The school budget…

Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the public school budget set by JFAC today, the single largest slide of the state budget and the focus of much angst in this year of budget-cutting. Idaho’s public schools would see a $47 million funding cut next year, considerably less than the $62 million cut lawmakers had been pondering, but still a big hit to already hard-hit schools that would see state funding drop for all school employees’ salaries.

Overall, the budget reflects a 0.8 percent increase in state general funds, and a 1.3 percent cut in total funds, but that total-funds percentage is skewed because the total-funds budget for next year includes $25.8 million in federal jobs money, the second half of $51.6 million in federal jobs money that arrived in the state in August to save teaching jobs; the first half never was counted in this year’s budget, because it came in after the budget was set. If you leave out that $25.8 million, the total-funds school budget for next year is cut by $47 million, or 3 percent. Here’s a link to a breakdown of the motion that shows those figures.