Finance Q&A

Like it or not: Prepare for budget cuts?

Q. I really must express my dismay at reading some of the vitriolic comments leveled against Michael Scriven, particularly the fairly recent ones by Anne Pemberton. While my personal schedule has allowed me not much more than a glance at the thread regarding 25% budget reductions in education, what I did glean from the discussion certainly does not appear to justify those types of acid attacks. Through the years I have found that people make comments based solely on their own perspective. They do not take the time or refuse to look at the whole picture. Whether one wishes to acknowledge that the handwriting is on the wall or not, the fact is that the funding for education with most likely decline in the years ahead. That means budget cuts. All of us in public education would do well to prepare, prepare, prepare. In our district we have a $1.4 billion budget. 51.4% of the funds are for our operating budget; 30.4% are for capital projects (building, renovating, remodelling schools, etc.). Of the operating budget, more than 80% goes directly to our schools, primarily teachers salaries. Several times during the past three-four years we have had to freeze our operating budget because state revenues have dropped by about $120 million dollars during that time. On top of that, you had five of seven Board members vote to give teachers a 3% raise when the Superintendent's recommendation was to give a bonus. But then again, political beings are easily swayed by the most vocal group in the Board room at the time. That decision, when the Board knew full well that monies were tight, cost us over $21 million; now we are trying to balance our budget this year as we have been told we will receive approximately $9 million less from the state than anticipated. (BTW, though repeatedly recommended to do so, the Board NEVER established an adequate contingency fund). Palm Beach County (FL) receives approximately 5000 new students each year. To keep up and catch up with that growth, it is estimated that we need $500 million more capital dollars during the next five years than we expect in revenue. I could send a couple of gigabites of text outlining how the growth of the educational bureaucracy has mushroomed, how programs have been added that relate little, if at all, to what students really need to be taught in school, and how schools are more and more taking on the appearance of a welfare state. I have 30,000 kids sitting in portables and the state dips into state capital funds and offers grants to build school health clinics. After 25 years involved in public education, eleven as a School Board member, I can say without apology@I WELCOME THE CUTS! And whether readers of this post welcome the cuts or not, they really do need to plan for them. We can either fight each other, or share ideas on how to prepare for the inevitable. One more thing: When I found Edpolyan, I was very excited to be on a list of this type. But when I read statements which somehow link conservatives and the Oklahoma City bombing, then I must ask myself why I remain on it. Who needs to be maligned and/or insulted by ones you had hoped would be enlightened and fair?

A. Can I try to bridge the different positions on this issue, since I find myself in some sympathy with each. On the one hand, I agree that simple-minded assumptions about cuts (not to suggest that anyone here has made these!) are not helpful, that large budget cuts are very likely to have deleterious consequences for children, and that we ought not to accept the position that education is overfunded. Indeed, in Canada we spend more eeach year on new motor vehicles than we do on public education, which is an interesting statement of priorities! On the other hand, it seems reasonable to think that we might make better use of resources for education than we currently do. I think we might have a more fruitful discussion if Michael Scriven's original question has been framed in terms of making better use of any given level of resources. That would allow us to talk about what resources do (and could) enhance learning, and move us away from a polarized debate about social spending levels. On the latter my view is clear - far from spending too much on public services we in Canada (and probably even more you in the US) spend too little. But that doesn't mean we couldn't spend smarter. It's a problem when the defenders of public education end up looking like they're simply defending the status quo. In education that isn't good enough.

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