School Finance

Yesterday the Early Education Initiative issued a new report by Maggie Severns, “Reforming Head Start.” In addition to this issue brief on Head Start “recompetition,” readers can also access our new Head Start background and analysis page, which was released in September as part of our pre-K expansion of the Federal Education Budget Project.

Connecticut budget cuts stall plan to hire additional college faculty

Judge deals a setback to Louisiana’s voucher program

Wyoming governor's budget plan cuts $11.4M from UW

Iowa regents freeze tuition for in-state undergrads

Connecticut budget cuts stall plan to hire additional college faculty
Connecticut’s largest college system, the Connecticut State Colleges & Universities, has suspended its plan to hire 47 new faculty members because its budget was cut last week when Governor Dan Malloy included $14.4 million in higher education cuts to the system as part of his attempt to close a state budget shortfall. The cuts come after a reorganization last year in which the colleges saved $5.5 million by merging administrative duties between the community college and state university networks, an initiative pitched by a Malloy as a way to pump new money into academic programs. However, due to the budget shortfall, the money can no longer go towards funding new faculty, but instead towards closing the budget shortfall. The University of Connecticut, which operates under a separate governing board, will also be cut by $10.3 million, but previously planned faculty hiring that was paid for by a tuition increase last year will not be affected by the emergency budget cuts. More here…

Judge deals a setback to Louisiana’s voucher program
A Louisiana judge has ruled that it is unconstitutional for Louisiana to appropriate state money to private schools through a voucher program from a fund that clearly is meant to provide funding for public schools. The ruling does not rule the voucher program unconstitutional, per se. However, should the State Supreme Court uphold the ruling, that would force the legislature to appropriate funding for the private school voucher program separately from the funding for public schools, which is a formula designed to calculate state and local funding for public school districts. Appropriations are far more politically fraught than formula funds, so such a decision would significantly complicate one of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s signature initiatives. More here…

Wyoming governor's budget plan cuts $11.4M from UW
State funding to the University of Wyoming would be cut by $11.4 million next year under Governor Matt Mead’s fiscal year 2014 budget recommendations. The 6 percent cut below fiscal year 2013 levels is less than the 8 percent cuts recommended for most other state agencies; university officials had been bracing for the larger, 8 percent cuts. The Governor also recommended introducing a recurring $2.4 million merit pay system for university employees, as well as $70 million for a new engineering building. The president of the University of Wyoming said he was grateful for the Governor’s recommendations. After being warned that large cuts may be forthcoming, the university had maintained empty faculty positions and worked to reduce other expenses, so the 6 percent cut was less than anticipated by administrative staff at the college. More here…

Iowa regents freeze tuition for in-state undergrads
The Iowa Board of Regents voted unanimously this week to freeze tuition for undergraduate resident students in the 2013-2014 school year for the first time in 30 years. The freeze is contingent on the state legislature awarding a 2.6 percent increase to the universities’ public funding over 2013 fiscal year levels. The tuition freeze is possible due to record enrollment rates at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, as well as low inflation rates, according to the Board of Regents. Seventy-two percent of Iowa students graduate with some debt, and the average amount of debt upon graduation is $28,753 – the sixth highest amount of debt per borrower in the country, according to the Project on Student Debt. If the tuition freeze is implemented next year, tuition would remain at $6,648 at ISU and $6,678 at the University of Iowa. Out-of-state students, who already pay more than twice what in-state students pay at the college, will see tuition increase by at least $400 and possibly more than $1,000. More here…

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy shrinks deficit with cuts to social services, colleges

Alabama prepaid tuition program will run out of money in 2015 without lawsuit settlement, report estimates

West Virginia state higher ed chief says no cuts to financial aid

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber’s budget offers 500 more teachers, cap on PERS increases

Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy shrinks deficit with cuts to social services, colleges
In response to a $363 million deficit, Connecticut Governor Dan Malloy this week announced a $123 million round of emergency cuts. Most of that is targeted at social services programs, and $25 million will cut funding for public colleges and universities. A smaller cut of $8.4 million was also applied to preK-12 education in the state. The cuts to higher education come on top of $68 million in cuts to colleges that lawmakers have made since 2011. The earlier cuts led to tuition hikes at the University of Connecticut of 6 percent, and at community colleges and other state universities of more than 3 percent. The new, $25 million cut to funding, as well as $3 million cut from payments for faculty benefits, means that over the last two years, state funding for higher education has dropped by 14 percent overall. In total, the new cuts represent less than half of the deficit, so the governor will have to work with the legislature to make more cuts in the coming weeks. More here…

Alabama prepaid tuition program will run out of money in 2015 without lawsuit settlement, report estimates
A new report on Alabama’s prepaid college tuition program shows that, unless the state Supreme Court approves a settlement with families to provide tuition at 2010 rates instead of current levels, the program will be short of funding by 2015.The tuition program has more than $300 million in investments, but pays out $90 million annually in tuition. The state legislature has already promised additional funds from the state’s Education Trust Fund coffers in 2015, but the extra payments still won’t cover the shortfall. The program, which allows parents to buy in and later receive college tuition and fees, has seen financial trouble since a simultaneous global recession and tuition hikes. Legislators attempted to change the program to pay out at 2010 levels in that year, but the law has been traveling through the courts since then. More here…

West Virginia state higher ed chief says no cuts to financial aid
Although West Virginia Governor Earl Tomblin asked all state agencies to cut their budgets by 7.5 percent in fiscal year 2014, the state Higher Education Policy Commission announced this week its financial aid programs would not be affected. Unlike other programs, like the K-12 funding formula, higher education is not exempt from the budget cuts, but the Commission stated that it would not cut financial aid spending regardless. In preparing its budget, the Commission decided to preserve the Promise Scholarship, which benefits students with strong academic performances and receives $47.5 million in funding annually from a combination of video gambling revenue and general funds. Governor Tomblin will present the 2014 budget in February, so negotiations with state agencies will continue until that time. More here…

Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber’s budget offers 500 more teachers, cap on PERS increases
Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber this week introduced his proposed fiscal years 2013-2015 biennial budget, which cuts some state programs and reforms the public employees retirement system while increasing education spending. His cuts, while controversial, would allow the state to increase funding for K-12 schools by 8 percent, up to $6.15 billion. That money will let states hire as many as 500 new teachers, or avoid hundreds of teacher layoffs if changes to the pension system are not approved. Funding for higher education would increase by $14 million for state Opportunity Grants and by $275 million in construction bonds for community colleges and universities. Early intervention spending would increase by $4 million, and special education for early childhood programs would increase by $16 million. The budget does not include any new revenue streams. More here…

Board of Minnesota higher ed institutions requests additional funding from state legislators

State university presidents in Indiana request increase after years of flat funding

Idaho teachers will receive bonus pay based on performance

Republicans criticize outgoing North Carolina governor for pre-K expansion

Board of Minnesota higher ed institutions requests additional funding from state legislators
The Minnesota State Colleges and Universities Board of Trustees this week offered to cap tuition increases at three percent, decrease administrative expenses by $44 million, and increase enrollment in return for an extra $97 million from legislators over the course of two years. The additional money will raise the system’s total budget to $1.2 billion, an 8.9 increase over the last budget, for the state’s 24 two-year colleges and seven state universities. The three-percent tuition cap would limit increases to $145 for a college student and $205 for a university student. In addition to promising tuition caps, the board has also proposed an aggressive matching campaign; for instance, the Board would match $21 million in state funding for “state-of-the art equipment” with donations from the private sector. State College Student Association President Steve Sabin expressed his concern that tuition hikes will be exceed the stated levels if the state does not fully fund the Board’s request. More here…

State university presidents in Indiana request increase after years of flat funding
The presidents of three state universities in Indiana have asked the State Budget Committee to increase funding for higher education in the next budget biennium, which covers fiscal years 2013-2015, following years of spending cuts that helped keep the state’s budget in the black. Higher education funding this year totaled $1.7 billion in Indiana, a four percent decrease from its high of nearly $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2009. The funding problems are especially burdensome for the state universities that focus more on teaching than research because they have fewer opportunities to receive outside funding for research grants. The presidents argue that they have cut costs significantly and kept tuition and fees at manageable levels for the past several years. Now, they contend, the state should increase funding. More here…

Idaho teachers will receive bonus pay based on performance
Idaho teachers can expect the Pay-for-Performance bonuses implemented last year as part of the state’s “Students Come First” laws, despite the fact that those laws were repealed through a referendum in last week’s elections. Seventy-six percent of Idaho’s schools (499 schools) will receive a portion of the $38 million payout. Although voters were originally told that if the laws were struck down on November 6, the teachers would not legally be allowed to receive bonuses, but the Idaho deputy attorney general issued a legal opinion after the election stating there was no legal impediment to issuing the bonuses this year. Even though the laws were struck down, many legislators and government officials seem to suspect that merit pay for teachers, in some form, will eventually become part of the Idaho K-12 education system. More here…

Republicans criticize outgoing North Carolina governor for pre-K expansion
GOP legislators are criticizing outgoing Democratic Governor Beverly Perdue for reallocating $20 million for an expansion of the state’s pre-kindergarten program for low-income children through next summer. Perdue redirected the $20 million from other funding sources, arguing that programs AIDS medicine and foster care services were overfunded. GOP lawmakers expressed concern because in recent years the state has experienced budget shortfalls late in the fiscal year (usually associated with Medicaid). Further complicating the issue, Perdue will not be governor by the time any potential shortfall would occur – Republican Governor-elect Pat McCrory will take office in early 2013. Before the expansion to the program that will add 6,300 slots, the state was spending about $128 million annually to provide pre-K for approximately 25,000 children. Estimates suggest that closer to 67,000 children may be eligible for the program. The expansion is the result of a 20 percent cut to the program by GOP lawmakers, which included requiring parents to incur a co-pay for pre-K services. Both a county judge and the state Court of Appeals struck down those provisions. More here…

In September the Early Education Initiative added pre-K data from the state and school-district levels to the Federal Education Budget Project database -- already the only comprehensive, centralized database for funding, demographic and outcome information for every state, school district and higher-education institution in the country.

There was a lot of education-related activity in the states this election season, from a ballot initiative in San Antonio that will raise the sales tax to help pay for pre-K, to the race for Indiana superintendent, where controversial incumbent Tony Bennett lost to challenger Glenda Ritz, who reportedly got more votes in the race than Governor Pence did.

We put together this interactive map to help readers peruse some state-by-state results of key races that will affect early education in the states in coming years. Scroll over states to find out more about who ran, who won and where there could be big policy changes afoot.

State-by-State Results of Key Early Ed-Related Races and Ballot Initiatives

A special thanks to Megan Carolan of NIEER, who contributed research to this map.

Update: The Washington gubernatorial election was called for Inslee (D). Voters in Washington state also approved Initiative 1240 to allow charter schools.

After years of cuts, big spending increase in proposed Colorado budget

Despite rough economy, school spending climbs in Illinois

Parents informed of additional spending cuts needed for the Birmingham school system

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval fails to resolve school district, union grant feud

After years of cuts, big spending increase in proposed Colorado budget
After a series of cuts to the state education budget, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (D) has proposed big spending increases for education in his fiscal year 2014 budget proposal. Under the proposed budget, K-12 education spending would increase by 4.8 percent over fiscal year 2013 levels to $213 million, which translates to $185 more per student compared to the current fiscal year. Total spending for higher education would increase to $68.3 million, which is a 2.3 percent increase over 2013 totals. Even with increased state spending, however, the governor is still allowing for colleges and universities to raise tuition by up to 9 percent compared to last year. Republicans in the state legislature have had mixed reactions to the Democratic governor’s budget proposal. More here…

Despite rough economy, school spending climbs in Illinois
New data released by the state of Illinois showed that the amount spent per pupil in its schools has risen from almost $9,500 in 2007 to $11,664 in the 2010-11 school year. Average teacher and administrator salaries have also risen over the same time period; teachers made an average of almost $67,000 in 2011, up from $58,000 in 2007, before the recession. The increase in costs was in spite of fiscal challenges posed by the recession that forced the state to cut aid to schools below expected levels.  The cuts have forced districts to cover the increased costs by emptying reserve funds or cutting spending in other places. Some districts have spent well over the state average – more than $20,000 per student in some cases – but have not necessarily seen improvement in student test scores. Research suggests that higher spending does not necessarily correlate to higher test scores. More here…

Parents informed of additional spending cuts needed for the Birmingham school system
An additional $12 million must be cut from schools in Birmingham, Alabama, a state official informed a group of parents at an event sponsored by the Birmingham Council of PTAs. A money-saving plan introduced last summer that demoted some faculty and staff saved only $8 million of the expected $12 million savings, leaving the city shy of a state requirement that it maintain at least one month’s operating budget in its reserves at all times – about $17 million for the district. The new cuts will mean additional demotions for teachers and some school closings, in part because some teachers were grandfathered into a rule last summer that allowed them to retain their previous salaries for one year before being demoted. Former State Superintendent Ed Richardson, who is heading the intervention to get the Birmingham school district, said that the main problem is there are too many schools in the district, with many excess schools at the middle school level. Shifts in population and lax enforcement of attendance zones further exacerbate the issue. More here…

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval fails to resolve school district, union grant feud
Teachers union officials in Nevada’s Clark County School District, the second-largest district in the country, remained at an impasse this week against school district officials hoping to apply to the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top district-level competition. The competition, which could mean $40 million in federal money for the district if it wins an award, requires sign-off from local teachers unions before submission. However, union officials said they had not had a large enough role in writing the federal grant application and refused to acquiesce. The application included money targeted to literacy interventions and access to technology at some of the district’s poorest schools, as well as funding for new faculty members to support English language learners.  Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval sat down with school district and union officials this week in an effort to broker an agreement that would allow the application to go through, but hadn’t reached a deal hours before the application deadline. More here…

North Carolina state board of education may not comply with state officials' budget request

Texas Governor Rick Perry pushing tuition freeze, $10,000 degrees

Kansas Democrats foresee $900 million in education cuts

Idaho suit takes on school fees

North Carolina state board of education may not comply with state officials' budget request
The North Carolina State Board of Education plans to ignore a request from state budget officials that the agency design a series of budget proposals that both increase and decrease spending by 2 percent in the 2013-2014 biennium from fiscal years 2011 and 2012. A two percent change in the state’s education spending would total about $150 million. In opposition to the state budget office’s request, however, the state board of education instead plans to deliver a third option. According to education officials in the state, the past several years of cuts have made further budget cuts untenable, so the education budget the board passes this fall will instead represent a third option. Still, the chairman of the state board of education said it may submit all three options to the state office in the interest of fulfilling its legal obligations. More here...

Texas Governor Rick Perry pushing tuition freeze, $10,000 degrees
Governor Rick Perry of Texas repeated his call for a four-year tuition freeze for incoming freshman at the state’s colleges and universities. He is also pushing for a higher education financing reform that would link 10 percent of a school’s state funding to measures of student outcomes like graduation rates, as well as an effort to persuade schools to offer $10,000 degrees for students. Two University of Texas campuses, Dallas and El Paso, already offer a four-year tuition freeze to freshmen, and nine schools already offer or are planning to provide a $10,000 degree option. The higher education measures come amid a national push to lower college costs and decrease the growing debt burden students take on. However, the state legislature cut almost $1 billion from state postsecondary institutions in fiscal year 2011, a challenge to colleges that want to cut costs for students despite the state budget cuts. More here…

Kansas Democrats foresee $900 million in education cuts
Leading Democrats in Kansas say that Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s tax cuts passed last session will lead to nearly $900 million in cuts to state K-12 and higher education spending over the next five years if the cuts are distributed across the budget proportionally. Governor Brownback says that the projections, which were prepared by the nonpartisan Legislative Research Department, are wrong. Instead, he says that the tax cuts will spur economic growth that will lead to a higher tax revenue. Democrats are also criticizing the governor for stacking a “School Efficiency Task Force” with accountants and business leaders but no educators, saying it’s designed to provide cover for cutting education spending. More here…

Idaho suit takes on school fees
A class-action lawsuit filed this week in an Idaho District Court charges that the state’s public K-12 schools are in violation of the Idaho constitution because they are charging registration fees to enroll in the school. The suit was filed by Russ Joki, a former school district superintendent, whose granddaughters were charged $45 each for kindergarten registration and whose grandson was charged $85 to enroll in a public high school. The suit rests on a 1970 Idaho Supreme Court case in which a $12.50 textbook fee and a $25 fee to receive transcripts were deemed unconstitutional. According to the attorney who filed the lawsuit, the court is being asked to refund one year of fees to parents in the state – a cost of more than $2 million to the state. The lawsuit is being filed during an ongoing debate over education reforms that Idaho voters will approve or reject in the November elections, as well as three consecutive years of budget cuts. More here…

During last night’s Presidential Debate, both candidates linked education into their arguments as a major workforce development issue- rhetoric that is often used by education and labor advocates but less often by presidential candidates, who are more likely to focus on the economy and other top-tier voting priorities.

Romney swung towards the center on many issues last night, and education was chief among them. When it comes to education and student aid, Romney said, “I'm not planning on making changes there.” Once again, he praised Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Race to the Top, and often focused more on what he had in common with Obama’s education policies than where they differ. One big exception, however, came when he touted his “backpack” program, in which students can use Title I and IDEA funds to attend whichever public school they choose. Some have called this a voucher program, though Romney hasn’t used that terminology to describe it.

Obama went after Romney’s approach to balancing the budget, saying that Romney would make cuts that would “[gut] our investments in schools and education.” When Romney announced Paul Ryan as his running mate, the Ryan budget raised eyebrows among many with its drastic cuts in domestic discretionary spending, a pool that includes education. As I and my colleague Clare McCann have noted on Early Ed Watch before, Ryan’s budget could have a big impact on federal education spending—though it won’t necessarily “gut” every education program.

Will Romney and Obama discuss education during Wednesday's domestic policy debate?

On this week's podcast, Education Policy Program Director Kevin Carey and Education Week reporter Alyson Klein explain what they’ll be watching for during the debates and what questions they’d like to hear the candidates answer. Also on this podcast, Clare McCann, program associate for the Education Policy Program, breaks down the education issues driving the New Hampshire gubernatorial race. This is the first of three installments about key state and Congressional elections.