2007 Georgia Legislative Session – Funding Update
FTE Increase for K - 5
Funding for 29 elementary school Foreign Language programs dominated discussions during House and Senate Appropriations Education Subcommittee meetings and actually impacted the funding of school libraries statewide.
In his proposed FY 08 Budget, Governor Perdue cut Foreign Language program funds totaling $1,590,857, moving the entire, one-time allotment to elementary school media center budgets (K – 5) for the purchase of foreign language materials.
Parents of children in the 29 elementary schools with Foreign Language programs lobbied their legislators to keep state funding for this program, and as a result, the House and Senate Conference Committee voted to keep the funding for the foreign language program and increase the elementary school media center FTE from $13.03 to $15.31.
Having final say regarding line items in the budget, Governor Perdue redirected the $1,590,857 from the Foreign Language program to the elementary media centers to support foreign language instruction, and stated in his veto message:
"The General Assembly provided $1,590,857 in state general funds for the Foreign Language program.~ In the past, funding in this program has been limited to only 29 schools.~ The Department is authorized to utilize this funding to provide approximately $1200 to each elementary school for foreign language media materials."
According to the veto message, the DOE has been instructed to redirect the
$1,590,857 from the Foreign Language program to elementary school media centers.~ That means there are now two line items in the Governors FY 08 budget.~ One~increases the elementary school media center FTE from $13.03 to $15.31, the other redirects~$1,590,857 from the Foreign Language program to elementary school media centers (a one time allotment of approximately $1,200 per school).
It is expected that procedures for distribution and use of these funds will be a local decision and may vary across school systems.
$100 Gift Cards for LMS
The Governor proposed an increase in funding for teacher gift cards from $10,000,000 to $11,213,500 to account for teacher growth and provide one card per school media center. This was supported by the House and Senate.
Each media center was allotted one $100 gift card to purchase supplies, books, equipment and other items to support their library program. The cards must be used during the week beginning July 28, 2007 and ending Sunday, August 5, 2007. This time period includes the back to school tax-free weekend which begins at 12:00 a.m. August 2, 2007 and ends on August 5, 2007 at
11:59 p.m.
Betsy Razza
GLMA Legislative Report
July 2007