Cuts portion of state funding for Classroom Teachers and replaces with lottery dollars.
Cuts portion of state funding for Teacher Assistant (TA) positions and replaces with lottery dollars. Cuts budget for TAs for 2014-15 school year compared to original budget enacted FY 2015.
Shifts funding from ongoing to one-time funding for TAs in grades K-3, meaning schools will have to fight to keep a large share of their TA funding in future years.
Cuts state funding for school bus replacement as a result of prolonging the amount of time school buses must be in use before being replaced.
Cuts state funding for transportation, which supports salaries of transportation personnel and maintenance of school buses.
Cuts funding for at-risk student services program by more than $9 million, making it more difficult for vulnerable populations to receive targeted assistance and graduate on time.
Provides funding to decrease class sizes in grades K-1.
Provides state funding to reinstate education-based salary supplement for certain teachers. Teachers who already have a master’s degree and meet certain criteria will be grandfathered in and receive and education-based salary supplement. However, teachers who earn a master’s degree in the years ahead will not receive an education-based salary supplement.
Provides a tiny boost in funding for textbooks, resulting in state funding for K-12 textbooks for current school year ($24.3 million) well below the amount needed to ensure students have access to updated textbooks in their classrooms (peak level spending was more than $110 million, adjusted for inflation, in FY 2010).
Adjusts projected student enrollment growth downward for FY 2014-15, for total savings of $37.4 million.
Provides additional $840,000 in state funding for Opportunity Scholarships, vouchers for K-12 students choosing to attend private schools (Note: These vouchers were ruled unconstitutional after the budget was approved ).
Eliminated automatic funding increases for increased student enrollment (this change means that administrators cannot hire new teachers for the school year until a new state budget has been approved, which may be as late as July or August)
Voting 2016 