School budget set; small boost follows last year’s cuts

Here’s a link to my full story at spokesman.com on the public school budget set today in the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee; the budget still must pass both the House and Senate and receive the governor’s signature to become law, but budget bills rarely change once they’re set by the joint committee. The budget, approved on a series of party-line votes, comes to $1.28 billion in state general funds, a 4.6 percent increase, but total funds, at $1.57 billion, are up just 0.4 percent.