Mike Wynn

@MikeWynn_CJ

Kentucky's main funding stream for public schools escaped cutbacks in Gov. Matt Bevin's budget proposal Tuesday, but if approved by the legislature, colleges and universities would face reductions and a new effort to tie funding to performance.

Bevin's spending plan would provide an additional $39 million in the SEEK funding formula to accommodate an expected increase in more public school students, maintaining the current level of per-pupil funding.

However, Kentucky's postsecondary institutions will incur a 4.5 percent reduction for the remainder of fiscal year 2016, followed by a 9 percent cut in the first year of the biennium, relative to the current budget.

The governor says he is also planning for a major overhaul of university funding, to eventually base all allocations on performance and outcome.

“There will be more incentives to electrical engineers than to French literature majors,” he said. “All the people in the world that want to study French literature can do so, they are just not going to be subsidized by the taxpayer like engineers.”

The state has cut university budgets by 16 percent in the past eight years, amounting to $173.5 million in reductions from the general fund, according to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education. The number of full-time students has increased by 7 percent during that time.

Bevin budget focuses on pension funding

The CPE is asking the state to restore half of the money based on campus performance, proposing to link the money to outcomes such as retention, degree production, graduation rates and progress in closing the achievement gap.

But Bevin said Tuesday that he wants to continue working with universities on the metrics and will phase in performance-based funding over a three-year period starting in fiscal year 2018.

After the budget was announced, CPE President Robert King said officials had been hopeful that all universities would receive a modest amount of new funding.

"I don't think anybody is pleased to hear that, but we respect the job the governor has to deal with," he said. "I think it's going to take some time for us to see what is really involved."

Meanwhile, the governor said his budget proposes a $100 million bond pool that is available for workforce development programs and could help colleges offset some of the cuts.

Any raises for public school teachers will be up to local districts, Bevin said.

Reporter Mike Wynn can be reached at (502) 875-5136 or at mwynn@courier-journal.com.

Ed. chief won't take position on academic bill