Wednesday, November 14, 2007

MPS' Problem: State-Aid "Projection" Dreamers

There's a lengthy article describing the angst of Milwaukee Public Schools Board members (except Blewett, who is clueless) and administrators for their 2009 budget.

But here's a clue to the problems with their 2008 budget:

$7.4 million: That's how much the state will pay MPS for this year under a new fund in the state budget to give additional money to high-poverty districts, particularly MPS. But that is quite a bit less than MPS would have received if ideas backed by either Gov. Jim Doyle or Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett for dealing with the so-called "voucher funding flaw" had been included in the final budget. And that amount covers less than a fifth of the $39.8 million difference in state revenue between what MPS budget-makers projected last spring and what the state budget actually ended up providing.

Thirty-nine point eight million vs. seven point four million.

BIG DIFFERENCE.

Exactly what smoke was filling the room the "projectionists" were working in?

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