East Bay school districts grapple with budget scenarios ranging from flat to catastrophic

03-14-2011

By Katy Murphy/Oakland Tribune

Some school districts are calling it the "worst-case scenario" -- a $2 billion cut in K-12 education funding that is all but guaranteed if California doesn't extend a $12.6 billion package of temporary taxes. But the worst-case scenario, in fact, is far worse than that. California's budget deficit is $26.6 billion. About 40 percent of the state's general fund is allocated to public schools. If the temporary taxes expire this year and the Legislature suspends the state's minimum-funding guarantee for schools, K-12 education cuts could easily reach $4 billion or more, according to estimates from the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office. That's $700 per student, about 13 percent of the average school district's general-purpose money. And it's twice the amount that many California school districts are preparing to cut from next year's budget. The funding scenarios that schools could face are so wildly different -- from flat funding to the loss of $1,000 per student -- that the two East Bay agencies in charge of monitoring local school districts' budgets don't even agree on how to advise their respective districts. (more...)

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East Bay school districts grapple with budget scenarios ranging from flat to catastrophic

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