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Other Schools and
Commissions
The total means of financing for Special Schools and
Commissions is funded at 97.7% of the department's FY02 operating
budget. Further, Special Schools and Commissions' Table of
Organization (T.O.) was increased by 1 position to 1,045 for FY03.
TOPS Reduction
- The FY03 appropriation for TOPS is $93.9 million, an $8.2
million reduction from FY02.
- The reduction was necessitated by the fact that the
Legislature included the 1997 high school graduates in the
implementation of TOPS in FY99. As a result, FY02 included
five (5) classes for TOPS awardees. Since TOPS awards are
limited to four (4) years of funding, the FY02 budget included
the last year of funding for the 1997 and 1998 graduates. The
$8.2 million reduction reduces the TOPS budget to fund only
four (4) classes beginning in FY03.
- Further, the Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA),
in its June 6, 2002, testimony before the Senate Finance
Committee, projected that TOPS may cost as much as $100.9
million in FY03, resulting in a $7.0 million shortfall
impacting nearly 2,700 student awards.
- Despite OSFA's recent improvements in its TOPS projection
methodologies, it is still difficult to make an exact
projection of TOPS awardees each year. As a result, Act 13
treats the TOPS appropriation as "more or less
estimated", thus allowing the Legislature and the
Governor to make mid-year budgetary adjustments to fully fund
the program, provided sufficient revenue is available. In
recent years, slight cuts have been made in other budgets
and/or supplemental appropriations have been made to cover any
TOPS shortfalls.
|
Recent TOPS Funding
History |
| Fiscal Year |
TOPS
Expenditures |
Student Awards |
Average Award |
| 1995 - 1996* |
$12,746,565 |
5,735 |
$2,223 |
| 1996 - 1997* |
$14,723,396 |
6,706 |
$2,196 |
| 1997 - 1998* |
$17,491,475 |
7,823 |
$2,236 |
| 1998 - 1999* |
$53,954,995 |
23,524 |
$2,294 |
| 1999 - 2000* |
$66,907,996 |
28,881 |
$2,317 |
| 2000 - 2001* |
$90,891,825 |
35,585 |
$2,554 |
| 2001 - 2002** |
$102,976,309 |
41,656 |
$2,472 |
| 2002 - 2003*** |
$93,945,360 |
35,789 |
$2,625 |
| |
|
|
* |
Actual
Expenditures |
|
** |
Appropriated
@ June 30, 2002 |
|
*** |
Appropriated
@ July 1, 2002 |
8(g) Fund Revenue Projection
- Revenue projections adopted by the Revenue Estimating
Conference (REC) boosted the interest earnings for the 8(g)
Fund from $31.7 million in FY02 to $33.5 million in FY03.
- This $1.8 million increase will help the Board of Elementary
and Secondary Education (BESE) to continue to provide
"flow-through" funds to the State Department of
Education (DOE), school boards, and non-public schools to
accomplish the following constitutionally-allowed 8(g)
programs in FY03:
|
LOUISIANA
QUALITY EDUCATION
SUPPORT
[8(g)]
FUND
|
|
|
|
|
|
Exemplary
Competitive Programs
|
|
$ 4,200,000
|
|
Exemplary
Block Grant Programs
|
|
$ 15,100,000
|
|
Exemplary
Statewide Programs
|
|
$ 11,208,603
|
|
Research
or Pilot Program
|
|
$
850,000
|
|
Superior
Textbooks and Instructional Materials
|
|
$ 1,200,000
|
|
Foreign
Language
|
|
$
200,000
|
|
Management
and Oversight
|
|
$
769,139
|
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
|
$ 33,527,742
|
Group Insurance Adjustment
- Agencies in Special Schools and Commissions experienced an
overall $0.6 million increase in various means of financing to
provide adequate employer contributions to the SEGBP. Of this
amount, $0.4 million was provided by the Deficit
Elimination/Capital Outlay Escrow Replenishment Fund to
address prior outstanding claims.
UNO Teleplex
- LETA was appropriated $0.5 million for continuation of
"flow-through" funding to the UNO Research and
Technology Center on behalf of the WLAE/WYES Teleplex. This
amount represents the second of a multi-year funding
commitment to expand educational television services into the
Greater New Orleans area.
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