School districts across Arizona receive funding from several different sources, not just the state budget (although that is the largest piece). Unfortunately, mainly due to the economy, several of these additional funding sources are down for 2010.
For example, a majority of districts in Arizona had declining enrollment in 2009. A large percentage of the decline can be attributed to foreclosures and relocations due to job losses. Because districts are paid one year in arrears, the impact of declining enrollment will be felt hard in 2010. With that said, there are a dozen or so districts that are still growing rapidly and we will have to address their unique issues in the 2010 budget (i.e. new school facilities, soft capital for furniture, etc.)
One other area impacting school funding is sales tax. School districts receive sales tax proceeds as a result of Prop 301. A large portion of this funding is used for teacher salaries. Schools are being told that as a result of declining sales across all categories, the proceeds from prop 301 will be down by at least $60 per student. For the Mesa Public Schools and their 70,000 students, this is a $4,000,000 hit that is completely outside of the state budget.
A similar conversation can occur for casino gaming proceeds. As a result of the tribal gaming agreement signed several years ago, school districts receive a percentage of casino earnings per student. Because casino revenues have dropped this year, so will the portion going to education in 2010. This is also outside of the state budget.
Finally, the Arizona Department of Education recently made a decision to fund English Language Learners at $8.8 million for 2010, instead of the $40 million they funded in 2009. It is the opinion of someone at ADE that the state can comply with the ELL Task Force model for 25% of the funding it took to comply in 2009. Whereas the Mesa School District received $1.8 million of ELL funding in 2009, they will be receiving zero in 2010. This is also outside of the state budget.
So what does all of this mean? There are actually two important points to make. First, we recently received several e-mails from a group of teachers in eastern Arizona complaining that the Legislature had cut their district budget by 8%. We truly feel for these teachers and the situation they are in; however, the legislative cuts for 2009 were around 2.5%. After staff looked into their situation, it was determined that this particular district had been hit hard by a whole wave of bad luck including declining enrollment, job losses and rising expenses. With that said, it still does not provide much comfort when your paycheck has been reduced so that the district can make it through the end of the school year.
Second point, all legislators need to remember that any cuts proposed for 2010 will be on top of the items already discussed here. For many districts, they will face at least a 5% budget cut before any impact from the 2010 state budget. We promise to consider these outside reductions as we set our 2010 budget and try to grapple with a $3.2 billion deficit.
Sunday, February 22, 2009
2010 Budget - What's Happening Now?
Many people are wondering where we are with the 2010 education budget? The past three weeks have been spent listening to educators, parents and students across the state, gathering ideas, setting priorities, and discussing technical school finance issues.
This month we made trips to Flagstaff and Tucson for Education Committee meetings. The House Education Chair made a trip to Safford to visit with all of the school superintendents from Graham and Greenlee counties. In addition, committee members met with parent groups from Scottsdale and Madison as well as the Higley PTOs.
Coming up this week is an education community meeting in Casa Grande as well as a weekend conference in Scottsdale with 125 education legislators from across the country to discuss education funding and academic achievement.
Finally, legislators are meeting in small groups to start weighing in on their individual priorities for the 2010 budget. For example, one area that many members have weighed in on is the option from the Appropriation Chairmen to cut $2,000,000 from gifted education. Virtually none of the money in the federal stimulus can be used for gifted children; therefore, several members agree that it makes no sense to cut the small pot of money dedicated to educating our best and brightest.
Stay tuned for more updates. We recognize that statute requires school districts to notify teachers by April 15 if they have a job next year or not. It would sure help districts out if we had a budget before then.
This month we made trips to Flagstaff and Tucson for Education Committee meetings. The House Education Chair made a trip to Safford to visit with all of the school superintendents from Graham and Greenlee counties. In addition, committee members met with parent groups from Scottsdale and Madison as well as the Higley PTOs.
Coming up this week is an education community meeting in Casa Grande as well as a weekend conference in Scottsdale with 125 education legislators from across the country to discuss education funding and academic achievement.
Finally, legislators are meeting in small groups to start weighing in on their individual priorities for the 2010 budget. For example, one area that many members have weighed in on is the option from the Appropriation Chairmen to cut $2,000,000 from gifted education. Virtually none of the money in the federal stimulus can be used for gifted children; therefore, several members agree that it makes no sense to cut the small pot of money dedicated to educating our best and brightest.
Stay tuned for more updates. We recognize that statute requires school districts to notify teachers by April 15 if they have a job next year or not. It would sure help districts out if we had a budget before then.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
2010 Budget - All-Day Kindergarten
Of all the topics being discussed regarding the upcoming K-12 budget, the one that seems to get the most press is all-day Kindergarten. At present, all-day K costs the state approximately $218 million per year. There is a strong divide between those who say it is simply state paid childcare and those who say it is a critical beginning for young children.
The research tends to support both arguments. Children who attend all-day K who come from parent educated homes, with moderate to high incomes fare no better by third grade than children from the same background who only attended half-day kindergarten.
However, disadvantaged children (i.e. single parent, low-income, developmentally delayed, etc.) who attend all-day K show better results by third grade than their counterparts who attend only a half-day program.
So what is the solution? It is probably something in the middle. When all-day K first began it was only offered at low-income schools as determined by free and reduced lunch percentages. A return to this idea will probably not make either side happy but it will give each something to hang on to.
If all-day K were offered at only those schools that had 60% or more free and reduced percentages, the state would save over $100 million while still providing a critical early learning experience to children who benefit most. Districts and schools who want to offer a tuition-based program for all-day K are always welcome to do so.
The research tends to support both arguments. Children who attend all-day K who come from parent educated homes, with moderate to high incomes fare no better by third grade than children from the same background who only attended half-day kindergarten.
However, disadvantaged children (i.e. single parent, low-income, developmentally delayed, etc.) who attend all-day K show better results by third grade than their counterparts who attend only a half-day program.
So what is the solution? It is probably something in the middle. When all-day K first began it was only offered at low-income schools as determined by free and reduced lunch percentages. A return to this idea will probably not make either side happy but it will give each something to hang on to.
If all-day K were offered at only those schools that had 60% or more free and reduced percentages, the state would save over $100 million while still providing a critical early learning experience to children who benefit most. Districts and schools who want to offer a tuition-based program for all-day K are always welcome to do so.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
2010 Budget - Early Learners
Several years ago, a number of charter schools and school districts decided to take advantage of the law that allowed schools to admit students into kindergarten who were four years old on September 1st, but who turned five before December 31st. This law was actually put in place so that parents who felt their child was ready could begin kindergarten at age four and then move on to 1st grade the next year.
What these charters and districts started doing was accepting four year old children who were not quite ready for kindergarten, and then retaining them at the end of the school year to repeat kindergarten. They even had a name for it, "Early Learners." The schools were then paid twice for kindergarten for these children.
So here is the challenge for the Legislature. It is now 2009 and there are a handful of districts and charters that are having a very large number of children repeat kindergarten - to the tune of approximately $11.2 million. This is not fair to the majority of districts and charters in Arizona who only accept four year olds who are ready for kindergarten. Even though we recognize the benefits of early education for four year olds, having pre-school paid for by the State, under the guise of kindergarten, is not the best use of state resources. If a district or charter wants to offer a tuition-based, pre-school program, we applaud their efforts and encourage them to do so.
There is a very high probability that this program of paying for kindergarten twice will be eliminated under the FY2010 K-12 budget in order to save $11.2 million. The good news is that for most districts and charters in Arizona, they will not see any budget cut as a result of the elimination of this program.
What these charters and districts started doing was accepting four year old children who were not quite ready for kindergarten, and then retaining them at the end of the school year to repeat kindergarten. They even had a name for it, "Early Learners." The schools were then paid twice for kindergarten for these children.
So here is the challenge for the Legislature. It is now 2009 and there are a handful of districts and charters that are having a very large number of children repeat kindergarten - to the tune of approximately $11.2 million. This is not fair to the majority of districts and charters in Arizona who only accept four year olds who are ready for kindergarten. Even though we recognize the benefits of early education for four year olds, having pre-school paid for by the State, under the guise of kindergarten, is not the best use of state resources. If a district or charter wants to offer a tuition-based, pre-school program, we applaud their efforts and encourage them to do so.
There is a very high probability that this program of paying for kindergarten twice will be eliminated under the FY2010 K-12 budget in order to save $11.2 million. The good news is that for most districts and charters in Arizona, they will not see any budget cut as a result of the elimination of this program.
2010 Budget - Fair Criticism
Recently, we received an e-mail from a parent concerned about budget cuts for FY2010 in response to a letter she had received from her school district's Superintendent. The e-mail from the parent had completely inaccurate information regarding the FY2010 budget process. Because we had a great relationship with the Superintendent, we called him up and asked a few questions.
He very graciously explained that one reason parents and teachers are in such a panic is because the only printed information out there for people to read are the Chairmen's options, which total almost $900 million in cuts in FY2010. This "options" book was put out early in session to list every possible cut available to legislators. Those of us down at the Capitol know that there will never be $900 million in cuts to K-12 funding; but, unless you are down here, you wouldn't know this.
The statement made by this Superintendent is a fair criticism of the process. In order to provide additional information for parents and teachers, we are going to start listing items in the K-12 budget items that are being discussed during the FY 2010 budget process on the blog. However, keep in mind that nothing passes through the Legislature without 31 Representative votes, 16 Senator votes and the Governor's signature. This means everything is up for discussion until the very end.
Blog entries relating to the budget will always begin with the title "2010 Budget - and then the name of the area being discussed".
He very graciously explained that one reason parents and teachers are in such a panic is because the only printed information out there for people to read are the Chairmen's options, which total almost $900 million in cuts in FY2010. This "options" book was put out early in session to list every possible cut available to legislators. Those of us down at the Capitol know that there will never be $900 million in cuts to K-12 funding; but, unless you are down here, you wouldn't know this.
The statement made by this Superintendent is a fair criticism of the process. In order to provide additional information for parents and teachers, we are going to start listing items in the K-12 budget items that are being discussed during the FY 2010 budget process on the blog. However, keep in mind that nothing passes through the Legislature without 31 Representative votes, 16 Senator votes and the Governor's signature. This means everything is up for discussion until the very end.
Blog entries relating to the budget will always begin with the title "2010 Budget - and then the name of the area being discussed".
Sunday, February 8, 2009
ACT Pilot Project - Something to Aim For
Yes, we have some budget challenges, but we still have to teach our children and encourage them to achieve. One of the more exciting things coming up is the Arizona ACT pilot project. For the past several years, Arizona has had the lowest percentage among all 50 states of students taking a college entrance exam. We have the opportunity to quickly turn this around.
Once each year, the American College Testing (ACT) organization offers a weekday option (instead of a Saturday) of the ACT college entrance exam for statewide (i.e. CO, IL, MI, TN and MS) and school district participants. This year the exam is being offered on Wednesday, April 22, 2009. The cost to participate is $31 per student, but thanks to a $250,000 seed grant from the Helios Education Foundation and participation from each of the school districts, this pilot project has become a reality, at no cost to the student.
Eight school districts (Flagstaff, Globe, Lake Havasu, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix Union, Round Valley, and Window Rock) have accepted the challenge to participate in this pilot project. Each of these superintendents and their respective school boards have agreed to take the bold step of testing every junior in their district on Wednesday, April 22. These eight districts have a combined enrollment of approximately 15,000 juniors.
Over the next three months, you will hear more about this pilot project and the test results. Just a quick thought, if you are the parent of a junior not in one of the eight pilot districts, encourage your child to take the ACT or SAT college entrance exam. There is very little downside to taking the exam and huge upside potential. Click on the links below to get to the right website.
ACT Exam SAT Exam
ACT/SAT 2007
ACT vs SAT 2008
Once each year, the American College Testing (ACT) organization offers a weekday option (instead of a Saturday) of the ACT college entrance exam for statewide (i.e. CO, IL, MI, TN and MS) and school district participants. This year the exam is being offered on Wednesday, April 22, 2009. The cost to participate is $31 per student, but thanks to a $250,000 seed grant from the Helios Education Foundation and participation from each of the school districts, this pilot project has become a reality, at no cost to the student.
Eight school districts (Flagstaff, Globe, Lake Havasu, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix Union, Round Valley, and Window Rock) have accepted the challenge to participate in this pilot project. Each of these superintendents and their respective school boards have agreed to take the bold step of testing every junior in their district on Wednesday, April 22. These eight districts have a combined enrollment of approximately 15,000 juniors.
Over the next three months, you will hear more about this pilot project and the test results. Just a quick thought, if you are the parent of a junior not in one of the eight pilot districts, encourage your child to take the ACT or SAT college entrance exam. There is very little downside to taking the exam and huge upside potential. Click on the links below to get to the right website.
ACT Exam SAT Exam
ACT/SAT 2007
ACT vs SAT 2008
Monday, February 2, 2009
What's on tap for the week of February 2, 2009
The House Education Committee will be busy with several tasks this week.
-Education Committee Meeting on Monday the 2nd. Four bills are being heard.
-Early conversations will begin this week to discuss how a federal stimulus plan for education would be handled. As of today we still do not know when it is coming, how much is involved, what period it is for, what strings are attached, etc. We do know that something is coming but that is all.
-Beginning this week, we will also start working on a 2010 budget for education. We will be meeting with dozens of groups across the state over the next few weeks getting input and suggestions.
-Education Committee Meeting on Monday the 2nd. Four bills are being heard.
-Early conversations will begin this week to discuss how a federal stimulus plan for education would be handled. As of today we still do not know when it is coming, how much is involved, what period it is for, what strings are attached, etc. We do know that something is coming but that is all.
-Beginning this week, we will also start working on a 2010 budget for education. We will be meeting with dozens of groups across the state over the next few weeks getting input and suggestions.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)