Budget Information on Madison Website
The Madison School District website has added a new section with Budget Information. The site includes details of how recent budget cuts will effect the district outlined in a letter from Superintendent Dr. Tim Ham, and a link to submit ideas for savings. Community budget forums are schduled for March 24 at 10am and 6pm at the Madison District Office board room.
Community Budget Forums
Tuesday, March 24th at 10am and 6pm
Madison District Office board room
5601 N. 16th St. (adjacent to Madison No.1)
____________________________________________________________ Dems nudging Brewer to seek stimulus funds The Arizona Republic March 3, 2009 By Mary Jo Pitzl Democrats in the state Legislature are trying to politely prod Gov. Jan Brewer into getting on board the federal stimulus train. Read more ... ____________________________________________________________ Governor's Office mum on rumors of tax increase
The Arizona Capitol Times March 2, 2009 By Jeremy Duda Gov. Jan Brewer plans to address a joint session of the Legislature to lay out her vision for Arizona's economic future - one that is rumored to leave the door open to tax increases - as lawmakers continue to struggle with falling revenue projections and a multibillion-dollar budget deficit. Read more ... ____________________________________________________________ Brewer to provide vision, set 'ground rules' during joint session The Arizona Capitol Times Feb. 27, 2009 By Matt Bunk Gov. Jan Brewer has asked legislative leaders to call a joint session of the Legislature at 4 p.m. March 4 to give her a chance to announce her vision and "to provide some ground rules" as the state confronts budget challenges in the years to come. Read more ... ____________________________________________________________ Spat brewing over how much federal money to accept The Arizona Capitol Times Feb. 27, 2009 By Jim Small Gov. Jan Brewer is looking at how Arizona can qualify to receive all of the $4.2 billion in federal stimulus aid, a move that may set her at odds with some Republican lawmakers. Read more ... ____________________________________________________________ State could qualify for $1.5 billion for education, some strings attached The Arizona Capitol Times Feb. 27, 2009 By Luige del Puerto Out of $4.2 billion available to Arizona from the federal economic recovery package, more than a third — about $1.5 billion — can be used for education. The money will come from two main sources in the stimulus package — about $1 billion from a stabilization fund and nearly half a billion in secondary assistance. Read more ... ____________________________________________________________ Madison District Making Cuts to Save Money
The Madison Elementary School District will eliminate or consolidate two bus routes, delay air-conditioning retrofits on four school buses, and eliminate purchases for new library books, textbooks and software. The decision came after the Legislature cut $119 million to K-12 schools from the current fiscal year budget, which ends June 30. Read more ... ____________________________________________________________
The Arizona Republic/Azcentral.com Feb. 24, 2009 By Sadie jo Smokey
House Panel Approves Repeal of Equalization Property Tax
A legislative panel has given a thumbs-up to permanently repealing a state property tax suspended three years ago that is slated to come back online this year, despite a struggling economy that has left the state staring at a $3 billion budget deficit in the upcoming year. Read more ...
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Arizonacapitoltimes.com Feb. 23, 2009 By Jim Small
Azcentral.com/Arizona Republic Feb. 20, 2009 By Mary Jo Pitzi
Arizona could get up to $4.2 billion from the
federal stimulus plan for this budget year and next, state lawmakers were told
Thursday as they got their first good look at what the dollars could mean for
the state. Read more...
ASBO International Summary of the 2009 Economic Stimulus Package for School Districts The following is a brief summary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), commonly known as the 2009 Economic Stimulus Package. The legislation includes funding across many areas. For our purposes, we have pulled out and included only those areas that affect the educational funding components. Read more ...
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Azcentral.com/Arizona Republic Feb. 19, 2009
At least 39 of Arizona's 90 lawmakers have
signed the State Taxpayer Protection Pledge promoted by Americans for Tax
Reform.
That means they have promised to "oppose
and vote against any and all efforts to increase taxes," according to the
pledge. Read more...
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This is a big event the AEA is putting together down at the Capitol. There is a kickoff luncheon at 11am, followed by the Appropriations and Education Committee meeting from 1:30 - 3:30pm and then the Education Rally planned for 4 - 5:30pm. There are other groups organizing activities for the day as well. You can register online here. Please send Rhonda Olson an email if you would like to attend with a group from the Madison district.
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State Superintendent gives 'State of the state of Education'
VerdeNews.com Feb. 13, 2009 By Howard Fischer, Capitol Media Services
State School Superintendent Tom Horne provided lawmakers with the "state of education' in Arizona on Thursday -- and never once mentioned the cuts in funding just enacted.
And he would not use the opportunity to urge
legislators not to make further funding reductions. Read more...
Madison Adopts Legislative Position
The Madison School Board adopted a Legislative Position which is available in its entirety here. A portion of it states:
The Madison School District understands the economic crisis the State of Arizona faces and knows reductions in education funding will be required. Therefore, we are asking the legislature to allow districts to function like a business and reduce expenditure authority by a specified percentage across all districts. We would also ask that districts be allowed to use any of their funding sources to meet their obligations.
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Legislature Passes 2009 Budget
The State of Arizona faces a severe budget deficit. The Legislature passed the proposed budget for 2009. Details of what this means for schools is available here (courtesy of AASBO). The summary includes:
- For school districts that receive basic state aid, ADE is to proportionately reduce the base support level funding and budget limits by $98,198,000 (Note: this reduction meets the required reduction from the Constitutional Limit.)
- For school districts that receive basic state aid, reduce the soft capital allocation and budget limits by $21,000,000.
- The $98,198,000 budget reduction is designed to meet the mandatory budget reduction required by the Constitutional Limit. The Legislature will not override the limit, but no additional budget reduction to schools should be required.
- For the remainder of the 2008-09 school year, "a school district may use its soft capital allocation for any operational or capital expenditures."
- SB1006 also states that "to the extent possible, the base support reductions required for this section shall be taken against administrative costs rather than classroom instruction."
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JBLC Releases List of "Options"
The Joint Legislative Budget Committee (JLBC) released their detailed Appropriation Chairmen FY10 budget options. A formal budget proposal has not been released from the House or Senate at this time, and some leadership have said these "options" are a list to choose from. However, the options add up to the amount that needs to be cut so it is still unclear how items will be chosen. For K-12 Education, the JLBC options include these cuts:
10% Lump Sum Reduction in Basic State Aid ($220 million)
Enforce the Aggregate Expenditure Limit reduction by reduce FY10 State Aid ($98 million)
Eliminate Full Day Kindergarten Group B weight ($218.3 million)
Eliminate early kindergarten -- those who turn five on or after Sept. 1 ($11.2 million cut)
Suspend Soft Capital ($218.9 million)
State Aid Reduction for school districts with above 9.5% admin costs ($39.5 million cut)
Phase-Out Career Ladder over 8 years ($5.27 million cut in FY10)
Phase-out TEI funding over 8 years ($7.3 million cut in FY10)
Rollback FY08 Math and Science Initiative ($2.5 million cut)
TAPBI enrollment growth funded at 85% ($1.59 million cut)
Desegregation funding hard cap ($797,900 cut)
Eliminate the Homeowner's Rebate for school districts' Career Ladder, Desegregation, and TRCL budgets ($48.3 million)
Rollback FY07 Gifted Education Increase ($2 million cut)
Eliminate Early Graduation Scholarship Program ($4.68 million cut)
Eliminate Vocational Education Extended Year Program ($600,000 cut)
15% ADE Lump Sum Reduction ($11.4 million)
10% ADE Personnel Savings ($1.19 million)
$330.9 million rollover (currently it is $600 million, so it would rollover June's payment, but not the current half of May)
SFB Interest Earning Funding Transfer ($1.38 million)
Estimates $400 million in federal assistance