Friday News Roundup: Week of May 17-21

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.

California School Districts, Students, Parents Sue State Over Education Funding

Error in Kansas Budget Amendment Could Cost Higher Education Budget

Massachusetts Budget Would Reduce State Aid to Schools

Oklahoma Legislators Reach Budget Deal

California School Districts, Students, Parents Sue State Over Education Funding
A coalition of California school districts, students and parents, and officials filed a lawsuit this week against the state claiming that the current level of public K-12 school funding violates the state constitution’s guarantee to make education a priority. The case, known as Robles-Wong et al. vs. State of California, requests that the court scrap the current financing system in favor of one that it “sound, stable, and sufficient.” California has one of the country’s lowest per-pupil expenditures and students perform poorly on national tests despite some of the highest academic standards in the country. The lawsuit is unlikely to be settled in time to affect funding for the 2010-11 or 2011-12 school years, both of which will occur during tight budget times. More here…

Error in Kansas Budget Amendment Could Cost Higher Education Budget
An amendment to the Kansas state budget intended to set fiscal year 2011 higher education funding $3.6 million higher than in fiscal year 2010 may have the opposite effect due to a wording error. The amendment was introduced last week by Representative Don Hill and was passed in the state House and Senate. However, an error in the wording of the amendment means that the passed version will actually reduce higher education funding by that amount. In addition, it would bring the state’s funding for higher education to below 2006 levels, making the state ineligible for $40 million in federal stimulus funding that it had planned for in the budget. Lawmakers have asked Governor Mark Parkinson to line-item veto that portion of the budget bill. However, doing so would restore more money than the $3.6 million in the amendment, which was intended to reduce the planned increase in higher education funding from what was originally planned. More here…

Massachusetts Budget Would Reduce State Aid to Schools
The Massachusetts State Senate this week released a $27.8 billion fiscal year 2011 budget that would not raise taxes or tap into the state’s rainy day fund, but would cut many programs, including state aid for education. The reduced aid to schools will still be above the level required by the state’s 1993 Education Reform law that was designed to make sure education funding remains adequate. The budget relies on $2 billion in federal stimulus funding, causing lawmakers concern over the status of future budgets. The Senate’s bill is similar to the House version, but Governor Deval Patrick’s $28.2 billion proposal is more generous. It maintains funding for education by increasing taxes on candy and soda and drawing $200 million from the state’s rainy day fund. More here…

Oklahoma Legislators Reach Budget Deal
After weeks of confidential budget talks, Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry and legislative leaders announced that they had reached an agreement on the state’s fiscal year 2011 budget this week. The $5.4 billion deal would reduce K-12 education funding by 2.9 percent and higher education funding by 3.3 percent. Governor Henry had hoped to keep K-12 education funding cuts to 0.5 percent, but legislative leaders demanded a slightly higher to avoid extreme cuts to other agencies. Spending for K-12 education makes up 35 percent of the state’s budget. Most state agencies will see their budgets cut by about 7 percent. More here…