Friday News Roundup: Week of November 8-12

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.

University of Missouri President Warns of Likely Tuition Increases

Florida Voters Reject Class Size Flexibility Measure, Costing the State About $1 Billion

Kansas Schools Face $50 Million Budget Shortfall

Teacher Evaluation Plan Hiccup Could Cost Maryland its Race to the Top Award

University of Missouri President Warns of Likely Tuition Increases
University of Missouri President Gary Forsee this week warned that tuition for the University of Missouri system is likely to increase in the 2011-12 school year. He estimated that the tuition increase would be between 8 and 15 percent. Over the past two years, Governor Jay Nixon has maintained higher education funding at the same level, allowing institutions to keep tuition more or less steady. However, Forsee expects this coming year to be different, estimating that institutions of higher education will see an 8 to 10 percent cut in state aid. In addition to tuition hikes, Forsee said institutions will reduce staff, freeze salaries, and eliminate programs to offset the cuts. More here…

Florida Voters Reject Class Size Flexibility Measure, Costing the State About $1 Billion
Voters in Florida last week rejected a measure that would have allowed more flexibility in the number of students in classrooms around the state. This will cost school districts and the state around $1 billion in classroom fees and teacher salaries. The measure would have amended a 2002 ballot measure passed by Florida voters requiring a certain teacher-to-pupil ratio and increased classroom size requirements for the current 2010-11 school year to 2009-10 school year levels. The measure’s failure will likely mean higher property taxes around the state since state money for classroom size reduction is already maxed out. State legislators say they will work to find a way to restore some flexibility to schools. More here…

Kansas Schools Face $50 Million Budget Shortfall
Kansas education officials this week announced that more cuts to the state’s K-12 education budget are likely in the current 2011 fiscal year. The cuts are a result of a $50 million shortfall in the state’s education budget caused by increases in enrollment and the number of students eligible for free and reduced price lunches, and decreases in statewide property tax revenues. According to officials, this would equate to a $75 drop in per-pupil state aid, which is currently $4,012. Adding to school districts’ anxiety, Kansas Governor-Elect Sam Brownback has vowed to implement a spending freeze across the state budget next year. This would mean that federal stimulus dollars, which expire at the end of the current fiscal year, would not be replaced with state aid. This would mean an additional $300 drop in per-pupil funding. More here…

Teacher Evaluation Plan Hiccup Could Cost Maryland its Race to the Top Award
A change in the way teachers are evaluated could cost Maryland its $250 million in federal Race to the Top funds. In the state’s application for the competitive federal grant program, the state Board of Education said it planned to base 50 percent of teacher evaluations on a measure of student progress. However, a state legislative committee this week changed the student progress portion of the evaluations to 35 percent and explicitly rejected any plan where student progress accounted for 50 percent of the evaluation. While the U.S. Department of Education has not made clear whether this will cost Maryland its grant, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan has encouraged state leaders to “keep moving forward.” State Superintendent of Schools Nancy Grasmick explained that if Maryland does lose points for the change, it is likely that another state would become eligible to receive grant funds instead of Maryland. More here…