Gov. Nathan Deal and lawmakers have poured hundreds of millions of extra tax dollars into Georgia’s K12 education system the past few years in hopes of giving teachers raises and making sure students get 180 days of schooling.
But an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis found that even with the extra money, school funding hasn't kept up with inflation and population growth over the past decade. When those two factors are considered, the state's funding of K12 schools - which educate more than 1.7 million Georgia children - is 12 percent below where it was before the Great Recession.
That’s even with the increases slated to take effect Friday when the state’s new budget year begins.
K12 isn't the only area were state funding has fallen well below the rate of inflation and population growth. State spending for both the University System and technical colleges are more than 20 percent below what they were before the Great Recession, according to the analysis.
Meanwhile, the agency that gives out scholarships to students attending those schools — such as the HOPE scholarship — has seen its budget increase more than 50 percent. And unlike most other agencies, the University System has been able to make up for cuts in per-pupil spending from the state by raising tuition. So while the state has chipped in less for years, students and scholarship programs paid more.
To read more about the AJC's analysis, check out the full story on myajc. Also, take a look at our interactive graphics that tell the budget story over the past decade.
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