| Kentucky Education Leader Warns of Public Schools Budget Burden |
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Kentucky Education Leader Warns of Public Schools Budget Burden
Kentucky Education Commissioner Jon Draud issued a dire warning regarding the just approved 2009-2010 Kentucky Executive Budget placing a “heavy burden” on public schools.
The Department of Education staff is undertaking a complete assessment of the budget for the Governor. This program review goes right into the Governor’s review of the budget over this weekend.
The Governor is working against a short timetable of this weekend before the last two days of the Legislative Session convenes on Monday and Tuesday. He must decide soon if he will veto the total budget or just part of it or let it stand as it is structured.
Commissioner Draud review of the budget has identified several major areas that will cause undo harm to the existing local public school’s infrastructure remaining at current levels.
His analysis of the proposed budget shows the following:
(1). Overall, the budget cuts funding for pre-school through 12th grade by $2 million next year. Funding increases by $86 million the next year.
Draud said that these “budget cuts will have a negative effect on students and teachers and urged lawmakers to find more revenue.”
"It is difficult to justify strong accountability for schools and motivate them to be successful when we do not provide them with the resources they need," Draud said in a statement. "Although the legislature developed the best budget it could with the monies available, Kentucky needs additional revenue."
(2) Hard hit from budget cuts are the after-school tutoring program, teacher development and school safety programs. Funding for those programs was slashed by more than 50 percent.
(3) Another area of major concern with the budget is that no money is provided to operate a new statewide student attendance and information system.
Funding will have to be diverted from other programs or student records, ranging from attendance to grades, will have to be recorded by hand, Draud warned. Lawmakers provided $4 million to set up the new system but not the $3 million Draud said is needed to operate the program.
(4) Draud also noted that at least one education advocacy group has predicted teacher layoffs across the state as schools struggle to provide a mandated 1 percent raise in each of the next two years.
Leaders of the Council for Better Education, which represents most of the state's school superintendents, made a public statement on Monday that many school districts would be forced to cut staff.
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