Florida would secure $2.4 billion in stimulus money for public schools if state officials can prove that education spending has not dropped faster than the total state budget, The Palm Beach Post has learned.

The state needs the option because of a requirement in the stimulus plan that education money be reserved for states that have maintained school spending levels. Florida’s K-12 budget was cut by $1 billion, or about 6 percent, over the past year.

But if Florida shows it has maintained proportional school spending in recent years, the U.S. Department of Education would waive the requirement, an adviser to U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said.

Public schools spending, known as the Florida Education Financing Program, or FEFP, has grown from 26.5 percent of the state’s total budget in 2006-07 to 27.6 percent this school year. That’s because the overall state budget has dropped by about $6 billion in that time while lawmakers have relied on property taxes prop up the K-12 budget.

Without including local property taxes in the equation, it’s hard to figure out how the state could qualify for the waiver, which could be formally announced on Monday.

This chart shows the tax rate set by the state, known as the required local effort, now makes up 46.1 percent of the K-12 budget. Five years ago, it was 38.8 percent.

When you look at all property taxes in the K-12 budget, which includes a rate set by local districts to pay for construction projects, its up to 50.5 percent of education spending.

Meanwhile, the state’s general revenue fund, which had accounted for 60.6 of the K-12 budget five years ago, is now for 44.7 percent.

Tags: education, stimulus

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