Hickenlooper Hopes To Restore $89M For Education

More money could be on the way to your child’s school. Governor John Hickenlooper announced Tuesday that he wants to restore $89 million to education funding because state revenues are higher than originally expected.

Hickenlooper’s budget director said he expects revenues for the fiscal year 2013 to be $231 million above what was anticipated.

The governor wants to restore $30 million to higher education and $67 million for public schools.

The news brought some Christmas cheer to Colorado school districts that have seen cuts year after year.

“We’ve cut $25 million in six years,” said Glenn Gustafson, Chief Financial Officer for Colorado Springs District 11. “It will certainly alleviate some of the cuts we were potentially thinking about.”

Gustafsen said D-11 was expecting another $10 million dollar reduction for the 2012-2013 school year. He said, if the $89 million is restored, cuts to the district would be about half that.

He said D-11 and districts throughout the state were just notified this week of more budget cuts for the current school year. He said D-11 would have had to cut funding by $400,000, something he’s now hoping can be avoided.

“We’re excited if, truly, jobs are coming back, this is great news for Colorado,” said Gustafson.

KRDO Newschannel 13 did reach out to other districts in Southern Colorado, but many wanted to learn more about the governor’s proposal before commenting.

The state legislature won’t make final decisions on school funding until May.

.