Credit Where Credit Is Due

Governor Kehoe took a red pen to the state budget before signing it, indicating that he takes his fiscal responsibility seriously. When it comes to cuts in the education budget, of which there were more than 25, the governor  repeatedly mentioned in a letter to the secretary of state that “the budget includes historic funding for public education, totaling over $4 billion, including a half a billion dollars in new funding over the prior fiscal year . . .”

His response to a laundry list of budget items that were earmarked for a particular school district was:

Given the State’s historic investments in education this year, it is incumbent upon local school districts to prioritize the use of their resources for this type of programming as they deem appropriate and necessary.

In other words, the Foundation Formula is intended to make sure that all districts have and are able to spend an amount that is “adequate” for the successful education of their students. The Foundation Formula funds should cover repairing an outdoor track in the Houston R-1 school district, not earmarks.

Some programs, such as the St. Louis reading literacy program or Kansas City for K-12 career literacy resources, were vetoed entirely because the budget contains “multiple other areas of funding for similar programs.”

Increases for programs such as the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Scholarships or the Workforce Diploma Program were removed. Perhaps the governor wants to see evaluations of the impact of these programs first.

All in all, the governor, along with his staff, appears to have finally taken a close look at the education items in the budget before signing it. Perhaps the next fiscal year, when the governor is involved from the beginning, will usher in a new era of responsibility and accountability for the spending of our hard-earned dollars.