Dangerous Precedent – Trigger Cuts
This week school districts received the “good” news that trigger cuts from the 2011/12 budget will be smaller than the initial LAO forecast from November. Transportation reductions of $248 million will severely impact rural school districts and large urban school districts that use busing for getting students to schools. The $80 million reduction in base revenue funding amounts to $13 to $15 per student for all school districts.
This new budget gimmick of using trigger cuts to pass a state budget is very dangerous. School districts make decisions about future staffing levels based on future revenue assumptions. When the state budget does not commit to a specific funding level for schools, staffing and program decisions are delayed. Last June, 95% did not restore programs or make staffing commitments due to this uncertainty.
Looking forward to 2012/13 budget cycle it is highly unlikely the Governor and the Legislature will not use trigger cuts as part of their budget. My guess is that trigger cuts will be tied to a November revenue initiative. If the initiative fails, the axe will fail on a number of programs including K-12 school funding. As a result, do not expect any commitments from school boards to fund restoration of programs or staffing.
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