State funding increases for Missouri schools

House Bill 3 increases funding by $20 million, from $856.73 million in fiscal 2006 to $876.72 million next year.

The funding includes a $17.2 million increase for public four-year colleges and universities, a $2.7 million increase for community colleges and a $2.5 million increase for student financial aid.

On Thursday, Blunt signed House Bill 2, which delivers a 4.6 percent increase in state funding to Missouri’s public elementary and secondary schools.

That bill increases state funding by $173.4 million, from $3.77 billion in fiscal 2006 to $3.94 billion for fiscal 2007.

It includes a $127.9 million increase for the school funding formula, a $15 million increase for the Small Schools Program, a $6 million increase for costs of educating severely disabled children, a $1 million increase for expansions of Missouri’s Parents as Teachers program and a $1.8 million increase for A+ Schools.

Blunt will continue his tour of the state today with stops at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Missouri-Columbia.