Education Funding

K-12 Budgets Hurting Amid Slack Recovery

By Michele McNeil — June 14, 2011 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Four years after the national economy first started to tank, the state-level recovery remains sluggish, and K-12 education is still taking a beating.

That’s according to a report released last month by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers, which found that states are struggling to come back as unemployment remains high and funding from the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act runs out.

This budget year, 18 states took the unpopular step of making midyear, unanticipated cuts to K-12 education—cuts that totalled $1.8 billion, according to the report by the two Washington-based groups. That includes cuts of at least $300 million each in three states: Indiana, Oregon, and Washington.(State fiscal years typically start on July 1.)

And next year doesn’t look any better in a lot of states.

In fiscal 2012, states are on track to spend $2.5 billion less on K-12 education than they did this budget year. Sixteen states are projecting that they will have to further cut K-12 education.

In North Carolina, Gov. Bev Perdue was, as of late last week, threatening to veto a nearly $20 billion state budget that includes deep cuts to K-12 education.

“Education is the hallmark of this state,” Gov. Perdue, a Democrat, said after the legislature passed the budget. “I am prepared to veto this budget if my review indeed shows what I fear—that North Carolina will move backwards under this budget plan.”

The report also shows states don’t have much of a cushion. Next fiscal year, a dozen states will have cash reserves of less than 1 percent of their general fund budgets.

“The greatest short-term risk to states’ recovery comes, not from statehouses, but from Washington” said the NGA’s executive director, Dan Crippen.

Specifically, the NGA said any expansion of the Medicaid health-care program for the disadvantaged threatens to cut into funding for other programs, including education. The NGA also warned that programs that carry “maintenance of effort” requirements such as special education threaten to “wall off segments of state budgets, increasing pressure to cut other state-funded services.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the June 15, 2011 edition of Education Week as K-12 Budgets Hurting Amid Slack Recovery

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Mathematics Webinar How to Build Students’ Confidence in Math
Learn practical tips to build confident mathematicians in our webinar.
Student Achievement K-12 Essentials Forum How to Build and Scale Effective K-12 State & District Tutoring Programs
Join this free virtual summit to learn from education leaders, policymakers, and industry experts on the topic of high-impact tutoring.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding States Sue Linda McMahon Over 'Drastic and Abrupt' End to COVID Relief Aid
The sudden cancellation of extensions on spending COVID relief aid "triggered chaos," the states argue.
5 min read
Illustration on a cyan blue background showing a businessman's hand and suit arm as he controls the strings attached to each arm of a clock.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Funding Trump Cut Teacher-Training Grants for Schools and Colleges. Now What?
Some educator-preparation programs have little hope of getting their money back, even if court cases advance.
10 min read
A man standing on the edge of a one dollar bill that is folded downward to look like a funding cliff.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding States Urge McMahon to Restore Federal Funds She Canceled Without Notice
New York's education department threatened legal action if the federal government doesn't restore pandemic relief funds.
10 min read
Person thinking to enter money maze puzzle.
iStock/Getty
Education Funding Schools Could Lose Millions in Federal Dollars After McMahon Changes Rules
The federal government has rescinded deadline extensions for a majority of states to spend remaining pandemic aid.
7 min read
Photo of calendar with pushpins on dates.
iStock