Governor’s allotments; House appropriations meetings take us into Thanksgiving holiday
The spirit of Thanksgiving felt a bit dim to many around the Statehouse on Monday, as Governor Parkinson reluctantly announced allotments (budget cuts) needed to get FY 2010 to a balanced budget. This spirit was only enhanced as education leaders came before the House Appropriations Committee to highlight the painful nature of district cuts already made and were given little hope from legislators that the picture for next year would look any better.
Three school administrators—Fred Kaufman (Hays), Gary French (Osawatomie), and Rob Winter (Salina)—are to be commended for presenting such strong, often impassioned, portraits of just how painfully the dramatic budget cuts are impacting their students and districts—and how absolutely heart-rending many of the decisions thereof have been for school leaders.
While there were some comments from the committee that chided and questioned district leaders’ decisions—one even expressing contempt for claims that the increased funding in recent years had any real impact at all on student achievement—the overall tone expressed by most committee members was appreciation for administrators’ attempts to make decisions that have the least harmful impact on student learning. As well, a number thanked administrators for keeping an open dialogue with the Legislature and implored them to keep “painting the picture” of how schools and students are being affected by legislative policies and budget cuts.
Governor’s allotments
As was reported yesterday, the governor did announce his latest round of allotments. (It should be gratefully noted that the governor’s office provided a courtesy call to USA|Kansas' lobbyist Monday morning detailing those allotments, out of respect for the organization and its leaders.) The K-12 allotment decisions are as follows:
Requested Supplemental General State Aid will be reduced by $85.9 million, but that will be offset by calling up that amount in federal Recovery Act funds that had been budgeted for FY 2011. This will leave the state with just $189.6 million in federal Recovery funding, both State Fiscal Stabilization and Special Education, in the next fiscal year;
General State Aid will be reduced by $36.7 million, taking it down to the FY 2006 level and the governor will not seek a waiver that would allow the state to go below that level; and,
The governor will not seek to decouple from the ARRA regulations tying K-12 and higher education funding together.
So, where does that leave the BSAPP? It, first, bears keeping in mind that Kansas Statues provide for a BSAPP of $4,492 for the current fiscal year and each school year following. Last year’s appropriations process provided a BSAPP of $4,400 in school year 2008-09 and the Legislature adjourned providing $4,280 in BSAPP. The first round of Governor Parkinson’s allotments earlier this year left it at just $4,068. Now, according to Deputy Commissioner Dale Dennis, the BSAPP will drop to approximately $4,012.
Dale Dennis has produced and released a run detailing the impact of the latest allotments on school districts (SF0011 can be accessed on the USA|Kansas website). USA|Kansas will keep you updated on further legislative and executive decisions, as they impact K-12 education in Kansas.
Excerpt from Governor Parkinson’s allotment address
“Unfortunately, we are now to the point of potentially making crippling cuts to state services. This latest round of budget reductions will mean that class sizes will again increase in Kansas schools. Some districts will be forced to lay off teachers and close schools. These cuts mean that our universities will have fewer professors, offer fewer classes and critical investments in our future are in jeopardy. These budget cuts will force us to reduce supervision of released prisoners, increase the number of disabled citizens waiting for services and reduce road maintenance across the state.
It is my obligation as a leader to balance the budget. But it is also my duty to protect our most precious resources. So I have once again balanced the budget. I promised that I would and I have kept that promise. But we cannot make it through this recession by cutting ourselves into an incurable position. When the Legislature returns in January, together we must look towards building a solution for the years ahead or we will permanently damage the foundation of our state.”
We wish all of you a very safe and joyous Thanksgiving!
Regards,
Executive Director
United School Administrators of Kansas
515 S. Kansas Avenue, Suite 201
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