The cuts were about $10 million, with $4 million being unspent money from last year.

The restored $30 million was in a weird limbo, which is why it’s available to be distributed now. Here’s my best shot at explaining it:

In April 2008, the legislature included those dollars in the original SEEK budget for this school year.

In June 2009, the legislature changed that. It altered part of the formula, so that the money would not be sent to districts during the school year. It also added language saying that any remaining money could be sent at the end of the year. Between the lines, the message seemed to be: “We may have to cut these dollars. Don’t count on them. We’ll send them if we can, but no promises.”

Yesterday, the Governor’s announcement seemed to say: “Do count on these dollars. We can send them. You’ll get the checks in June. Revenue is bad, but not bad enough for us to hold the dollars back completely.”

Accordingly, it isn’t new money, extra money, or excess money. It’s simply original money, promised in 2008, pulled back in 2009, now scheduled to be delivered in 2010.

I’m not saying things are great in education, because that’s would be terribly untrue. I am saying, though, that they look better today than they did when the week began. (Most of the analysis above is also posted at prichblog.blogspot.com.)

http://www.ksba.org/news/article/gov.-beshear-no-mid-year-seek-cut-as-part-of-revenue-shortfall-plan-excess-/

And until somebody can prove to me that the very dollars cut will be 100% replaced – which no one has been able to do in the governor’s office – then no dice.

Further, if there’s an extra $30 million floating around – why cut education at all? Why not just say education will receive another $20 million or so?

Yes, the governor cut $10 million from the $4 billion that goes into that important service.

But he also announced that another $30 million would go out to schools. That $30 million was in the original education budget for this year, but the legislature put it in a kind of escrow back in June 2009. At that point, they said schools would maybe possibly get the money in June 2010. Yesterday, the Governor said the money would actually go out, which sure sounded like he was removing the “maybe” part.

The dollars will still be late. They won’t replace all that’s been lost, and they won’t be all our schools and students need. Still, education moved up, not down, during yesterday’s press conference.