Friday News Roundup: Week of July 13-19

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.

In Massachusetts, Charter School Limit Could Double

Arizona Stimulus Mix-Up Leaves Schools with a $250 Million Windfall

Ohio Education Plan Is a Mixed Bag

Avoiding Tax Hikes, Pennsylvania Democrats Drop Some Higher Ed Funding From Budget

In Massachusetts, Charter School Limit Could Double
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick recently announced a proposal to nearly double the state cap on charter school seats allowed in the state’s struggling districts. The proposal would create an estimated 27,000 new charter school seats, nearly doubling the current number of seats. In addition to the state cap, the state also limits the number of charter schools in each district. The governor’s proposal would raise the limit on district spending on charter schools from 9 percent to 18 percent, allowing districts like Boston that had almost reached the cap in spending to add more charter schools than otherwise would have been possible. Advocates for charter schools praise Patrick’s plan, which is far more aggressive than the initial plan he outlined in January. However, opponents say the proposal would harm school districts that most need state aid, since each student who leaves a public school system takes between $9,000 and $15,000 in funding. They say the state must overhaul its charter school funding formula before increasing the number of openings in these schools. More here…

Arizona Stimulus Mix-Up Leaves Schools with a $250 Million Windfall
Schools in Arizona will receive $250 million more than expected after a mix-up regarding federal stimulus dollars. The state paid out $250 million to schools from its general fund for fiscal year 2009 (which ended June 30^th), expecting to use expected education stimulus dollars to reimburse the treasury once they arrived. However, the U.S. Department of Education claims that this usage violates stimulus guidance – federal stimulus dollars are required to go directly to schools. So when the $250 million in stimulus dollars arrives, the state must make another round of payments to school districts, effectively providing the districts with double what was intended. In addition, the state paid out the money without requiring districts to submit applications indicating an immediate need for the stimulus aid. Moving forward, school districts will be required to submit applications before receiving the actual stimulus dollars, a process which a spokesman for the governor’s office predicted would take about a month. Now the state must figure out how to make up for the new $250 million hole in its budget. More here…

Ohio Education Plan Is a Mixed Bag
In Ohio, Governor Ted Strickland is defending the state’s education budget plan, which increases spending in many of the state’s schools while approving less overall education spending. In discussions with educators, Governor Strickland admitted that the plan is not perfect, but he stated that it will strengthen the state’s education system. He said that most districts will see about a 5 percent increase in funding, and only five of Ohio’s 614 districts will see cuts in the next two years. One of the major provisions in the bill is all-day kindergarten, a popular program with educators. However, Governor Strickland conceded that cuts to other programs will be necessary. More here…

Avoiding Tax Hikes, Pennsylvania Democrats Drop Some Higher Ed Funding From Budget
A budget proposed by Pennsylvania State Representative Dwight Evans (D) would limit significant college and student loan funding in order to prevent tax increases. With Democrats’ frustration growing over House and Senate Republicans’ rejection of any tax-increase proposals, Rep. Evans proposed cutting the higher ed spending from the general budget. Money for some universities, community colleges, and state funded student-loan programs would be approved separately through a to-be-determined funding stream. Republicans dismissed the proposal as a scam, saying that it would be irresponsible to cut funding for some of the state’s higher education institutions from the general fund without a plan for how to reinstate it later. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell signaled his support for the bill as an effort to end the ongoing budget standoff. More here…

Briefly Noted

• California budget deal stalled by education fight.
• Washington, DC misses payment to charter schools.