Why $1 Billion Doesn’t Go As Far As It Used To For Florida Education

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More students and less tax money means Gov. Rick Scott's proposed $1 billion for school won't go quite as far replacing budget cuts.

Gov. Rick Scott insists lawmakers add $1 billion for K-12 education this year, but that money won’t go as far replenishing cuts as first thought according to a Legislative budget update this morning.

Scott Kittel, Scott’s education policy adviser, told a House budget subcommittee this morning that the state now expects more students than initially expected. Property tax revenues are also expected to decline more than first projected, he said.

The net result is an additional $20 million of that proposed $1 billion is needed just to cover current costs and won’t replace any of the money cut from schools since 2008.

As PoltiFact noted after Scott’s speech yesterday, more than 40 percent of that proposed new money will cover rising costs or declining tax revenues. The remaining $590 million in Scott’s proposal would help replenish the $1.35 billion lawmakers cut from K-12 education in the current budget year (much of it was expiring one-time federal money the state did not replace).