School Districts Suffering From Poor Economy Too
May 06 2009 14:35
The teacher’s union would love you all to believe the Legislature is to blame for the funding problems within the state’s school districts. That, however, simply isn’t true! The poor economy actually is the culprit – not the Legislature.
Several issues impacting the state’s educational system have nothing to do with legislative action like declining enrollment, declining Proposition 301 revenues and a loss of gaming funds.
Setting the record straight is important; and although it is true the Legislature made reductions to the state’s K-12 education budget, the fiscal year 2009 Special Session DID NOT decimate public education as critics would have you believe.
In fact, the K-12 budget was reduced by $133 million, but even after that reduction, the funding levels for education in ’09 were still $61 million more than they were in FY08.
Lawmakers have tough budget decisions ahead, but they will do everything within their power to keep education cuts as low a possible as they work to balance the budget.
Several issues impacting the state’s educational system have nothing to do with legislative action like declining enrollment, declining Proposition 301 revenues and a loss of gaming funds.
- Declining enrollment is having a huge impact to school districts because fewer students means fewer dollars for districts; and with funding at $9,700 per pupil, depending on how badly enrollment numbers are off, the district may be losing out on significant funding. Not the Legislature’s fault.
- Declining Proposition 301 revenues has hurt districts too because this funding is tied to the state’s tax revenue. Unfortunately, Arizona’s state tax revenues are down 21.5 percent from where they were last year – making fewer dollars available for education.
- Declining gaming revenues are off because people just aren’t gambling as much in this poor economy. Districts receive a portion of gaming revenues for dropout prevention programs, school readiness and reading programs.
Setting the record straight is important; and although it is true the Legislature made reductions to the state’s K-12 education budget, the fiscal year 2009 Special Session DID NOT decimate public education as critics would have you believe.
In fact, the K-12 budget was reduced by $133 million, but even after that reduction, the funding levels for education in ’09 were still $61 million more than they were in FY08.
Lawmakers have tough budget decisions ahead, but they will do everything within their power to keep education cuts as low a possible as they work to balance the budget.