Orange County’s schools have something of a split personality.
On the one hand, elementary schools and colleges are booming, fueled by more students and a construction binge financed by voter-approved bonds.
And while schools sweated out the state’s summer budget impasse, the damage from the budget adopted in September could have been worse for them.
Funding went up for elementary schools but a cost of living adjustment was pared back, saving the state $2.9 billion. Money for colleges stayed the same as a year earlier, with $450 million in funding for growing enrollment taken off the table.
“The new budget doesn’t provide funding for student enrollment growth or inflation cost increases,” said Ricardo Vazquez, a spokesman for the University of California, which includes the University of California, Irvine.
But the outlook for schools is tough.
Already, the state budget through June is set to come up short as the weak economy brings in less tax revenue than projected for Sacramento.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is expected to propose $3 billion in additional budget cuts that could be adopted in a midyear budget session as early as November, according to reports.
Education, at 40% of the state’s $103 billion budget, could be a prime target.
“Cuts are coming,” the Sacramento-based California Association of School Business Officials said in a recent statement to members of the school administrators group. “‘How big?’ is the question that begs an answer.”
And the state could be in for a repeat of the budget impasse next year. Some project another $15 billion to $18 billion shortfall for the budget through June 2010.
Less Money
That could mean cuts or, at a minimum, no growth in education spending.
Elementary, middle and high schools still are awaiting about $800 million in funding deferred during the last budget impasse.
The state budget delay also pushed back federal payments for California schools.
California’s universities, including UC Irvine and California State University, Fullerton, could see restrained growth with the state’s money problems.
The Cal State University system gets $3 billion from the state general fund and $1.5 billion from student fee revenue. That’s $215 million below what it needs for 2008 and 2009 based on enrollment, according to the state Department of Finance.
With enrollment growing regardless of the budget, schools have tough decisions to make, CSU spokesman Erik Fallis said.
“In tough budget times that has become much more of a balance issue,” Fallis said.
CSU campuses have upped class sizes and opened more course sections to cope with a growing student body, he said.
Constrained funding and continued growth has pushed CSU to slow down its enrollment growth by closing the freshman application period for fall 2009 earlier, Fallis said.
The UC system’s operating budget through June is $3.3 billion.
UC schools will have to cut spending by about $100 million and use reserves to offset rising costs and student enrollment growth, spokesman Vazquez said.
“We’ll have to further reduce our costs by evaluating all aspects of the system,” he said.
More tuition hikes are inevitable.
In May, the CSU board of trustees agreed to increase tuition 10%. The UC board of regents approved a 7.4% increase in student fees.
Some wonder whether California’s budget crisis will deter out-of-state residents from attending school here as higher costs and fewer program improvements play out at schools.
Others discount the idea, saying the state still will draw students looking to attend college here.
UCI and Cal State Fullerton have gained national attention for their expanding educational programs. Both schools are in the midst of bond-funded building booms designed to house new professors and classes.
The expansions are likely to attract students who are willing to pay higher out-of-state tuition fees, observers say.
UCI could continue attracting out-of-state students with its business undergraduate degree program, which debuted this fall, and its law school set to open next year.
Cal State Fullerton’s newly expanded Steven G. Mihaylo School of Business and Economics, the largest in California by students, could generate interest from students outside the state.
