The Great Recession may be over, but states face several more years of tight budgets, a new report says, and that’s bad news for early learning.

The U.S. economy was so weak that overall state spending declined in 2009 and 2010, marking only the second time state spending fell in the three decades the National Association of State Budget
Officers and the National Governors Association have produced the report. State spending is expected to drop to $612.9 billion in 2010 from $657.9 billion the year before.

State budget woes may only get worse as roughly $135 billion from the federal economic stimulus package largely dries up by the end of fiscal 2011, the report suggested.

...Loss of these (federal) funds combined with the anticipated slow recovery of state revenues is expected to result in the continuation of difficult state fiscal conditions for the next few years. – “The Fiscal Survey of the States.” 6/10. Fiscal 2010 presented the most difficult challenge for states’ financial management since the Great Depression and fiscal 2011 is expected to present states with similar challenges.

What does this ongoing budget crunch mean for early learning? It is too early to tell. But, Washington State struggled this year to maintain its commitment to improving child care, preschool and pre-kindergarten this year, even as a leading supporter, Gov. Christine Gregoire, sat in the governor’s mansion.

Thanks to Politics K-12 for highlighting this report. The Education Week blog adds that “a majority of states are contemplating cutting K-12 education next year as they brace for overall spending reductions for what could be the third year in a row.”

“Governors and state lawmakers have been trying to protect K-12 education and health care, but that just might not be possible anymore, according to Scott Pattison, the executive director of NASBO. (Check out the whole story.)

Early learning can’t be far behind, if not in front, of K-12 in the budget-cutting line.