Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence
"Recipe for Disaster: Continued Cuts in Education"
It isn’t fair to blame Gov. Steve Beshear for the financial situation he inherited, but it is certain that the budget he has proposed without new revenue is a disaster for Kentucky. And that disaster will extend to education, although there is a lot of confusion about exactly what the budget’s impact would be on schools.
Major news stories reported that the Governor’s budget proposals spared K-12 education by not cutting the SEEK (Support Education Excellence in Kentucky) formula, the core funding stream for school districts as he did other areas such as postsecondary education.
But dozens of local newspapers are delivering a different message:
· In Ashland: "Finances Get Tighter on Educators" headlines a story about $400,000 in cuts that are expected because of 4.1% inflation and automatic step increases for teachers. "No increase in the SEEK formula should be considered a decrease," says the school financial manager. The district may cut after-school programs, professional development, textbooks and school safety.
· A Rowan County headline: "$400,000 School Cut."
· "Fort Thomas Schools Face Budget Cuts" says a headline from Northern Kentucky. Initial plans call for fewer guidance counselors and larger class sizes.
· Barren County: "Tough budget ahead" is predicted as officials expect about $670,000 in cuts.
Why the contradiction between the state and local accounts? Because of the relationship between state and local school funding.
The Governor’s budget continues to guarantee $3,822 in base SEEK funding per pupil. But the state doesn’t pay that whole amount; districts pay part of it based on local taxes. For 2007-08, the local district share of the $3,822 averaged $1,341, leaving $2,481 paid by the state. For 2008-09, there will be $39 less per student from the state, $39 more from the districts.
It is important for taxpayers and parents to understand that when SEEK is described as being "flat," it means state funding goes down and local taxes make up the difference. Since local dollars make up the decrease in state dollars, it is unlikely that anything will be left for new initiatives or teacher raises.
And then there’s inflation, at 4.1 percent – its highest rate since 1990. To have the same buying power for teachers, library books, laboratory supplies, buses, heating and other essentials, SEEK base funding should provide school districts with about $160 more per student. But they won’t get that next year from the state, and that’s a de facto cut.
The budget also cuts $92 million from targeted programs over the two years. There will be less money to buy new textbooks and to pay for tutoring, extra time for struggling students, alternative school, and helping teachers learn new methods. The state has paid a large share of these costs for many years. Now districts need to either cut them or pay for them with local dollars. And many of those local dollars are already financing programs like all-day kindergarten, which is also put at risk by this funding crisis.
This state-to-local shift in responsibility for funding schools continues an established trend. Since 1990, local districts’ share of school funding increased from 27 percent to 35 percent while the state’s portion dropped from 62 percent to 52 percent.
This situation on its own would be alarming. But the main reason the proposed budget would be such a disaster is the fact that it comes after 15 years of inadequate investments in education. We were digging a hole; now we’ve fallen in. Since about 1992 the legislature has barely kept up with inflation in school funding (except for employee benefits). Not counting health insurance and retirement cost increases, the total growth in education funding since 1992 has been just 2 percent.
Remember that Kentucky’s goal for 18 years has been to reach each and every child with the opportunity to learn at higher levels. Our educators are held accountable for reaching that goal by 2014.
But Kentucky teachers have been expected to do more with less since the early 1990s. As our educators try to overcome the educational failures of past generations, they are forced to do so with about $2,000 less than what the average state invests per student. (Kentucky invests about 79 percent of the national average in its schools.)
There’s another important story here. Cuts in spending for education programs are largely the result of increasing costs of health insurance for educators. Over the two-year budget, $92 million will come out of those targeted programs to support student learning, but $145 million more will go to pay the higher health insurance premiums. If insurance costs weren’t increasing so fast, as they have been for over 10 years, the other cuts would not have been necessary.
The result is that we have cut or eliminated initiatives that increase student learning while covering a cost that doesn’t provide teachers with better health insurance. A friend says it’s like filling your gas tank at $3 a gallon knowing that you can’t drive any farther than you could on $2 gasoline.
So what’s the result?
State-financed salary increases are out of the question and, since local dollars are needed to pay the SEEK guarantee, raises from local funds are also unlikely. There aren’t even pennies available for the governor’s top campaign pledge—expanding pre-k education for the youngest Kentuckians—the smartest investment in the future that a state can make.
And then, as noted above, there will be cuts to programs that help kids learn.
The bottom line is that K-12 education really will be losing ground under the proposed budget.
As we close the gap with other states on achievement, we’re widening it on school funding.
The local headlines are right: our schools and our students will be hurt by this disastrous budget.
Kentucky will take a giant step backward unless legislators find another way to address the needs of our public schools.
Other revenue sources must be identified or we will continue this downward spiral. As University of Tennessee economist William Fox noted in a 2002 report to the Kentucky General Assembly: Continuation of the very slow revenue growth through 2010 means "a huge decline in the Commonwealth’s ability to finance education and infrastructure investments in its future. By 2010, revenues would be more than 2.3 billion short of the demand for public services."
We simply can’t afford to wait any longer.
SOURCE: Prichard Committee Communication
See Also:
Local superintendents: "Schools will suffer from proposed budget cuts" from the Commonwealth Journal
"Carroll County Schools proceeds with caution planning next year's budget" from the Madison Courier.
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