P-12 sees both increases and cuts in budget bill

| Post by Susan Perkins Weston |

Yesterday, the General Assembly approved a two year budget for the Commonwealth, resolving disagreements between the two chambers.  For P12 education, that budget includes a mix of increases and cuts. Compared to the current fiscal 2018 enacted budget, the bill calls for fiscal 2019 spending with changes like these:

• $21 million more for facilities
• $14 million more for school district employees’ health insurance
• $11 million more for teachers' retirement (employer match for current employees)
• $3 million more for safe schools program

• $10 million in new funding to help districts facing major losses in the tax value of their unmined minerals
• $1 million in new funding to pay Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate exam fees for students with low family incomes

• $0.3 million less for the Mathematics Achievement Fund
• $0.4 million less for SEEK base/Tier 1/transportation
• $0.4 million less for the gifted and talented program
• $1 million less for Read to Achieve grants
• $1 million less for state agency children
• $2 million less for extended school services
• $3 million less for family resource and youth service centers
• $6 million less for preschool
• $12 million less for professional development
• $17 million less for textbooks and other instructional resources

• $10 million less for smaller line item programs funded for less than $5 million in fiscal 2018
• $3 million less for Kentucky Department of Education funding not in line items

Three other changes in the bill, not included within KDE’s budget, will also matter for P-12 education. Those changes (again comparing enacted fiscal 2018 to the bill’s fiscal 2019 appropriations) are:

• $3 million less for the Education Professional Standards Board
• $5 million less for the School Facilities Construction Commission
• $83 million more for the separate Teachers Retirement System appropriation aimed at covering retirement benefits for work done in past years

The state funding plan now awaits action by Governor Bevin.

Our two-page PrichBlog summary shows added detail, including changes for the 2020 budget and a detail page on small programs that receive less than $5 million in funding. You can download that here, or view the complete budget bill approved by both chambers here.