ERLANGER — State Rep. Jon Draud told Northern Kentucky superintendents on Wednesday that it's probably a good thing legislators failed to pass a budget because it would likely result in more cuts in school funding.

        Kentucky has been operating without a budget since July 1, in part, because Gov. Paul Patton and the General Assembly are in a stalemate over campaign financing. About $700 million has already been cut out of the two-year state budget.

        “According to Jim Ramsey, the finance director for Gov. Patton, the receipts have been down since we adjourned after the special session,” said Mr. Draud, R-Crestview Hills. “As a result, we (have) $300 to $400 million less funds than we anticipated from the monthly receipts.

        “The constitution requires a balanced budget,” he said, “so if we met to approve a budget we'd have to cut out $300 or $400 million more out of the budget. It would seem to me that (some of) that would have to happen in education because about 66 or 67 percent of the budget goes to education.”

        The longer it take to pass a budget, Mr. Draud said, the more time state officials have to raise additional revenue to help balance the budget. But ultimately, he said, the state is going to have to look at tax reform and raising revenue, possibly through adding slot machines and the cigarette tax.

        The news wasn't a surprise to superintendents.

        “The numbers were new to us. We have all been hopeful that the economy would be on the upswing, but it was with guarded optimism that we thought it would be on the upswing,” said Ludlow Superintendent Elizabeth Grause. “Anything that is going to take away more monies from education would be a very devastating occurrence.”

        “If they're trying to cut that much money they're going to have to look all across the budget and find ways to recoup those losses,” added Ms. Grause, president of the Northern Kentucky Superintendents Association.

        “I know that the governor and the legislature has tried to keep education sacrosanct if they could, but I would be fearful that they would look at education as a possible area for some budget cuts.”

        Mr. Draud warned the school chiefs to “be very conservative” in their spending.

        Fort Thomas Superintendent Larry Stinson said his district has not passed a salary schedule because officials are unsure whether the state will be able to follow through on Mr. Patton's pledge to fund a 2.7 percent raise for teachers.

        “I just don't know what the resolution is going to be,” Mr. Stinson said.

        Robert Storer, superintendent of Walton-Verona Independent Schools, said programs would likely have to be cut if there is a major budget cut during the school year.

        “It's a pretty scary scenario,” he said, “but that really wasn't something that we hadn't thought of before.”

Database keeps DNA from cleared suspects
Witness to the Holocaust
Air charters will get more scrutiny
Suspect's mental state could be centerpiece of her defense
Tenants say help not enough
Ads sell racial justice
Festival seating defended
In homage of 9-11 heroes
Obituary: Algertha Howard lived life to fullest
HOWARD: Some Good News
PULFER: It's just gross
RADEL: Festival seating
Butler readies for icy winter
Lebanon councilman questions tax initiative
Lebanon ponders its own TV fare
Middletown toughens standards for housing
Two charged in thefts of mail, IDs
Work beginning on I-75 stretch
Baby rattlesnakes raining from the sky?
Compensation for nuclear workers won't be contested
Petitioners urge treatment for drug offenders
Case of mistaken identity shatters families
Kentucky News Briefs
Man convicted of drug charges
Parole board sets convicted cop killer free
Promenade development going slowly
Schools updated on budget: May worsen