State Budget Education Primer Want to know about State Budgets, what's in the General Fund and how does SPS compare to other districts [ download / view file ]
The State Budget Information from the WA PTA Governor Gregoire released her all-cuts budget for 2011-13 on Dec. 15, carrying over K-12 education cuts in the current budget, making dramatic reductions in state programs and eliminating many others. In essence, she is asking the legislature to suspend the new program for basic education while eliminating supplemental funding that had been added over the years.
Total cuts to K-12 education: $2.2 billion.
State Superintendent of Public Schools Randy Dorn called the last five days, "the worst for students in Washington state in the 30 years I've been in education." [ more... ]
Phasing in more state funding: Mixed bag HB 2776 passed in 2010 starts phasing in basic ed finance reform. The new, more transparent funding formulas based on the prototypical schools model will be implemented at current funding levels. Class-size reduction and all-day K will be phased in starting in the 2011-2013 biennium. Transportation funding will be increased starting in 2011-2013; utilities, maintenance and operations costs will be adjusted in 2015. No mention of increased class time for kids or more periods in middle and high school. [ more... ]
