SUPERINTENDENT LUNA REQUESTS 5% INCREASE IN FUNDING FOR SCHOOLS NEXT YEAR

Today, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna requested a $61.7 million (5.1 percent) increase in funding for Idaho’s public schools in the 2012-2013 school year. Each year, the Superintendent must submit a preliminary budget request to the Governor’s Office in early September. He submitted that budget request this morning.

“The Governor and I are encouraged by the recent revenue projections we have seen. Based on what we know today, this is the most responsible budget I can put forward for Idaho’s students,” Superintendent Luna said. “With this budget, we recognize and reward Idaho’s great classroom teachers, and we fully fund Idaho’s pay-for-performance plan and the Students Come First reform measures this year without affecting salary-based apportionment funding or teachers’ base salaries.”

The FY2013 fiscal year will begin July 1, 2012.

After meeting with representatives from each educational stakeholder group in August, Superintendent Luna crafted a public schools budget request for FY2013 that moves Idaho’s education system forward in two important ways. It implements the Students Come First education reforms, and it moves our schools away from dependency on one-time funding.

This preliminary FY2013 Public Schools Budget request includes:

· A 2.38 percent increase in base and minimum salaries. This increase offsets money that was reallocated to fund pay-for-performance, thereby funding Idaho’s $38 million pay-for-performance plan without reducing salary-based apportionment.

· A 2 percent increase in discretionary funding for local school districts.

The budget accommodates these increases by taking the $60 million in additional funding that Idaho schools received in July and making it ongoing in FY2013, replacing any one-time money that had been built into the budget.
“I recognize we are still 10 months away from the beginning of the next fiscal year. Even in the best of economic times, it is difficult to build a budget 10 months in the future. In this economy, it is almost impossible. But I believe we have put together a quality, balanced budget for Idaho’s students and taxpayers,” Superintendent Luna said.