Friday News Roundup: Week of November 7-11

University of California to seek state funds to avoid tuition hike next year

Georgia voters approve $3.2 billion worth of educational funding

Equity issues cited in Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s school finance plan

Kentucky budget outlook bleak

University of California to seek state funds to avoid tuition hike next year
The University of California president announced this week that he would request additional state funding and increasing student enrollment by one percent instead of the previously proposed plan to raise tuition by 8 to 16 percent annually over four years. To avoid tuition increases, funding for the 2013 academic year must increase by $411 million, an 8 percent jump from current year funding. If the state does provide the funding, the university will skip the tuition increase, add course sections and professors across the system’s 10 campuses, enroll more students, and lengthen library hours. If the money doesn’t come through, the UC Board of Regents may implement tuition hikes, albeit more modest ones than were originally suggested. The state legislature cut the system’s funding by $650 million in 2012 from the 2011 academic year, necessitating a tuition increase of more than $1800. More here…

Georgia voters approve $3.2 billion worth of educational funding
Voters across the metro Atlanta, Georgia region this week approved an extension of a one-cent sales tax to fund school construction projects in school districts around the state. The measure passed in spite of substantial political opposition to tax increases, the recession, and Atlanta-area school scandals. The tax will funnel up to $475 million to DeKalb County schools and $513 million to Atlanta Public Schools for new school construction projects. The penny sales tax, known as SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), has been in place for 15 years, during which time hundreds of schools have been granted funds for repairs, upgrades, and new construction. The measure approved Tuesday would extend the tax for another five years. More here…

Equity issues cited in Kansas Governor Sam Brownback’s school finance plan
Kansas Board of Education members this week expressed their concerns with Governor Sam Brownback’s proposal to overhaul the state’s school finance system, saying that his plan would exacerbate fiscal inequalities between wealthy and low-income school districts by allowing districts to utilize more local funding to support schools. This change, board members believe, would shift the burden of funding schools to local taxpayers. The recession has already substantially affected schools, reducing per-student state aid to $3,780 in the 2012 academic year from $4,400 in 2009. Additionally, the proposal comes as Brownback is pushing for major tax reform, including elimination of the state income tax. Board members expressed their concerns that these reforms could render state funding insufficient to cover the state’s share of education costs. More here…

Kentucky budget outlook bleak
Kentucky’s 2012-2014 biennial budget is expected to face serious pressure in comparison to the 2010-2012 budget. Although state revenues are projected to continue increasing slightly every year, the expiration of budgeting tricks used to balance the 2010-2012 budget and federal stimulus funds will leave major shortfalls. Governor Steve Beshear, reelected this week for another term in the governor’s mansion, will propose a budget in January for the 2012-2014 state fiscal years. Legislature has mandated that the governor find $189 million in savings, but four months into the new fiscal year the governor has yet to identify any savings. And with almost no funds left over from the current budget for recurring expenses next year, increasing costs of debt service payments, and mandatory and non-mandatory funding increases on the table, the state will likely face a shortfall totaling at least $337 million in 2012-2013 alone. While teachers received mandated 1 percent salary increases in 2009 and 2010, the budgets for both fiscal year 2011 and 2012 do not include provisions for the raises. More here…