School boards weigh budget cuts as states reduce funding
By Ellie Ashford
04/08 -- School districts across the nation are feeling the pinch as the worsening economy is forcing them to make tough decisions about cutting programs and staff.
With many governors proposing to freeze K-12 funding for 2008-09 at current-year levels or even cut funding, school boards are looking at various ways to trim expenses, from raising class sizes to eliminating popular programs.
The Chicago Tribune, for example, reports the Chicago school district projects a $180 million shortfall for the 2008-09 school year and is considering laying off non-teaching staff. And in California, the Rialto Unified School District warned 305 teachers they might not have jobs next year, according to the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin.
Twenty-seven states face budget shortfalls totaling $36 billion for 2009, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported March 3.
California, Arizona, Nevada, and Florida -- states with the strongest real estate growth a few years ago and now seeing the worst slump in housing -- are facing the biggest shortfalls.
Another 11 states -- Minnesota, Rhode Island, Michigan, Delaware, Massachusetts, Ohio, New Jersey, Maryland, Indiana, New Hampshire, and Illinois -- are also identified by the center as facing the “highest levels of distress.”
The Indianapolis school district is expected to lose about $15 million this year because of a cut in state funding, primarily due to declining enrollment, said district spokesperson Kim Hooper.
The 36,000-student district lost 1,500 students this year and 5,500 over the past five years, Hooper said, mostly due to students transferring to charter schools or other school districts in Marion County. The loss of teachers, mostly due to attrition, has resulted in some high schools with as many as 40 or 50 students in a class, she said.
The budget situation will worsen if the state legislature approves a proposed cap on property taxes, Hooper said. The district is considering cutting staff positions outside the classroom, such as custodians and bus drivers, and hopes to avoid cuts that affect the classroom, “but at some point, it’s going to be inevitable,” Hooper said.
In Columbia, Mo., the school district is affected by stagnant state funding, along with the general economic slowdown.
Due to the way the state funding formula is calculated, the per-pupil amount has remained flat for the past four years, which means that, as costs rise -- for things like special education and transportation -- the district has to make up the difference, said school board President Karla DeSpain.
Local property tax assessments usually go up 5 percent annually, but this year have risen only 2 to 3 percent, DeSpain said. Meanwhile, federal and state funding makes up a shrinking share of district revenues.
A 54-cent increase in the tax levy will be on the local ballot in April, but DeSpain concedes getting it passed is “going to be an uphill battle,” due to an anti-tax sentiment in the community.
Regardless of whether it passes, the school board is committed to cutting $5 million from its budget.
In March, the board expects to release three lists of potential cuts -- showing cuts that will be made whether the tax increase is approved or not, cuts to be made if voters reject the levy, and optional cuts -- and will seek public input on how to proceed.
DeSpain hopes the board can trim staff through attrition and avoid layoffs. The district has about 1,200 teachers, and average annual turnover is about 200.
Districts across California are facing major funding cuts after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed slashing $4.4 billion in public school funding in 2008-09. That will translate to a reduction of $789 in per-pupil spending.
About two-thirds of districts’ budgets come from the state, said Rick Pratt, assistant executive director of the California School Boards Association (CSBA). Districts have limited revenue-raising capability, which means “most districts are totally dependent on the state.” California school districts also are affected by the property tax caps enacted more than 30 years ago.
Several districts have already begun sending teachers pink slips in case they will need to cut staff for the 2008-09 school year. Under state law, if districts need to trim their teaching staffs next fall, they must notify teachers by March 15. They can rehire them if conditions improve.
According to CSBA, the governor’s proposal to suspend Proposition 98 -- passed almost 20 years ago to ensure students and schools receive minimum funding -- “conflicts with the will of the voters.” Slashing education funding by $4.4 billion “would be disastrous for public schools” and would jeopardize the progress California has been making in raising student achievement.
CSBA lists a number of implications of a cut of this magnitude, including shutting down every school in the state for nearly one month; increasing class sizes by as much as 35 percent; and eliminating all music, art, and career technical education programs statewide.
The Long Beach, Calif., school board approved $20 million in reductions in mid-February and is looking at the possibility of cutting another $20 million, said district spokesperson Chris Eftychiou. Its total budget for 2007-08 is $758.6 million.
The district already approved a plan to close an elementary school next fall, Eftychiou said. It’s being done partially to save money, but also because the district has seen declining enrollment -- from 97,500 in 2002 to just 88,000 now -- primarily because the high cost of housing on the coast has driven young families out of the area.
The district also has frozen expenditures and hiring and has asked the state to allow more flexibility in how funds can be used. “We hope to address job cuts through attrition so we don’t have to send out pink slips,” Eftychiou said.
“We’ve been through this enough times, so now we’re getting good at it, and that is not a good thing,” he said.
“The cuts are difficult and painful but we’re doing what we can to raise student achievement,” he added. “But at a certain point, reality kicks in. There is a minimum investment we need to make to educate a student. With the governor’s budget, it’s becoming more and more difficult to maintain the level of academics we’re achieved.”
Reproduced with permission from
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