Friday News Roundup: Week of October 26-30

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.

Montana Education Officials Doubtful About Race to the Top Chances

Colorado Governor Unveils Plan to Close Budget Shortfalls

School Districts in Oklahoma Face Steep Cuts as Funding Streams Dry Up

New York Governor Proposes New Cuts as Deficit Climbs

Massachusetts Governor Makes New Cuts, Spares Education

Montana Education Officials Doubtful About Race to the Top Chances
Education officials in Montana are critical of the priorities laid out by the Obama administration for the upcoming Race to the Top (RttT) competitive grants, a new program created by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Montana’s Superintendent of Schools, Denise Juneau, called RttT’s approach a one-size-fits-all prescription for states. While she agrees with the administration’s priorities of hiring quality teachers, turning around struggling schools, and using data to inform decisions, Juneau claims that fulfilling the requirements of RttT would violate the state’s constitution. Instead of making changes to state law to better accommodate charter schools and alter teacher and principal evaluations to align with RttT’s priorities, Juneau and other state education officials have proposed that U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan change the rules of RttT. They claim that the current priorities, especially the charter school elements, don’t make sense in rural states where school districts are already small. More here…

Colorado Governor Unveils Plan to Close Budget Shortfalls
Colorado Governor Bill Ritter this week unveiled a plan to close a $286 million budget shortfall, the latest in a series of shortfalls caused by the economic recession. Governor Ritter’s plan would cut $145 million in funding for public colleges and universities, $37 million in grants to counties that produce oil, gas, and minerals, and $16 million in delayed Medicaid reimbursements. It also would save $27 million by adding four additional furlough days for state workers. The cuts to higher education will be replaced with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. While the one-time federal stimulus funds will save the state from serious cuts now, critics of Governor Ritter’s plan say he is putting off necessary decisions about how to reduce the state budget in the future. Colorado State Senate Minority Leader Josh Penry proposed closing Governor Ritter’s energy office, and has mentioned other cuts that could lead to long-term budget trimming. Governor Ritter called these proposals “a $100,000 solution to a $100 million problem.” More here…

School Districts in Oklahoma Face Steep Cuts as Funding Streams Dry Up
In Oklahoma, school districts are bracing for deep cuts as the state’s revenue shortfalls lead funding streams to dry up. The state account that usually contributes more than 25 percent of the state’s education funds is likely to be completely empty by the end of October, leaving the state to rely solely on tax collections for payments to districts starting in November. This comes on top of a 5 percent budget cut for the current fiscal year across all state agencies. The state is encouraging districts to try to make cuts without removing teachers from classrooms, but with such great budget reductions, officials recognize this is a tall order. School districts also may be consolidated or closed to save money. More here…

New York Governor Proposes New Cuts as Deficit Climbs
New York’s state budget deficit has climbed $1.1 billion since July to $3.2 billion according to a report released this week. The state Budget Division also predicts that next year’s budget will total $6.8 billion, a $2.2 billion increase from the July estimate. With this in mind, Governor David Patterson proposed wiping out $5 billion in spending over the next two years. While most state legislators supported many of the cuts, State Senate leaders opposed cuts to education and Medicaid. Governor Patterson has ordered a special session of the state legislature starting on November 10^th to address the increasing shortfall. More here…

Massachusetts Governor Makes New Cuts, Spares Education
Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick this week cut $277 million from the state’s fiscal year 2009 budget to close a growing gap between revenues and spending. This included budget cuts to state agencies, nine-day furloughs for 4,000 state employees, and layoffs for 2,000 state workers. While K-12 school aid was spared in this round of cuts, school districts may still feel the pinch as regional school bus transportation aid and state reimbursements for special education schools were cut. Charter schools will also feel the blow of a $5 million cut in reimbursements. Governor Patrick was able to use federal stimulus dollars to avoid cuts to state colleges and universities. More here…

Briefly Noted

• Michigan budget nears completion, but contentious items still could face line-item vetoes.
• Districts in Minnesota await outcome of Nov. 3^rd vote on school levies.