One key difference is that the Leg’s budget involves short-term pain for the Ed fund – freezing the Base Payment amount as well as the Ed Fund contribution for FY10-11. Keeping in mind that these two amounts normally index for inflation, the Leg is clearly hoping that a flat economy keeps inflation down, minimizing the impact of their freeze. (Note also that VSBIT has already announced no health insurance premium increase for next year, which should help school budgets as well.)

The Gov’s retirement funding transfer is a permanent blow, as is his phase-out of the Small-Schools grant. Further, most of the information I have seen shows the transfer at closer to $150 million for the next two years. (And every $10 million is a penny on the per-hundred rate.) My opinion (and I must admit to being a school-board guy) is that the Gov’s hope is that his education funding cuts will only result in Vermont dropping from a top-tier performer to the middle of the education pack. How exactly this will encourage young families to move into Vermont is unclear – or perhaps he intends that cuts in sex ed will spike our birth rate…