Dive Brief:

• As the K-12 budgeting process for the coming year unfolds, The New York Times focused on Arizona's plight to highlight findings from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Key finding: As a result of the 2007-09 recession, state-level per-pupil funding for K-12 in the 2014-15 budget was the lowest it's been in seven years.
• Other key findings from the October 2014 report: At least 30 states are providing less funding per student for the 2014-15 school year than they did before the recession hit. Fourteen of these states have cut per-student funding by more than 10%.
• During 2007-09, as state revenues fell, officials made deep cuts for K-12 education. States are recovering, but at a rate that is being outpaced by the cost of education and the number of students attending public schools.

Dive Insight:

These cuts are persisting. Recent reports show cuts in budgets across the nation. According to The New York Times, the situation in Arizona and five other states — Idaho, Kansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin — is particularly complicated because those states saw income taxe rates lowered, as well. The lines on the issue aren't partisan across the board, either: In Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker has faced opposition from members of his own party over $127 million in proposed cuts.