Funding

Governor Barbour has frequently referred to budget cuts as “belt-tightening” for state agencies and school districts. That sounds pretty harmless – until you know what “belt tightening” really looks like in Mississippi schools. 75 – 85% of any school district’s budget is made up of personnel costs: salaries, retirement, and insurance benefits. Teachers are employed […]

The following is one school district’s explanation of how it has been affected by budget cuts. Based on the current budget cut of 8.2% our district will be reducing our budget in the following areas: We have not filled the following positions that have become open due to illness, retirement, death, etc.:  middle school math

Governor Barbour, in his annual State of the State address, reiterated his desire for the Legislature to grant him additional authority to make cuts to the current-year budget.  He is requesting authority to make cuts, at his discretion, up to 10% of state agencies’ budgets.  Current law allows him discretion in making cuts up to 5% of

Mississippi law requires that the State of Mississippi operate within a balanced budget, and it expressly prohibits the state from running a budget deficit. State statute further requires that, when revenue comes in 2% or more below projections, the governor take actions to bring the budget into balance. This law provides the governor, as the State Fiscal

Governor Barbour’s Executive Budget Recommendation for FY2011 included a 68% cut to K-12 Add-ons, state funding for Special Education, Vocational Education, Gifted Education, and Transportation. According to House Education Chairman Cecil Brown, a CPA and former director of the Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration, these cuts would jeopardize as much as $176-million in federal

Governor Barbour’s FY11 budget recommendation calls for funding the Mississippi Adequate Education Program (MAEP) at a level that is $237-million, or 10.9%, below the FY10 (current year) appropriation.  The Mississippi Department of Education has estimated that the cost to adequately fund schools in the coming year, according to the MAEP formula, will be approximately $61-million

Governor Barbour announced $54-million in additional cuts to the current-year state budget.  Though MAEP was spared in this round of cuts, the Educable Child program was cut $593,000 and Vocational & Technical Education took at $1.5-million hit for a total cut to K-12 education of $2.1-million.  Agencies included in this round of cuts had their

On Monday, November 16th, Governor Barbour presented his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11), the coming fiscal year.  As expected, the governor’s budget assumes a very bleak revenue picture for the coming year and includes deep cuts to state services. The governor’s FY11 budget does not spare K-12 education.  It calls for funding the