Alabama School Connection » Funding and Finance

The Alabama Reading Initiative Survives (Mostly) Intact

State lawmakers slashed $7.4 million from the historically successful Alabama Reading Initiative (ARI) for the FY17 budget, and the cuts are hitting some schools harder than others. Though ARI was funded at a high of $64 million in FY08, that funding dropped to $40.8 million for...

Posted On May 19 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Did Teacher Raises Get Eaten by Health Insurance Hikes?

Though education employees haven’t yet received a paycheck with that newly-approved raise, they’ve already been told they’ll pay more for health insurance beginning October 1. Raises also go into effect on October 1. Education employees making $75,000 o...

Posted On May 11 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

How State Lawmakers’ Decisions Impacted Money for Schools This Year

Education groups agree that the biggest victory of the 2016 legislative session is the increase in money flowing to Alabama’s schools and teachers for the 2017 fiscal year (October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2017). State lawmakers passed the largest education budget...

Posted On May 11 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

What’s Coming This Week in the Legislature

Busy week ahead, folks. Tuesday, the Senate Education Policy Committee meeting will hold a public hearing in Room 304 at 12:30 p.m. on the PREP Act, Sen. Del Marsh’s (R-Anniston) teacher evaluation reform bill. Planning to Periscope the hearing if at all possible. Look for...

Posted On Mar 07 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

The House Committee’s Version of the Education Budget

The Alabama House Ways and Means Education committee gave a favorable report to its version of the Education Trust Fund budget yesterday. It approved a package of bills, including the actual budget, a pay raise bill, and additional ordinary appropriation bills. Lots of news folks...

Posted On Mar 03 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

The Difference in What the Ed Department Wanted and What the Governor Recommended

Budgets indicate…and reveal…priorities. Each year, the Alabama Legislative Fiscal Office (LFO) publishes a spreadsheet of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) budget as it makes its way through the legislature, starting with the Governor’s recommended budget. [Yes,...

Posted On Feb 22 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

A Busy Week in Education Policy News

It has been a busy week (or two) in education policy, folks. From movement on the charter school front, to budget presentations, to new bills poised to change the landscape of public education (again), there’s a lot to keep up with. And oh yeah, the Alabama Legislature...

Posted On Feb 07 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

How Alabamians Feel About Public Education

How do Alabamians feel about public education? Depends on which question you ask, it seems. The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama (PARCA) has released the results of their annual public survey last week. Topics include taxes and public education and public priorities....

Posted On Feb 01 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Alabama Superintendent Salaries for FY16

Found the FY16 Superintendent Salaries on the Alabama State Department of Education web site today. These salaries are published on a yearly basis. Superintendent salaries are paid with local tax money. Here are a few different ways to look at these salaries. Hover over a...

Posted On Jan 11 2016

, By Trisha Powell Crain

State Board FY17 Budget Priorities – Are Teacher Raises Coming?

The State Board of Education spent nearly two hours discussing their budget priorities for FY17. State Superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice included teacher raises among those priorities. In today’s Decatur Daily, Mary Sell writes about Bice’s presentation to state board...

Posted On Oct 09 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

The Bottom Line: How Education Funding Was Affected by the Second Special Session

A lot of numbers are being thrown around as folks try to explain what happened to education funding as a result of the passage of the General Fund budget in the recently-ended second special session. When asked which numbers to believe, Othni Lathram, Interim Director of the...

Posted On Sep 30 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Are There Building Plans in Your District’s Future?

Are there building plans in your district’s future? If you don’t know the answer, keep reading to learn how to find out. In order to access state-provided capital funds, every school district is required to file a five-year capital plan with the Alabama State...

Posted On Sep 24 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Massive Inequity in Local School Funding, Illustrated

Opportunities available to children in Alabama’s K-12 public schools ultimately determine the haves and have-nots. While the state legislature is charged with funding K-12 schools equitably and adequately, we now know that is not the case. Without state dollars, districts...

Posted On Sep 22 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Inequitable and Inadequate: State Funding for Alabama’s Schools

The results are in: Alabama’s system of funding K-12 public education is most certainly inequitable. And nowhere near adequate. Justin Silverstein of Augenblick, Palaich and Associates (APA) delivered those results at September’s state board of education work session...

Posted On Sep 21 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

State Superintendent’s Position on the Legislature’s Actions

After the legislature settled on transferring $80 million from the Education Trust Fund to the General Fund, some in the education community were confused by statements of support for that decision coming from Alabama’s State Superintendent of Education, Dr. Tommy Bice....

Posted On Sep 16 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Will the Legislature Transfer $50 or $100 Million from the Education Trust Fund?

How much money will the legislature move out of the Education Trust Fund? That’s the multi-million-dollar question. Late last week, the House voted to transfer an estimated $50 million of use taxes out of the Education Trust Fund, beginning in FY17 (which starts October 1,...

Posted On Sep 14 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Filling in the State School Funding Gap: “We’re Our Own Worst Enemy”

“Our educators are so dedicated, we’re our own worst enemy,” Alabama state superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice said, “because what we do is we take every scrap that we can find to make it work, regardless. And we always have.” He added, “It’s...

Posted On Sep 11 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Results of School Finance Study to be Presented Thursday

At Thursday’s state board of education work session, school finance consultants Augenblick, Palaich and Associates, Inc.. (APA) will present their final report, state superintendent Dr. Tommy Bice confirmed late this afternoon. APA was hired in 2013 to conduct a study to...

Posted On Sep 09 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

House Ways and Means General Fund Committee Meeting to Consider New Taxes

The House Ways and Means General Fund Committee will consider a number of bills to raise revenue for the General Fund at 10:00 a.m. today. If you’re not on Twitter, it’s tough to follow the live action. So here’s the action. Follow along. Will Storify it later....

Posted On Sep 09 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Ten Years of Per Pupil Spending, Adjusted for Inflation

With all this talk about state budgets and how the abyss in the General Fund will be filled, it helps to know the facts when it comes to funding for public education in Alabama. So here are ten years’ worth of per pupil expenditures (PPE) by district. Adjusted for...

Posted On Sep 03 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Education Funding in Alabama: Is It a Priority?

It is often said that you can tell a person’s priorities by looking at how they spend money. If that is so, then it looks like the Alabama legislature’s priority for public education is about the same as it was a dozen years ago, equivalent to the 2001-2002 school...

Posted On Aug 31 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

A Look at One Solution to the State Money Mess

As we prepare to take a look at the State Money Mess on Sunday in Birmingham, here is one legislator’s solution. Freshman Senator Clyde Chambliss (R- Prattville) appeared on Alabama Public Television’s Capitol Journal last Friday and shared his approach to a solution for...

Posted On Aug 28 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

How Much Local, State, and Federal Money Is Spent on Alabama’s Schoolchildren?

A lot of folks talk a lot about whether public education is funded adequately in Alabama. As we get closer to the time where our legislators will gather to find a solution for the hole in the General Fund, it is imperative that we citizens have a basic understanding of how much...

Posted On Aug 20 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Here’s How Much Money Local School Districts Will Get from State Funds

If you want to get ahead of your school district’s budget hearings, check out these reports from the Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE), showing the amount of state-appropriated money making its way to your school district for FY16. The state-provided total is a...

Posted On Aug 19 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

Budget Hearing Dates Wanted. This Is the Year to Attend, Folks.

If there was ever a year to learn more about how your board of education uses taxpayer money to educate Alabama’s children, this is it. With the tug-of-war going on in the Alabama legislature over how the $300 million hole in the General Fund will be filled, the Education...

Posted On Aug 11 2015

, By Trisha Powell Crain

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