Friday News Roundup: Week of September 26-30

Washington State superintendent’s office won’t comply with Governor’s budget-cut order

Arizona group seeking way to sustain K-12 funding

Oklahoma lawmakers discuss higher education funding

Rural schools in New Jersey sue for funding

Washington State superintendent’s office won’t comply with Governor’s budget-cut order
Washington State Governor Chris Gregoire has ordered all state agencies to submit new budget proposals for the remainder of the 2011-13 biennium with a 10 percent cut over current levels.  Agencies have already significant cuts seen in recent years as state revenues have dropped.  The state legislature, with a bleaker tax revenue forecast than originally anticipated, will reconvene for a special session in November consider these proposals and deal with a potential $2 billion budget shortfall over the remaining period of the 2011-13 biennial budget. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Randy Dorn, though, is refusing to submit a budget proposal.  He claims that a 10 percent cut to education funding, especially cuts to full-day kindergarten and class-size reduction programs in low-income schools, would violate the state’s constitution. More here…

Arizona group seeking way to sustain K-12 funding
A temporary sales tax put in place in Arizona to funnel money to the state’s public schools is set to expire in 20 months. Voters approved the sales tax increase in May of 2010 with 64 percent of the vote. A coalition of education advocates is working to find a solution to shelter schools from further budget cuts come May 2013 when it expires. The coalition plans to list the measure on the ballot in the November 2012 elections. The group, led by the Arizona Business and Education Coalition, includes a teachers union, advocacy groups, Teach for America, and charter schools. Governor Jan Brewer has said she does not plan to place an extension of the sales tax on the ballot, but has not commented on any new proposals that the group might raise. More here…

Oklahoma lawmakers discuss higher education funding
This week the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs hosted a conference that about 30 state lawmakers attended. The participants examined the state’s funding formula for Oklahoma colleges and universities.  The formula, which allocates any appropriations that exceed the base amount each school receives annually, was last utilized in 2009 when higher education institutions were appropriated an extra $3.2 million over the base amount.  The formula has been highly controversial among school officials and lawmakers due to a provision that requires the state take into account funding levels that equivalent schools in other states receive. The legislature is expected to reconsider the formula, including another study session scheduled to take place in just a few weeks. More here…

Rural schools in New Jersey sue for funding
Sixteen rural New Jersey school districts have filed suit against the state, saying that budget cuts made in the 2012 school year are illegal.  The suit comes after another case in which urban districts filed suit against the state and won, earning an additional $447 million for those districts for the 2012 school year. Although the Education Law Center tried, at the time, to apply the suit to all school districts in the state, the state Supreme Court directed its ruling only to urban districts. The rural districts now say that their budgets collectively fall $19 million short for this school year, which will have a substantial impact on the quality of education in those districts. The shortfall, say the districts, is in violation of a 2009 state Supreme Court order to fully fund schools for three years under former Governor Jon Corzine’s formula. With the loss of federal stimulus money and falling tax revenues, though, Governor Christie was unable to maintain the level of funding and cut education funding by about $1 billion after taking office in 2010. More here…