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Seven States Slash School Spending<br>
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<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/09/24/seven-states-slashing-school-spending/">http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/09/24/seven-states-slashing-school-spending/</a>
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<p>Since the recession began, K-12 education spending has declined
dramatically in some states. In Alabama and Oklahoma, per-pupil
spending fell by more than 20%.</p>
<p>While the majority of state school systems have cut spending
between fiscal year 2008 and the upcoming fiscal year 2014, the
cuts have been much more severe in some places than in others.
According to the latest school spending data compiled by the
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), seven states have
cut per-pupil spending by more than 15% in that time.</p>
<p>“The decline in state revenues was unlike anything that we’ve
seen in decades,” explained Michael Leachman, CBPP director of
state fiscal policy. “The budget problems that resulted from this
past recession were really historic.” That, he continued, resulted
in states being faced with a difficult choice for their school
systems — to raise revenue through taxes during an economic
downturn or cut school funding. The majority of states opted at
least in part for education cuts.</p>
<p>Of the seven states with at least a 15% decline in school funding
between fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2014, five actually further limited
their revenue by cutting income taxes.</p>
<p>Schools rely on three main sources for their funds:
local/municipal, state and federal. Nationally, states account for
roughly 44% of total education funding.</p>
<p>The decline in funding came at a particularly bad time for many
school systems, explained Leachman. While the federal government
initially provided emergency funds to schools through the Recovery
and Reinvestment Act of 2009, those funds are now gone, and
Washington has initiated cuts of its own. At the same time, local
funding took a hit when property values declined during the
recession. The decline in both federal and local funding,
explained Leachman, is “why the state aid cuts really bite.
They’re putting schools between a rock and a hard place.”</p>
<p>Many of the states that are cutting funding are arguably the ones
that can least afford it in the long term. Based on Education
Week’s most recent assessment of schools, five of the seven states
with the largest declines in education funding scored a D+ or
worse in their K-12 achievement, as measured by standardized test
scores.</p>
<p>These states also have among the lowest levels of educational
attainment. Five of the seven states had below-average rates of
adults with high school diplomas. Only one was above the national
rate of adults with college degrees.</p>
<p>“It is very troubling that so many states have cut their school
spending by so much,” noted Leachman. “We’re in a 21st-century
economy where we know education is increasingly important. For the
jobs of the future, more and more are going to require a higher
level of education. You’re putting yourself at a disadvantage if
you’re not producing a workforce that has that level of
education,” he added.</p>
<p>Based on the CBPP report, “Most States Funding Schools Less Than
Before the Recession,” 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the seven states
with at least 15% declines in state education grant money between
fiscal year 2008 and fiscal year 2014. In addition to CBPP data on
school budgets, we reviewed 2012 educational attainment and income
data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. We
also looked at educational achievement and National Association of
Education Progress (NAEP) test scores, as compiled by Education
Week in its 2013 “Quality Counts” report.</p>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/09/24/seven-states-slashing-school-spending/2/">http://247wallst.com/special-report/2013/09/24/seven-states-slashing-school-spending/2/</a>
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<p><strong>5. Idaho</strong><br>
> Pct. chg. per pupil spending (FY’08-FY’14): -16%<br>
> FY ‘14 per-pupil spending: $4,906 (24th most)<br>
> Decline in per-pupil spending (FY’08-FY’14): $930 (4th
biggest decline)<br>
> Adults with bachelor’s degree: 25.5% (14th lowest)</p>
<p>Idaho’s fiscal 2014 budget calls for spending nearly $1,000 less
per student, compared to what they state spent before the
recession. More than half of the spending cut occurred between
2011 and 2012, when spending per pupil dropped by $574. In 2012,
just over a quarter of Idaho residents 25 and older had a
bachelor’s degree, compared to nearly 30% in the nation as a
whole. The Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Luna, would
prefer Idaho be rated by its test scores, which were better than
many of the states with such severe cuts in spending. In 2011,
fourth and eighth graders performed close to or above the national
average in mathematics and reading, based on NAEP test scores.<br>
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<p><br>
Ken<br>
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