Survey: Spending cuts for schools have bottomed out in many states

In a fall survey of 37 states and the District of Columbia, the Center on Education Policy found that states are expecting to invest more funds in schools in 2011–12 than the previous year, though state education agencies are unlikely to see any increases in funding.

The center offers anonymity to survey responders, so it is not clear whether California is included among the 37 states.

These findings are presented in two reports released this month: After the Stimulus Ends: The Status of State K–12 Education Funding and Reforms and State Education Funding and Staffing in the Education Reform Era.

“There is a mixed picture for states. On the one hand, there is a strong feeling that state funding for K–12 education hit bottom last fiscal year and is on the rebound,” said Diane Stark Rentner, interim director of the center, in a press release. “On the other hand, most state education agencies are seeing their operating budgets cut or level-funded even as the agencies are being asked to do more with less.”

The report is of limited usefulness for California, because the fate of the state’s schools will be shaped by the outcome of an initiative or initiatives being proposed by Gov. Brown and others for the November 2012 ballot. In other words, whether California’s school budget cutbacks have “bottomed out” depends entirely on whether voters approve an initiative or initiatives, rather than on an improved economy or the ability or desire of  the state Legislature to provide more school funding.