Amanda Litvinov's List: School funding

• That

  increase in K-12 funding is tied to special programs and incentives, and will not raise the state's per-pupil allocation, which Snyder cut by $430 last year. After those extensive cuts, some education advocates feel this year's budget doesn't do enough.

    

  "Putting a fraction of that $1 billion back into schools doesn't fix the problems that such a massive cut caused cut last year," said Michigan Education Association President Steve Cook in a statement.

• Gov. Scott Walker plans to announce his plans for the surplus during his State of the State speech on Jan. 22. But his spokeswoman says the governor is eyeing property and income tax cuts.

• The FY 2015 operating budget includes a fifth year of flat funding of public education.

• With an over $2 billion surplus today and an over $2 billion surplus projected in FY2015 after implementing this budget proposal, with a positive revenue forecast, with several new government obligations coming out of the House Education Committee to expand private school vouchers (HB 1003-HB 1004), to expand tax credits for private school parents and homeschooling parents (HB 1003), to provide a 14% increase in virtual education funding (HB 1338); ISTA respectfully asks the House to consider additional assistance for Indiana’s community-based public schools—the schools where the parents of about 1 million Hoosier students seek their children’s learning opportunities.

• Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, a Republican, delivered a stern message to the courts about who bankrolls education in Kansas — the legislature does.  “This is the people’s business, done by the people’s house through the wonderfully untidy — but open for all to see — business of appropriations,” Brownback said. In the audience were members of the Kansas Supreme Court, which could rule any day on a lawsuit seeking $600 million in added state funding for local school districts.

• "I want to hear Governor Snyder talking about a real commitment to our schools. He's cut $2 billion from public education over his first three years in office and we've seen the damaging results in overcrowded classrooms and entire school districts being shut down. I want to see more than lip service paid to our kids and our educators."

• Now the debate begins over how to allocate the windfall. Democratic legislators are calling for more spending on welfare, kindergarten and child care.
• Another option for states with surpluses is cutting taxes.

• In 2012, Tennessee cut its inheritance tax, its gift tax, its sales tax on groceries and some of its taxes on bond dividends and interest — reducing annual revenues from those sources by about $165 million. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam said budgeting for the next fiscal year is going to be difficult, especially as the state faces rising education and health care costs.

  Kansas also cut taxes and is now facing a revenue shortfall. According to the Rockefeller Institute, Kansas reported the largest revenue decline for the third quarter of 2013 at 9.4%. In 2013, Republican Gov. Sam Brownback signed an income tax cut, and Kansas reduced its sales tax rate from 6.3% to 6.15%.

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