Friday News Roundup: Week of September 24-28

Alex Holt
This post originally appeared on Ed Money Watch.

Louisiana Governor proposes paying for pre-K with federal hurricane recovery dollars

California Governor stumps for tax increase to avoid massive education budget cuts

Expansion to University of Missouri’s medical program dependent on tobacco tax hike

Former Pennsylvania governor says surplus should have gone to education budget instead of Rainy Day fund

Louisiana Governor proposes paying for pre-K with federal hurricane recovery dollars
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has proposed paying for part of the state’s free preschool program for at-risk youth with federal hurricane-recovery money. The entire pre-K program costs $75 million a year, and the governor’s budget proposal shows $20 million coming from the hurricane fund. The pre-K program funds 16,000 four-year olds from low-income households and the $20 million would go to parishes that suffered hurricane damage. The U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development will need to approve the plan before Governor Jindal can move forward. More here…

California Governor stumps for tax increase to avoid massive education budget cuts
California Governor Jerry Brown continues to stump for a proposition that would raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 and increase sales tax by one-quarter of a percent for four years. The proposal would generate $6 billion dollars in revenue. If the measure fails it would trigger $5.4 billion in cuts this fiscal year to public schools and community colleges as well as $500 million from California’s public universities. One of Brown’s advisers suggests that the tax hike would not only restore funding to K-12 and community colleges, but it would increase per pupil spending by $2,500. Without the new revenue, districts will receive $1,300 less per student than they do currently. There is a worry that the measure will fail, especially because there is a competing proposition to raise taxes, which analysts worry will confuse voters to the point that they will vote for neither. More here…

Expansion to University of Missouri’s medical program dependent on tobacco tax hike
A $43 million expansion to Missouri University’s medical program depends on the passage of a ballot initiative to increase the state tax on tobacco. The new revenue would be used to increase enrollment in the program by 30 percent and build a new medical education building and a “clinical campus” where students would spend two years doing clinical work. Proponents argue that the expansion will help address Missouri’s current shortage of physicians. One economic impact study suggests that the expansion could eventually lead to 300 new physicians in the state, as well as 3,500 other jobs, and a boost for Missouri’s economy overall. Should the initiative pass, the tax per cigarette would increase by $0.0365. More here…

Former Pennsylvania governor says surplus should have gone to education budget instead of Rainy Day fund
Former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell criticized Governor Tom Corbett for not restoring cuts to public school funding and suggested a correlation between declining funding and declining test scores in Pennsylvania. Specifically, Rendell said that it made no sense to put nearly $1 billion into the state’s Rainy Day fund from this year’s surplus without restoring full funding to public education. “‘I think the (recently announced) decline in test scores shows that it’s pouring in Pennsylvania right now. Not just raining, but pouring’” said Rendell.  More here…