Most States Still Cutting Education According to Center for Budget and Policy Priorities Report


Last Updated: September 26, 2012
 

This article appeared in the September 2012 Rural Policy Matters.

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Thirty-seven states have cut funding since the 2008 fiscal year, according to a report from the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). And most states are continuing to slash education budgets.

The report, “New School Year Brings More Cuts in State Funding for Schools,” finds that thirty-seven states are cutting funding again this year. Among those, seventeen have cut school funding by 10% or more over the last four years. Three states — Oklahoma, Alabama, and Arizona — have cut school funding by more than 20%. Only thirteen states have seen any increase in education funding since the 2008 fiscal year.

The impact of cuts on local districts has been widely reported. Analysis shows that the cuts disproportionately impact school districts with high populations of students living in poverty.

Schools and districts have cut 328,000 jobs nationally since July 2008. The loss of education jobs as a result of these funding cuts has prolonged the recession, according to CBPP report.

A combination of factors contributed to the losses for schools, including depressed state revenue, rising costs of education, a lack of political will to increase revenue, and the expiration of federal emergency aid for schools.

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Read more from the September 2012 Rural Policy Matters.