The state's economic forecasters had some good news and bad news for lawmakers on Friday. The good news: the economy seems to have turned a corner. The bad: revenues won't be recovering for a while. From the Denver Post:
Colorado's budget shortfall has grown another $40 million, reaching a projected $600.6 million for the fiscal year that ends in June, state economists said today. And the state is now facing what appears to be closer to a $1.5 billion shortfall for the next fiscal year, which starts in July, an increase from previous estimates that put the budget gap at $1 billion to $1.3 billion.
Ed News reports on what that may mean for K-12:
Reductions in state support for K-12 schools in 2010-11 may be larger than previously proposed, based on new state revenue predictions issued Friday. Additional cuts could be between $65 and $70 million.
Such new cuts would be on top of $354 million in proposed cuts that already amount to a statewide average cut of about $440 per student. And that cut follows years of Colorado's comparative K-12 funding decline, to $1,397 below the national average.
These cuts aren't academic, but will have real and immediate impact on Colorado's students, as numerous press accounts demonstrate:
In Littleton:
Reducing staff by the equivalent of 58 positions, more than 6.5 percent at all levels. The move carries the impact of increasing teaching time and class size and potentially cutting instruction time in art, music and physical education, among other implications.
In Pueblo:
At a special meeting, Pueblo County School District 70 Superintendent Dan Lere laid out a list of ways the district could balance its budget in the face of rising costs and declining revenue. Cutting school days, closing schools and wage freezes were among the ideas to close the $4.9 million deficit.
Lere led off the discussion with a proposal for a four-day week . . .
And in St. Vrain:
Closing schools, increasing class size and implementing transportation fees are some options St. Vrain Valley School District officials are considering in light of next year's possible $11 million funding cut.
"We have to put everything on the table, given the amount of money we're talking about," superintendent Don Haddad said during a Board of Education study session on Wednesday.
St. Vrain school board president John Creighton summed up the situation: "We've made the choices that this is the kind of state we've chosen to live in."
It cannot be repeated enough, however, that Colorado can still choose a different path.
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