ATLANTA - Georgia House Republicans say they will restore austerity cuts to the state's schools, totaling $143 million in this fiscal year alone.
Georgia's school districts have been wrestling with cuts to their state formula funding since fiscal year 2003 when the state was grappling with a budget shortfall.
The state's economy has improved since then and Georgia now has a healthy rainy day reserve fund. Even so, Governor Sonny Perdue proposed another $141 million austerity cut to the state's education funding formula in the budget for the next fiscal year that begins July 1.
House Appropriations Committee Chairman Ben Harbin said at a state Capitol news conference Thursday that it is time to fully fund education. He wasn't immediately clear on where the additional money would come from.