State Budgets Vary

The Center on Reinventing Public Education last night released an interesting analysis of state budgets under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (the stimulus bill). The biggest takeaway is that the current economic crisis, combined with the federal government's response, will impact states in very different ways. The chart at left shows expected state K-12 expenditures in 2009 and 2010, including stimulus funds.

You can click on the chart or follow the link to see where your individual state falls on the continuum, but the most important thing to recognize is just how different the budget picture is in California, facing deficits in excess of 10 percent, than it is in New Hampshire, Mississippi, Nebraska, Montana, Missouri, North Dakota, and South Dakota, which each have double digit surpluses. This makes a great case that reform efforts should be focused on the places that actually have the capacity to do so, as opposed to the places focused on just digging themselves out of giant financial holes.