Scott—No Easy Budget Remedy
By Monrovia Weekly
Published: Thursday, March 27th, 2008
By Charles Cooper
Senator Jack Scott said he sees no easy solution to the budget crisis which is leading school districts across the state to send out thousands of notices of potential layoffs to teachers.
Schools are being asked to absorb a 10 percent across the board cut to deal with an $8 billion deficit in the coming year.
“Colleges can raise fees, though that’s not a good solution,” he said. “All public schools can do is make cuts, and up to 90 percent of their budget is personnel.”
Scott, chair of the Senate Education Committee, said he would support closing tax loopholes to meet at least some of the gap. “I think the governor is ready to support that, but it won’t get two-thirds support in the legislature.”
The veteran lawmaker, who is leaving the Senate at the end of the term, said the personnel cuts will be especially harsh because they will involve young teachers, who will remain in limbo until the budgets are final.
School districts must adopt a budget by the end of June, while state deliberations are likely to continue through the summer. Districts are also required to maintain a three percent “rainy day” reserve projecting out over three years.
Scott said lawmakers will continue to look for ways to transfer restricted funds into the general coffers, to assist schools, but without new revenue, there isn’t much likelihood of significant relief. In years past, the May budget revision has brought good news, but no one is predicting any help this year.
School districts are asking for help from cities, which did better in this year’s budget, but municipal revenues are also expected to take a hit from loss of sales tax and property tax revenue.
School revenues are currently calculated on average daily attendance, with declining enrollment causing a big loss in funds. Scott has proposed a change to calculate the revenue on average monthly enrollment, to regularize the figures, and has also suggested legislation to allow districts to continue to get class size reduction funds even if budget cuts increase class size in kindergarten through fourth grade.
The senator said he would like to see a state commission take on the task of addressing the revenue picture to eliminate the structural deficit in the budget, estimated at $3 billion a year. He said he would be prepared to serve on such a commission.
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