State governments are spending less per student on education this school year than they did in 2008 with some schools cutting spending by as much as 20 percent or more according to a report released on Thursday, the Washington Post reports.
A report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a think tank that specializes on analyzing how policy affects the poor and middle-class, shows that at least 34 states are spending less on students than they did in 2008. In Oklahoma and Alabama spending has been cut more than 20 percent, according to the Washington Post.
"The reduced levels reflect not only the lingering effects of the 2007-09 recession but also continued austerity in many states; indeed, despite some improvements in overall state revenues, schools in around a third of states are entering the new school year with less state funding than they had least year," the report says.
School funding is usually connected to property taxes and overall states are collecting less money in property taxes than they used to, about 2.1 percent less according to the report. Many states that had to cut funding during the recession years have decided to continue to keep spending at a lower level, according to Reuters.
"States are challenged with providing resources for critical areas that were cutback in the recession, declining federal funds for state programs subject to sequesteration, and continued spending demands in areas directly impacted by the sluggish economy, such as Medicaid, higher education and corrections," the report said.
There is some good news though; a handful of states saw their spending actually rise over the time period in the study. Another positive note is that only 15 states cut spending from last fiscal year. Oregon was at the top of the chart after increasing spending per student 10 percent since last fiscal year, according to the Washington Post.
