by David Safier
From an article in the Arizona Guardian:
State education officials say the worst is yet to come as stimulus funds are depleted and the state struggles to fill a $1.5 billion gap in the 2010 budget.
Last month, Gov. Jan Brewer asked agency directors for proposed 15 percent cuts to their budgets.
The Department of Education identified more than $11 million in cuts to five different programs, from school safety and chemical abuse prevention to family literacy programs, which among other things, helps parents obtain their GEDs.
Tom Horne, Superintendent of Public Instruction, said he picked the five programs that don’t have federal matching funds tied to them.
“One of the consequences (of cutting money from these programs) could be an increase in violence in schools,” he said.
Horne also said it is hard for schools to make cuts in the middle of a fiscal year, since by then they usually have contracts and curricula they have to honor.
“They may have to fire teachers mid-contract,” Horne said. “You can imagine what that will do to teacher morale.”
Horne’s greatest worry, however, is what will happen to schools in 2011, when they will no longer be able to count on help from federal stimulus funds.
“If the deficit is big enough in 2011, we may be looking at significant layoffs for teachers and higher class sizes,” he said. “The worst cuts are to come.”
. . . “It will significantly damage the education process in Arizona,” he said.
[snip]
So far this year, schools have lost nearly $400 million because of low tax collections and discontinued programs, said Chuck Essigs, a veteran education lobbyist with the Arizona Association of School Business Officials.
Essigs said schools lost $100 million in excess utility funding, $120 million in reduced per pupil spending and inflation funding and another $170 million expected loss in prop 301 tax revenues.
The Legislature also took away nearly $13 million from the department for administrative costs and non-formula programs.
“People forget to account for the $100 million in excess utilities,” Essigs said. “It usually doesn’t show up because they didn’t cut the money per se, they’re discontinuing the funding.”
By 2011, these may be remembered as the "good old days" of Arizona education.
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I wish I’d gotten to see the excessive weirdness. 🙂
This was a very disheartening post for me. I keep hoping I can continue to be a teacher in Arizona, but the writing is definitely on the wall, and it’s getting clearer week-by-week. I had interviews in Michigan last summer, but I blew them off. I won’t make the same mistake next summer. Assuming that I even make it to the end of this school year with a job.
Lezli, I deleted your comment due to excessive weirdness and misinformation. Just one thing. The child who asked Obama the “Why do they hate you?” question was in New Orleans at a town hall event.