Schools hard to miss in cuts

Education is the biggest expense in the state's budget and erasing next year's deficit will require lawmakers to seriously consider cuts to schools and universities, a fiscal analyst said Tuesday.

Legislators got a look at the reasons the state budget grows and Evan Rodewald, an analyst in the Legislature's Fiscal Research Division, included the difficult truth about education in his report.

Because education programs comprise most of the budget, some portion of future budget reductions will likely come from education.

The briefing was part of a series of updates on the state's budget picture.

How education spending adds up after the jump.

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Education — public schools, community colleges and higher education — accounts for some 54 percent ($11.4 billion) of spending from the state's general fund ($21.4 billion). The next largest category, health and human services, accounts for 23 percent ($4.9 billion) of general fund spending. Those figures include only money the state pays from the general fund and do not include funds from other sources, such as federal dollars.

Rodewald told lawmakers that within the education category, higher education is growing faster than public schools or community colleges. Strong enrollment and pay raises fueled that growth.

In the public school category, the state is required by law to pay for enrollment growth. But teacher raises and small class sizes, popular but expensive categories, can be cut, Rodewald said.