Why $144 million?

by David Safier

Here's the answer to the question, "How did the legislature come up with the $144 million figure for cutting soft capital to schools?" It comes from an email sent by LEAN Parents for Education.

In order to receive federal stimulus money, all US states had to agree not to cut education spending below their 2006 state expenditure of education, otherwise known as the Maintenance-of-Effort (MOE) requirement.  This latest cut of $144 million sets us back to the 2006 number for this fiscal year.

If our legislature decides to cut anything else from the overall education budget this year, Arizona would be in danger of losing the $1 billion + in State Fiscal Stabilization Fund money that we are scheduled to receive between 2009-2011.

Governor Brewer is reportedly going to ask for an exemption to the federal guidelines so our legislature can continue to cut below 2006 funding levels.

For more information, go to their chock-full-o'-information website, Arizona Education Network.