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Facing an $18 billion shortfall in the state budget, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has asked all state agencies to plan for possible 10 percent budget cuts.

For financial aid programs, that could mean 41,000 fewer students will receive TEXAS grants over the next biennium, according to Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio.

That could severely limit progress on the state’s goal of producing more college graduates, especially among Hispanic and African-American populations, he said.

“We must not balance the budget on the backs of college students and their families at a time when they are struggling to survive the economic downturn,” Villarreal said.

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Posted by guest blogger Sean Cavanagh.

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan offered plenty of praise for the winners in the Race to the Top competition today. But he also directed some of his biggest compliments for those who fell short.

Only the top 10 finishers were awarded a share of $3.4 billion left in Round Two of the federal grant competition. Some prognosticators were surprised—and disappointed—that states that have drawn credit for overhauling their education policies, such as Colorado and Louisiana, didn’t make the cut.

In a conference call with reporters, Duncan sounded disappointed, too. He called Colorado, which ranked 17th, a “national leader” in adopting innovative ed policy. “I

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SEATTLE (AP) – A new Gallup Poll has found fewer Americans approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing in support of public education, but they continue to have a highly favorable opinion of their local schools.

The drop in the president’s education approval ratings _ as found in the random telephone poll of about 1,000 Americans in June _ mirrored the drop in his general approval rating in other recent polls, said Shane Lopez, senior scientist in residence for Gallup.

The education poll released Wednesday was paid for by Phi Delta Kappa. It found 34 percent gave the president a grade of A or B for his work in support of public schools, compared with 45 percent at the same time in 2009.

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After a series of unflattering Congressional investigations and media reports, for-profit universities and colleges are getting the stink eye from lawmakers and regulators in Austin as well.

In a joint committee meeting today, Rep. Dan Branch, the Republican chair of the House Higher Education Committee, seemed eager to take back even the meager state funding flowing to for-profits in Texas. Last year, lawmakers set aside $1 million for Career Opportunity Education Grants, and Branch asked if the money had been spent.

If not, “we are protected, if there are schools that are a problem, we have not given (them) taxpayer dollars,” Branch said.

Turns out, all but $70,000 had been disbursed.

“I don’t know if that is good news or bad news. Hopefully they are being used properly,” Branch said.

Meanwhile, David Gardner, deputy commissioner of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, said the agency may change its own rules to boost oversight of for-profits.

States are more dependent on the federal government for help in funding education than they have been in decades, education finance guru Michael Griffith told a crowd that mostly consisted of state policymakers at a forum at the Education Commission of the States conference in Portland, Ore. Federal spending on K-12 used to be around 8 or 9 percent, he said. Now it’s about 19 percent.

“When you’re talking about driving policy, it’s the golden rule, he who has the gold makes the rules,” Griffith said.

And even a tiny bit of federal funding can make a big difference. For instance, the Investing in Innovation Fund and Race to the Top funding make up less than 3 percent of spending on education.

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