The following is a summary of governors’ education budget proposals for fiscal 2000. The total for K-12 education includes money for state education administration, but does not include federal, flow-through dollars.
ALASKA
Governor: Tony Knowles (D)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $2.3 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $753.19 million
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $726.19 million
Percent change K-12 budget: +3.7 percent
Estimated enrollment: 126,000
Highlights:
- Under governor’s proposal, state would continue to fund spending increases passed by legislature last year, despite state’s current economic troubles stemming from low oil prices.
- Budget proposal would also pump $32 million in new dollars into state’s “Smart Start” program to hire more state police troopers and child-protection workers and provide greater access to high-quality health care for children.
ARIZONA
Governor: Jane Dee Hull (R)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $5.7 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $2.32 billion
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $2.21 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +4.9 percent
Estimated enrollment: 859,000
Highlights:
- Under terms of Arizona’s first biennial budget, governor proposed $25 million over fiscal years 2000-2001 to fully fund special education and $19.8 million in new aid for grades K-3 aimed at improving students’ reading skills.
- Proposal includes $62.9 million over biennium for K-12 base-level funding, increasing average per-pupil expenditure by $40 over fiscal 2000-2001.
- Education budget does not include proposed $290 million in state revenue bonds to help pay for school facilities upgrades.
ARKANSAS
Governor: Mike Huckabee (R)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $3.2 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $1.64 billion
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $1.59 billion
Percent change K-12 budget:+3.1 percent
Estimated enrollment: 451,000
Highlights:
- For fiscal 2001, the second year of his biennial-budget proposal, governor is requesting $3.35 billion for overall state spending, $1.61 billion of which would be slated for K-12 schools.
- Biennial budget recommends increasing from $1,500 to $2,500 a year the value of student scholarships to state colleges and universities available through Arkansas Challenge Scholarship Program.
- Budget proposal includes $50 million in fiscal 2000 for public school equalization funding. According to governor, that would translate into $110 in additional per-pupil state spending in fiscal 2000 and $117 in additional per-pupil state spending in fiscal 2001.
CALIFORNIA
Governor: Gray Davis (D)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $77.5 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $23.08 billion
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $22.06 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +4.6 percent
Estimated enrollment: 5.7 million
Highlights:
- Gov. Davis’ first budget features $444 million school improvement plan. It includes: $186 million for reading initiatives; $51 million for programs to enhance teacher and principal quality; $200 million for new school accountability measures and performance rewards.
- Budget proposes $200 million in new grant money to districts for discretionary spending.
- Plan would make second $250 million installment of four-year, $1 billion commitment to buying textbooks aligned with state standards.
- Mr. Davis wants to increase state’s revolving fund for building child-care facilities from $23 million to $36 million.
FLORIDA
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Governor: Jeb Bush (R)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $46.8 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $7.06 billion
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $6.73 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +4.9 percent
Estimated enrollment: 2.4 million
Highlights:
- Total budget figure in Gov. Bush’s first spending plan reflects local and state contributions and includes proposed $1.24 billion tax-cut package, largest in state’s history. Cuts would mean $648 million in savings for businesses and $588 million, or an average of about $100, in savings for Florida homeowners.
- Education plan includes $63.6 million increase in spending on after-school and summer programs. Added dollars would bring total budget for such programs to $313 million.
- Budget would provide $18.5 million in new dollars for grants to local districts to provide intensive reading instruction for students in grades K-3.
- Mr. Bush also proposes using $15 million in state lottery proceeds to reward schools that show marked improvement or sustain high performance levels on state assessments.
GEORGIA
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Governor: Roy Barnes (D)
FY 2000 state budget: $13.3 billion
FY 2000 K-12 budget: $5.14 billion
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $4.75 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +8.2 percent
Estimated enrollment: 1,425,980
Highlights:
- Gov. Barnes, in first budget, wants to double state spending for alternative schools that would serve disruptive students from $12.9 million to $24.6 million.
- His budget would also increase support for state’s after-school initiative by 50 percent, for total of $16 million.
- Education budget plan also includes $6.7 million in lottery funds to accommodate another 1,500 children in state’s universal prekindergarten program. About 61,000 4-year-olds are in the program now.
HAWAII
Governor: Benjamin J. Cayetano (D)
FY 2000-01 state budget: $12.15 billion
FY 2000 K-12 budget $828 million
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $784 million
Percent change K-12 budget: +5.6 percent
Estimated enrollment: 187,378
Highlights:
- Gov. Cayetano is recommending two-year budget of $12.15 billion. In first year, his plan includes $25.8 million to operate three new schools that will open next fall.
- Fiscal 2000 budget includes $2.1 million in to cover seven additional school days added to calendar during last teacher-contract negotiations. The change would bring the total number of school days to 183.
- Governor is also recommending $20 million in capital improvements during first year of biennial budget, to help schools accommodate more computers and install air-conditioning.
IDAHO
Governor: Dirk Kempthorne (R)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $1.7 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $821.07 million
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $796.36 million
Percent change K-12 budget: +3.1 percent
Estimated enrollment: 247,000
Highlights:
- Gov. Kempthorne’s first budget proposes spending $5.5 million on new literacy initiative for early grades.
- He wants to continue the state’s current $10.4 million in annual technology funding for public schools in the new fiscal year. Also, Mr. Kempthorne recommends that additional $100,000 be used to evaluate the effectiveness of state’s funding for technology in schools over past five years.
- Governor also seeks $1,000 rewards for teachers who gain certification through National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
INDIANA
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Governor: Frank L. O’Bannon (D)
FY 2000 proposed state budget: $6.9 billion
FY 2000 proposed K-12 budget: $3.75 billion
FY 1999 K-12 budget: $3.64 billion
Percent change K-12 budget: +3 percent
Estimated enrollment: 990,160
Highlights:
- In biennial-budget proposal, governor is requesting $15 million for fiscal 2000 and $96 million for fiscal 2001 to phase in full-day kindergarten.
- Governor also requests $8.3 million over biennium to launch new assessment of 1st and 2nd graders to make sure they’re on target to read by end of 3rd grade.
- Mr. O’Bannon wants to increase spending on state’s school safety program from current $3 million a year to $9.3 million a year in fiscal 2000 and 2001. Program now provides mostly before- and after-school programs; governor wants to expand it to more broadly provide security at schools.
