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Nearly half of all states have made significant cuts to education budgets, and as millions of students return to school, they are noticing fewer teachers, larger classes and other changes.
In some cases, schools are making parents pay for busing and supplies, such as pencils and toilet paper. Several schools in South Dakota, Wyoming and Colorado are saving money by moving to a four-day week.
Major budget cuts for schools
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To close budget gaps, administrators are forced to choose from painful cost-cutting measures that include slashing programs, firing teachers and closing schools. |
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Budgeting for a school district is complicated and includes several factors, including the area's tax base, student enrollment, the number of students from low-income families and teacher salary increases.
Many state budgets are being cut because states are not making enough money to cover costs. Some of the biggest cuts in K-12 education can be seen in Oregon ($385 million), Indiana and Washington ($311 million each), Colorado ($213.1 million) and Nevada ($124 million).
At least 23 states have enacted deep cuts in pre-kindergarten and/or K-12 spending, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. States are also cutting funds for public colleges and universities, with Texas taking the biggest cut with $555.1 million. Last year, states trimmed their overall education budgets by $1.2 billion. This year, higher education funding alone is expected to drop $5 billion. States have to make cuts because many have balanced-budget amendments, meaning state governments cannot carry a deficit at the end of each year.
In the graphic below, blue states are the ones that have cut education services due to budget cuts.
Each state is handling the crisis differently
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As a result of education budget cuts, some schools will have shorter school years whil others will have fewer teachers and bigger classes. |
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What could these budget cuts mean for you? It depends on the state.
Some schools will have shorter school years; others will have fewer teachers and more kids in each class. Some schools will cut after-school, music and arts programs and other extra-curricular activities.
TakePart, an organization that focuses on social issue advocacy, made a list of the 10 most “painful” budget cuts in education. The list includes cuts for Head Start, the program that helps fund preschool for low-income children, the shut down of North Carolina’s second-best K-5 school and California’s 19,000 teacher layoffs for the coming school year.
If economy does not improve, more cuts will come
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Education cuts are heppening now because states have run out of money given to them by the 2009 Recovery Act. |
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Although the recession is more than three years old, cuts are being felt harshly now because many states received money from the federal government in the 2009 Recovery Act passed by Congress. States used that money to make up shortfalls in their budgets that would have forced them to fire teachers and limit programs.
However, that money has been spent, and because the government is facing a staggering budget deficit, no one expects Congress to pass another.
In August, Congress passed a debt-ceiling bill that included the creation of a committee that would decide where further cuts would be made. Education is expected to take another hit, along with military spending, health care and other government programs.
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