The following are summaries of governors’ budgets for precollegiate education and highlights of proposals that rank high on the states’ education agendas.
DELAWARE
Governor: Thomas R. Carper (D)
FY 1994 proposed state budget: $1.29 billion
FY 1994 proposed K-12 budget: $452 million
FY 1993 K-12 budget: $438 million
Percent change K-12 budget: +3 percent
Highlights:
- Governor has proposed legislation to change composition of state board of education and remove prior-experience requirements.
- Also introduced legislation calling for new programs for infants and toddlers, including special education, health services, and counseling.
- Legislature considering bill that would require districts to report to police anyone possessing a weapon within 1,000 feet of school property. Another bill would bar a student expelled from one district from being accepted into another for the duration of the year.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Governor: Steve Merrill (R)
FY 1994 proposed state budget: $789.2 million
FY 1994 proposed K-12 budget: $42.2 million
FY 1993 K-12 budget: $39.4 million
Percent change K-12 budget: +7 percent
Highlights:
- Governor’s proposed budget includes $426,000 for developing new performance-based assessments for students in grades 3, 6, and 10.
- Governor has called for public schools to become “equipped to compete effectively with our private school system’’ and has advocated developing a system of private school choice.
- Governor has stated that he will fight any legislative attempt to reduce the power of the state board of education, which came under fire from educators last fall when it recommended that many statewide mininum standards for local school operations be eliminated.
NORTH CAROLINA
Governor: James B. Hunt Jr. (D)
FY 1994 proposed state budget: $15.3 billion
FY 1994 proposed K-12 budget: $3.9 billion
FY 1993 K-12 budget: $3.7 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +5.4 percent
Highlights:
- Governor has introduced a bill to establish a commission to raise standards and accountability in public schools. Also has announced plan to offer unconditional guarantee by 2000 to employers so that if students do not meet standards, schools will retrain them.
- Legislature considering a measure to increase the number of members of the state board of education and give it authority to select the state superintendent of education, who currently is elected.
OHIO
Governor: George V. Voinovich (R)
FY 1994 proposed state budget: $11.8 billion
FY 1994 proposed K-12 budget: $3.93 billion
FY 1993 K-12 budget: $3.79 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +3.7 percent
Highlights:
- Budget recommendation includes $640 million in proceeds from Ohio lottery, a $5 million increase from fiscal 1993.
- Governor’s budget plan includes a comprehensive school-reform plan calling for performance standards for teachers, students, and schools, as well as $135 million over two years to decrease school-spending disparities.
- A state task force is finalizing outcome measures that would define the state’s goals for student and teacher performance.
OREGON
Governor: Barbara Roberts (D)
FY 1993-95 proposed state budget: $6.29 billion
FY 1993-95 proposed K-12 budget: $3.17 billion
FY 1991-93 K-12 budget: $1.91 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +66.4 percent
Highlights:
- Increase reflects implementation of Measure 5, a property-tax-limitation law approved by voters in 1990 that requires the state to reimburse districts for revenues lost as a result of lower property taxes during the initiative’s five-year phase-in.
- Governor estimated the combination of the state’s existing basic school support, Measure 5 replacement funds, and lower local taxes will fund schools at 90.4 percent of current program levels, thus creating a cut of about 9.6 percent in the new budget.
- Budget allocates some state lottery monies to support education-reform and workforce-development initiatives, including student testing related to state’s comprehensive education-reform act and distance-learning courses in applied math, science, technology, and communications.
