Some state education agencies may end up being limited in their capacity to take full advantage of opportunities for flexibility provided in the Every Student Succeeds Act because of drastic budget cuts in recent years, educators and experts say.
While K-12 spending will increase in most states for the next fiscal year, many legislatures are reluctant to give education departments more money, instead directing them to funnel the money to school districts.
Revenue Squeeze
In petroleum-producing states like Alaska and Louisiana, for example, where revenue has plummeted dramatically because of the drop in oil prices, lawmakers this year are considering measures that would cut more than half of their education department budgets.
That prospect is taking place at a time when the recently passed ESSA is handing greater power to state officials to determine how to hold teachers and schools accountable, among other things.
Education leaders worry that recent budget cuts that hollowed out department staffs and cuts to long-standing programs will limit their outreach efforts, the sort of data they can collect to incorporate into their accountability systems, and their ability to successfully intervene in their worst-performing schools.
The budget cuts could also lead some departments to outsource a portion of their accountability work or hand much of the power over to local districts.
鈥淭hese cuts are going to impede our ability to do, in a thoughtful and informed way, our creative work to develop an accountability plan that works for us,鈥� said Alaska Interim Commissioner Susan McCauley, who has already lost a third of her department鈥檚 budget after last year鈥檚 cuts and will likely lose more staff this year.
Legislators in a number of states say they鈥檇 rather cut a bureaucrat in the capital before they cut a teacher in the classroom.
鈥淵ou try to cut as far away from the kids first,鈥� said Alaska state Sen. Mike Dunleavy, a former educator who chairs the state鈥檚 finance committee.
Competing Priorities
The pressure on some state education agencies comes against a backdrop of overall recovery to K-12 aid nationally. According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, 41 states increased their K-12 funding in the 2016 fiscal year.
The majority of school districts across the country this year also will see their budgets increase, said Michael Griffith, a senior policy analyst with the Education Commission of the States. Property-and sales-tax revenues have slowly climbed back to prerecession levels, and state legislatures have poured billions more dollars into their education budgets to boost teacher pay and shrink class sizes.
鈥淚f you鈥檙e not in an oil state, it鈥檚 a pretty good year,鈥� Griffith said. 鈥淏ut we鈥檙e not hearing that there鈥檚 a lot of money going into new things. There鈥檚 a real feeling out there that there are holes that need to be filled from the last recession.鈥�
And funding continues to be a heated issue in a number of states.
Pennsylvania鈥檚 Republican-dominated legislature was still at a standoff last week with Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat, over how to distribute billions of education dollars and pay down a ballooning pension fund.
Kansas and Washington state are under strict court orders to provide their school districts millions more dollars in funding, but they continue to wrangle over solutions that would satisfy those orders.
But in the ever-roiling debate over school funding, state education departments often are seen as an afterthought, which could have consequences as ESSA takes hold, said Patrick Murphy, a senior fellow and the director of research at the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank, who has studied state education departments.
Departments are traditionally charged with administering standardized tests, establishing and certifying curriculum, and making sure federal funds are being distributed appropriately. Their responsibilities will greatly expand under ESSA.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e part of the implementation arm,鈥� Murphy said. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 have any resources, you can鈥檛 play that role. You will end up doing the minimum and just check the boxes.鈥�
Continuing Threat
In Louisiana, with legislators staring at a $943 million midyear budget deficit, a bill passed the House early this month to cut 85 percent of the education department鈥檚 budget, a move that would effectively have shuttered the department. Senators voted down the measure.
鈥淲e wouldn鈥檛 want to destroy the tool that we use to design our policy,鈥� said Louisiana state Sen. Eric LaFleur, a Democrat who chairs the Senate鈥檚 finance committee.
A spokesman for the state鈥檚 education department said it received $7 million in midyear cuts, or 5 percent of its budget, which included funds for teacher training and research, as well as most of the department鈥檚 travel budget. Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, proposed in a speech March 14 to limit use of the state鈥檚 voucher program, which the department oversees.
Louisiana鈥檚 education commissioner soon will have to present to the legislature a plan for how to cut up to 65 percent of the department鈥檚 budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year, though a series of tax increases could lessen that amount, said Jodi Mauroner, the education section director in the state鈥檚 legislative fiscal office.
In Kansas, even though the legislature, at the urging of the state Supreme Court, has pumped millions more dollars into the education coffers over the years, the education department鈥檚 staffing has hovered at around 200 people.
鈥淛ust because you鈥檙e distributing more money, doesn鈥檛 mean your department needs more money,鈥� said Dale Dennis, the Kansas department鈥檚 deputy superintendent.
In Oklahoma, the state department of education is combing through past legislation to see what education initiatives are mandated and which can be curtailed, said Matt Holder, the department鈥檚 deputy superintendent of finance.
Still, there can be a cost.
鈥淲e鈥檝e taken significant cuts that are limiting us on what we can and can鈥檛 do,鈥� Holder said. The department faces a 10 percent cut this year. 鈥淲e鈥檙e trying to deal with the here and now.鈥�
In Alaska, where the state has a $4 billion deficit, the legislature is proposing to cut up to $10 million from the department鈥檚 budget. Lawmakers are reluctant to raise taxes.
The legislature has eliminated the state鈥檚 $2 million pre-K program, which served students in six of the largest districts. It also cut a teacher-mentoring program and several teacher-training programs. Further cuts are anticipated.
鈥淭his is akin to an airline pilot coming on the intercom and saying, 鈥楢t this rate of speed, and with the burning of the fuel, we鈥檙e not going to make it to the airport unless we toss out the luggage,鈥� 鈥� Dunleavy said. 鈥淣obody is saying the luggage is not good stuff. Will student outcomes suffer? I鈥檇 be surprised if it didn鈥檛 suffer. I鈥檇 be overjoyed if it didn鈥檛.鈥�
Some Outliers
Not all state education departments have suffered.
In Utah, where lawmakers approved a budget that would add $95 million to their K-12 budget, the education department managed to snag money to hire auditors and update some of its computer systems.
But most of the money was sent to districts that have dealt with overcrowding in recent years.
鈥淲e are not back to the same level we were prerecession by any means,鈥� said Scott Jones, the state鈥檚 deputy superintendent for operations. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 see this kind of thing every year in Utah.鈥�
