NM Education Dept. Seeks 8% Funding Increase

From kob.com A request to increase education funding is disagreed with by the legislative finance committee who say now is not the time to be asking for more money and that districts should begin dipping into their rainy day funds. The Secretary of Education Susanna Murphy told the committee on Monday that a 7.7 percent increase in next year’s budget would be needed to offset the loss of non-recurring federal stimulus dollars plus increases due to population growth and educational retirement plans. After hearing the request, lawmakers began to press Murphy on why many school districts are asking for more funding but threatening to layoff and furlough their staffs when millions of dollars are stored in reserve accounts. Economists with the finance committee report that districts across the state have more than $100 million in reserve cash balances. On Monday, a spokesperson for Rio Rancho Public Schools reported to KOB Eyewitness News 4 that their cash balance left over from last year was about 7.5 million.
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NM Education Dept. Seeks 8% Funding Increase