Friday News Roundup: Week of August 30-September 3

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.

Utah Attorney General’s Office Says State Can’t Block Edujobs Money

Illinois School Districts Raise Fees to Make Up for Late State Payments

Alabama Schools Turn to Bank Loans to Keep Doors Open

Texas Education Agency Proposes Cutting Spending on English Textbooks, Science Labs

Utah Attorney General’s Office Says State Can’t Block Edujobs Money
The recently passed federal Education Jobs Fund of 2010 allocates $101 million to the state of Utah to be used to save up to 1,800 teacher jobs. However, Republicans in the state legislature want to refuse the money and prevent the federal government from distributing the funds directly to school districts. State Republicans have explored the idea of suing the federal government, claiming that it is unconstitutional for the U.S. Congress to usurp the state legislature’s budget authority. In this week’s opinion from the State Attorney General’s Office, Assistant Attorney General Jerrold Jenson said there is almost no chance that a court would find the law unconstitutional given that the U.S. Constitution explicitly gives the U.S. Congress spending authority. State Republicans have not yet decided whether they will proceed with the court case. More here…

Illinois School Districts Raise Fees to Make Up for Late State Payments
Many Illinois school districts are adding and increasing fees for registration, textbook rentals, physical education attire, driver’s education, and sports and activities to make up for late payments from the state. The state government has struggled to make the payments it owes to districts because of its $13 billion budget deficit. Some districts have chosen not to increase fees, forcing them to reduce services. Governor Pat Quinn has said he supports an income tax increase to help boost education funding, but he also said he would consider cutting property taxes, which school districts rely on for their budgets. State Superintendent of Schools Chris Koch said his agency is doing its best to allocate federal funds to school districts as quickly as possible. More here…

Alabama Schools Turn to Bank Loans to Keep Doors Open
Alabama school districts have been struggling to make ends meet. Over the past three years, the state’s education budget has been cut from $6.7 billion to $5.3 billion – a 20 percent decrease – and many districts have been left unable to make ends meet. Alabama has the lowest per capita tax collections in the country, and school districts cannot raise property taxes independently. Most of the state’s education funding comes almost exclusively from sales taxes. With no system in place for school districts to borrow money from the state, districts have turned to banks for private lines of credit. So far, about 30 school districts, or 20 percent, have sought or plan to seek bank loans to continue operating. Historically, some districts have used private bank loans to shore up one month’s payroll, paying the loans back in the following month. However, the loans they are now seeking go far beyond a single pay period. Given the current economic climate, tax revenues are unlikely to pick up any time soon and school districts may be forced to find a more sustainable solution, like reducing staff or the number of school days. More here…

Texas Education Agency Proposes Cutting Spending on English Textbooks, Science Labs
Texas Governor Rick Perry this week requested that the Texas Education Agency (TEA) submit a proposal to reduce spending by 10 percent in the next two-year budget. TEA proposed cutting $48 million for textbooks that were supposed to be purchased at the beginning of the 2011-12 school year. These were mostly English books for grades 2-12, but would also affect spelling books, handwriting books, and supplemental materials for middle and high school science classes. The proposal would also cut $22 million for teacher merit pay and $35 million for new science labs. The proposal is a preliminary measure to close a revenue shortfall that could reach $18 billion. No cuts will be finalized until budget work begins in January. More here…