Stimulus Funds Should be Used to Restore FY09 Cuts
Proposal Would Underfund K-12 by $94-million

Governor Barbour has pushed for a budget that underfunds the add-on portion of the MAEP by $45-million while fully funding the base student cost. Of great concern to The Parents' Campaign is a shift in how $49-million in federal stimulus funds would be used.

Governor Barbour's current proposed budget uses these dollars in place of state funding for the 2010 school year. School districts were assured months ago that this $49-million would be used to restore some of the cuts made to school districts in early 2009. Because of the cuts, school districts, in order to meet payroll through the spring of 2009, were forced to borrow from their local tax dollars that were designated for the 2010 school year. They did so with the assurance that these funds would be repaid using federal stimulus dollars. That assurance needs to be honored. Those funds are needed to make up the portion of the 2010 school budget that is funded through local tax dollars.

A failure to use the $49-million to restore those funds, coupled with the governor's push to underfund the MAEP by $45-million, would amount to a $94-million cut to education. Governor Barbour should allocate the $49-million in ARRA funds as they were approved by the U.S. Department of Education - to restore the cuts made to the 2009 school budgets.