In Ala. Budget Crisis, It's Schools vs. Colleges

By Bess Keller

A compromise between Alabama's K-12 schools and the state's higher education community failed to gel in the legislature late last week, leaving colleges and universities more likely to bear the brunt of more than $260 million in mandated budget cuts this fiscal year.

Earlier in the week, the higher education institutions escaped—at least temporarily—an even bigger hit when the Alabama Supreme Court stayed a lower court order that had blocked cuts to almost all K-12 expenditures. The court order resulted from a lawsuit brought by the Alabama Association of School Boards and individual school districts.

The stay was granted after an appeal from Gov. Donald Siegelman and several universities. The suit is now before...