If the Trigger Is Pulled

As noted in earlier blog posts, the new state budget has a trigger provision that activates if assumed revenue does not materialize. Higher ed takes an additional hit if that occurs. So does K-12. But K-12 school districts are not permitted to make budget plans that assume an additional hit. From today’s Sacramento Bee:

…Lawmakers blocked K-12 districts from laying off teachers for the upcoming fiscal year. Teachers also won provisions requiring districts to ignore – for now – the prospect of a $1.75 billion "trigger" cut that could hit K-12 districts if optimistic revenue projections fall short. Instead, the state is requiring districts to assume they will receive the same amount of money as this past fiscal year "and maintain staffing and program levels commensurate with this funding level," according to an Assembly analysis. (The) Department of Finance said the latter provision could even cause some districts to rescind pink slips handed out earlier this year…

Full article: http://www.sacbee.com/2011/06/30/3737655/browns-countdown-day-172-california.html

If the trigger is pulled, however, school districts in midyear will have to make some kind of adjustment. And they will be highly constrained, particularly in midyear. The legislature could change its mind about the distribution of the pain. If one sector (K-12) is kept insulated, other vulnerable sectors (higher ed) will have to take a bigger hit than originally planned.

Of course, the trigger may not be pulled. But it ain’t over ‘til it’s over: