Education funds to shrink

Portland Press Herald, February 25, 2008

(excerpt) With the state facing a shortfall of up to $200 million in the current two-year, $6.3 billion state budget, program cuts in the Maine Community College System are possible, affecting career plans of many of Maine's community college students.

The Legislature already is grappling with a supplemental budget that proposes $95 million in spending cuts, submitted by Gov. John Baldacci in January. Lawmakers also have been told to anticipate an additional $99 million in cuts, because of lower- than-expected revenue. The exact figure is expected to be determined this week.

The state's Department of Education has been asked to make about $47 million in cuts.

The bulk of those cuts -- $36.8 million -- would be achieved by changing the state education aid funding formula to delay the state's goal of paying 55 percent of public school costs. Higher education, spared in the governor's initial $95 million supplemental budget, now faces nearly $2 million in cuts at the seven community colleges and $6 million in cuts to the University of Maine System.

Whether all or any of the proposed cuts become reality is far from certain, as Gov. John Baldacci and the Legislature continue to discuss the state's finances. Baldacci has said so far he would veto a budget that raised taxes or tapped the state's savings account. He also is against delaying the state's taking on 55 percent share of kindergarten-through-12th-grade education costs.

"That's like pushing the burden to the local level. The way they've structured it, I'm not in favor of it," he said.

Still, educators and students at publicly funded schools around Maine are worried that they might be hit by millions of dollars in cuts, as the state looks for ways to make its revenue and spending numbers match.