. More here…

Briefly Noted

• Iowa poised to bend rigid teacher rules.