Friday News Roundup: Week of January 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.

Texas Legislators Consider New Eligibility Requirements for State Higher Ed Grants

New Jersey Supreme Court Hears Case on School Funding Constitutionality

Hawaii Department of Education Requests Restoration of $129 million in Budget Cuts

Governor Sanford’s Final Budget Plan Would Mean State Employee Pay Cuts, Reduction in Higher Ed Aid

Texas Legislators Consider New Eligibility Requirements for State Higher Ed Grants
Texas state legislators are considering a plan that would change the way need-based higher education grants are distributed to students. Currently, the state’s Towards Excellence, Access and Success (TEXAS) grant program, which helps low income students pay for college, is distributed on a first come, first served basis. Under a new plan proposed by Higher Education Coordinating Board Commissioner Raymund Paredes, students would have to meet academic criteria to qualify for the grants. The plan will narrow the number of eligible TEXAS grant recipients because the state’s budget crisis prevented Texas from distributing grants to all eligible students in the 2010-11 school year. More here…

New Jersey Supreme Court Hears Case on School Funding Constitutionality
The New Jersey Supreme Court this week heard arguments in a case charging that decreases in state funding for education in fiscal year 2010 were unconstitutional. The Education Law Center, a group that represents the interests of children in low-income cities, argued that the budget cuts violated students’ constitutional right to a “thorough and efficient education.” A 2009 ruling by the state Supreme Court approved a formula for state education funding, but the state only fully funded the formula in its first year because the state’s budget crisis left New Jersey unable to fully fund the formula in fiscal year 2010. The Education Law Center argues that the budget cuts disproportionately affect low-income students. More here…

Hawaii Department of Education Requests Restoration of $129 million in Budget Cuts
The Hawaii Department of Education submitted a fiscal year 2012 budget request to state lawmakers this week that includes the restoration of $129 million in funds cut from the agency’s budget during the economic recession. The budget request also included $29 million in new spending. While state schools Superintendent Kathryn Matayoshi argued that the request included only the bare necessities, some lawmakers thought the Department of Education could do more to offset increasing costs. For example, they questioned why the Board of Education rejected a proposal to increase the price of school meals to keep pace with costs. Matayoshi argued that working families cannot afford the increase, which would have increased school lunch revenues by $1.3 million in the 2010-11 school year. More here…

Governor Sanford’s Final Budget Plan Would Mean State Employee Pay Cuts, Reduction in Higher Ed Aid
Outgoing South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford this week submitted a $5.4 million budget plan that would help offset an $800 million shortfall in the state’s fiscal year 2012 budget. His plan would cut most state employees’ pay by 5 percent and would not replace federal stimulus funds for institutions of higher education. This would mean that state colleges and universities would have to make deep cuts to their budgets or raise tuition and fees to make up the difference. Governor-elect Nikki Haley has said that she will consider the plan submitted by Sanford, a fellow Republican, and will likely combine some of his ideas with some of her own. Haley has said she does not have the time or resources to develop a comprehensive budget plan of her own. More here…

Briefly Noted

• Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy hedges on his campaign promise to maintain state funding for education.