Education News in Alabama
February 6, 2004 (archive)
It Was A Good Week For:
School funding, as Governor Riley's proposed budget restores funding
for textbooks, professional development for teachers, and other
instructional support. Additionally, Governor Riley is requesting
full funding for the Alabama Reading Initiative in all K-3 schools,
setting the bar to be among the top five states in reading performance
in five years.
It Was A Bad Week For:
Policymakers, as they grapple with interpreting the will of the
people while meeting the dire needs of Alabama with limited revenue.
FY '05 Budget Details
At a joint session of the Legislature on February 5, Legislative
Fiscal Officer Joyce Bigbee gave state legislators an overview of
Alabama's economic climate and the challenges that face our state,
and State Finance Director Drayton Nabers presented the Governor's
recommendations for the 2005 budget. "We have not come up with
a permanent solution," Nabers said. "We have come up with
a one-year solution."
Bigbee addressed the legislators first, providing information on
economic trends and the overall condition of Alabama's state budget.
Her key points included:
- Alabama earmarks 87 percent of its revenue, while the national
average is 24 percent. The next highest percentage in any state
is 65 percent. This excessive earmarking prevents flexibility
during lean years.
- Overall, revenues are up. However, January's revenues were not,
so a firm trend has not been established.
- Even with the growth, the General Fund and the Education Trust
Fund face large shortfalls of $340 million and $300 million respectively.
- Alabama has lost 56,500 jobs since 2001.
- 897 state employees have lost their jobs. This does not include
positions eliminated due to attrition.
Nabers presented what he called a "quick-fix" budget
for FY '05. The proposed budget was patched together from many sources
and provides no long-term solution and no broad-based taxes. According
to Nabers, the budget allows the state to focus on accountability
and stewardship, while building the trust of the people. Further,
the budget fulfills the Governor’s promises of protecting
Alabama’s most vulnerable citizens and taking our reading
program to the top.
An overview of the General Fund budget includes:
- Level or increased state funding for core health and human
services and public safety agencies (Medicaid, DHR, Public Health,
Corrections, Courts, Attorney General, District Attorneys, Department
of Public Safety, Mental Health, Pardons & Paroles, Senior
Services)
- 7 percent reductions for all agencies that saw 18 percent reductions
in FY ‘04 (Governor, Finance, Alabama Department of Economic
Management, Legislature, Alabama Development Office, Labor, Alabama
Department of Industrial Relations)
- Zero funding for all appropriations that received a 75% cut
in FY ’04 (Alabama Best Practices Center, Camp ASCA, Alabama
Shakespeare Festival, etc.)
- Elimination of other pass-through and nonessential items (Fire
Ant Eradication, Soil and Water Conservation, etc.)
Significant proposals in the General Fund Budget include:
- Medicaid Participation Fee: Nursing Homes - $25.9 million
Nursing homes currently contribute $1,200 per bed, which
the state matches with Federal funds. By raising this contribution
to $2,600 per year, the state can produce $25.9 million state
funds annually for Medicaid (nearly $90 million in total funds).
- Tobacco Settlement: $25 million
New levies will be imposed on cigarettes at the wholesale
level. These levies would be offset for some brands as a result
of their makers' participation in the national tobacco settlement.
However, these would be new levies for a number of off-brand and
generic cigarette manufacturers.
- Public Safety: $39.6 million
The Governor's budget recommends shifting $39.6 million from
the Department of Transportation to the Department of Public Safety
to put more state troopers on the highways.
- State employees health insurance savings: $42 million
The Governor is proposing a state contribution of 20 percent
of the amount requested by the boards that oversee the benefit
plans for state employees and teachers. It would then be up to
those boards to determine whether to increase co-pays, increase
employee contributions, or alter the coverage to allow employees
to opt out of certain benefits in exchange for level monthly contributions
and co-payments.
Questions Concerning the Automatic Pay Raise:
Both Bigbee and Nabers addressed speculation that growth in the
Education Trust Fund (ETF) would trigger the automatic pay raise
for educators. In 2000, the National Average Teacher Pay Increase
Act established that teachers receive automatic salary increases
in years when the growth in the Education Trust Fund exceeds 3.5
percent. The law mandates that 41 percent of this growth be earmarked
for salary increases and that up to 62 percent of the growth can
be used to cover the increases in benefits that accompany salary
increases.
Bigbee reported that the beginning balance in the state budget
for FY '05 is $79 million. When that amount is added to the growth
in the ETF, it will represent a growth of 3.7 percent, thereby triggering
the automatic pay raise in a year when many state agencies are realizing
a 25 percent cut (FY ‘04 and FY ‘05 cuts combined).
However, Nabers announced that the Governor intends to release the
$79 million back to schools this year to cover the costs of textbooks,
so it will not be available to add to the ETF growth. Therefore,
the Finance Department is projecting growth in the ETF of less than
3.5 percent.
For complete information on Governor Riley's proposed '05 budget,
please visit:
http://www.budget.state.al.us/stgovfin.html
Updates on Powerful Conversations Project
In January, the Alabama Best Practices Center began expansion of
its Powerful Conversations About Professional Development project.
The BPC and the Alabama Teacher Quality Enhancement Project trained
25 facilitators and conducted two self-assessments in the Black
Belt region. This training will provide the volunteer workforce
needed to serve schools in east Alabama, including those in rural
Bullock, Barbour, and Macon counties. More information about the
Powerful Conversation process is available at http://www.aplusala.org/newsroom/nr04-jan14.asp.
You may also download the Summer 2003 issue of Working Toward Excellence
at
http://www.bestpracticescenter.org/publ/wteindex.html
In the News
(Source: PEN Weekly Newsblast)
THE VOICE OF THE NEW TEACHER
New teachers are vital members of the teaching workforce. The demand
for new teachers has been climbing steadily since the 1990s and
is expected to continue in the foreseeable future given the increases
in teacher retirement and student enrollment, lower pupil/teacher
ratios, and rising teacher attrition rates. A new report from Public
Education Network shares the opinions and perspectives of beginning
teachers on their first years in the profession. This publication
is an excellent tool for developing authentic and targeted teacher
mentoring and professional development programs and effective teacher
recruitment efforts.
http://www.publiceducation.org/PENreports.asp
JUSTICE TALKING: NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND
Sweeping educational reforms passed in 2001 sharply divided teachers
and policy makers over the direction of our nation’s schools.
This hour-long radio show features commentary and debate from numerous
reporters; Eugene Hickok, the U.S. Under Secretary of Education
and a chief architect of NCLB; and educator Stan Karp of Rethinking
Schools:
http://www.justicetalking.org/viewprogram.asp?progID=428
OVERHAUL TEACHER EDUCATION & RECRUITMENT
The Teaching Commission, a blue-ribbon panel of 19 leaders in government,
business, philanthropy, and education has announced a strategy to
fundamentally upgrade teaching as a profession by changing the way
teachers come into the field, as well as the way they are trained,
assessed, supported, and compensated. While praising the work of
the nation's many dedicated teachers, the new report points out
that the current system fails both teachers and students. Poor and
minority students, who are often the most academically needy, tend
to get the least experienced or capable teachers. Meanwhile, the
most effective teachers -- those who lead, who successfully raise
student achievement, and who have expertise in their subject matter
-- are compensated via an antiquated, 80-year-old system that pays
them the same as their least effective colleagues. "A system
that does not reward excellence cannot inspire it," the report
says:
http://www.theteachingcommission.org/press/2004_01_14_01.html
Overheard
"In my 25 years at the Legislative Fiscal Office, this budget
presents the greatest financial challenges I have ever seen."
—Legislative Fiscal Office Director Joyce Bigbee in her
address to a joint session of the Alabama State Legislature
Education News in Alabama is published bi-weekly by the
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