The following are summaries of final action by legislatures on education-related matters.
NEW YORK
Governor: Mario M. Cuomo (D)
FY 1993 state budget: $56.5 billion
FY 1993 K-12 budget: $8.55 billion
FY 1992 K-12 budget: $8.47 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +0.9 percent
Highlights:
- Although some funds are likely under the budget to be shifted away from the New York City metropolitan area to school districts upstate, the fiscal package ensures that no district will lose more than 2 percent of last year’s state-aid level.
- The legislature provided level funding in fiscal 1993 for teacher-resource and computer-training centers as well as for a teacher-opportunity corps.
- No additional funding was appropriated to speed up the state education department’s New Compact for Learning.
WEST VIRGINIA
Governor: Gaston Caperton (D)
FY 1993 state budget: $2.06 billion
FY 1993 K-12 budget: $1.18 billion
FY 1992 K-12 budget: $1.11 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +6.4 percent
Highlights:
- Legislature approved proposal put forward by Governor to spend $3.5 million to place computers in every 2nd- and 3rd-grade classroom in the state as part of a continuing computer-skills program.
- Budget includes a $2,000 pay raise for all teachers as the final installment in a three-year, $5,000 pay-raise program.
- Spending plan also allocates funding to expand the recently created Center for Professional Development, a resource and training organization for teachers and administrators that is opening institutes throughout the state.
