Friday News Roundup: Week of December 6-10

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.

Washington Supreme Court Rules that State Special Education Funding is Constitutional

Colorado Schools Will Likely See Cuts to Funding in 2012

Wisconsin State Agencies Request Increase in Funding

South Dakota Supreme Court Set to Hear Case on Education Funding

Washington Supreme Court Rules that State Special Education Funding is Constitutional
The Washington Supreme Court ruled this week that the state’s special education spending structure does not violate the state’s constitution, upholding a previous ruling by the Court of Appeals. A lawsuit filed by the Alliance for Adequate Funding of Special Education argued that state funding for special education was inadequate, forcing school districts to raise special education funds through school levies. However, the state’s Supreme Court found that the state allocated 193 percent of the cost of educating a basic education student for each special education student – slightly more than the 190 percent deemed necessary by expert witnesses in the case. More here…

Colorado Schools Will Likely See Cuts to Funding in 2012
This week, the Colorado Legislature’s Joint Budget Committee announced that K-12 education funding will likely take a hit in fiscal year 2012. Colorado Governor Bill Ritter included a $93.7 million increase for K-12 education in his fiscal year 2012 budget request, but Joint Budget Committee analysts say this is increase will still fall about $92 million short of fully offsetting increasing costs due to inflation and the projected 1 percent enrollment increase. In combination with expected revenue shortfalls in local support for K-12 education, this will amount to about a $40 decrease in per-pupil funding from 2011 levels. More here…

Wisconsin State Agencies Request Increase in Funding
State agencies in Wisconsin this week submitted a request to Governor Jim Doyle for a $3.94 billion increase in funding over the next two years – a 6.2% increase from the current 2010-11 biennium. The requests totaled $67.4 billion in state and federal spending, and were made as part of a report released this week by the state’s Legislative Fiscal Bureau. Large increases would go to the state Department of Health Services for Medicaid and other health care programs, as well as the University of Wisconsin System, prisons, and aid to local governments. Governor-Elect Scott Walker is unlikely to fulfill all of these requests, especially as the state is facing as much as $3.3 billion revenue shortfall in the coming 2012-13 biennium. More here…

South Dakota Supreme Court Set to Hear Case on Education Funding
The South Dakota Supreme Court will hear arguments next month on a constitutional challenge of the state’s K-12 education funding system. The case, which has a handful of students and parents as the plaintiffs, but is supported by about 100 of the state’s 161 school districts, began in 2006. The plaintiffs contend that the state’s current system of funding for K-12 education violates students’ constitutional right to a free, adequate, and quality education. However, in an earlier ruling against the plaintiffs, Circuit Judge Lori Wilbur noted that the constitutional language does not include the word “quality.” Judge Wilbur contended that the current system does ensure that students can become responsible and intelligent citizens. More here…

Briefly Noted

• Idaho Board of Education will allow colleges and universities to seek tuition and fee increases of over 10 percent.