Friday News Roundup: Week of January 31-February 4

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.

Delaware to Limit Spending on SEED Scholarship

Nevada Education Officials Grapple with Governor’s Proposed Cuts

Missouri Governor Releases $10 for School Transportation

Idaho Legislature Considers Reform Plan that Would Cut Teacher Force

Delaware to Limit Spending on SEED Scholarship
Delaware Governor Jack Markell recently released his fiscal year 2012 budget proposal. The plan would limit funding for the Student Excellence Equals Degree (SEED) scholarship program to $3 million, the program’s actual annual appropriation. The appropriation amount is unchanged from fiscal year 2011 levels, but Governor Markell’s plan would prevent the state’s Department of Education from awarding grants to all eligible students as it has in the past, pulling money from other programs to cover the additional cost. The $3 million appropriation would cover 1,100 students’ full tuition at DelTech or the University of Delaware’s associate of arts degree program for students who maintain a 2.5 GPA. It would exclude about 275 eligible students. It will be up to DelTech and the University of Delaware to determine the criteria for selecting students for the scholarship. More here…

Nevada Education Officials Grapple with Governor’s Proposed Cuts
Last week, Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval proposed cutting $162 million from the state’s higher education budget in his fiscal year 2012 budget plan. This week, the state’s Board of Regents for higher education voted unanimously to oppose the cuts. However, they also instructed university officials to begin preparing plans for how they would cope with such cuts. Ron Knecht, chairman of the finance committee for the Board of Regents, suggested that one strategy might be to declare “financial exigency,” which is similar to a private company declaring bankruptcy. It would allow universities to break contracts, including union contracts, and reorganize spending. The Board of Regents says the cuts cannot be made up in tuition increases or staff and faculty layoffs alone. More here…

Missouri Governor Releases $10 for School Transportation
Missouri Governor Jay Nixon recently released $10 million in additional transportation aid for public schools. Citing higher than expected income tax revenues, Governor Nixon was able to restore some of the $70 million he cut from the $153 million transportation budget in the current fiscal year to balance the state budget. State budget director Linda Luebbering said she does not anticipate that the state will be able to provide any more additional transportation funding in the current fiscal year. Governor Nixon has proposed $98 million in school transportation aid for the coming 2012 fiscal year. More here…

Idaho Legislature Considers Reform Plan that Would Cut Teacher Force
The Idaho state Senate is currently considering a reform plan put together by the state’s Department of Education. The plan would require high school students to take six online course credits. It would also tie a portion of teacher pay to merit and provide bonuses to teachers that take on hard to fill positions and leadership roles. It would do away with the current teacher tenure plan. To pay for the plan, the state would reduce the teaching force by 770 jobs and increase class sizes. Idaho public schools chief Tom Luna explained that the plan is a necessary measure to control state spending on public education. He said the only alternatives are to continue cutting teacher pay or to cut more days from the school calendar. More here…