by David Safier
During a teacher's meeting at an Arizona school this week, the teachers were told about some ideas being bounced around concerning the 2010 round of budget cuts for K-12 schools:
- Cuts of about $1,000 in spending per pupil.
- Salary cuts ranging from $4,00-6,000.
- Getting rid of the experience index for teacher salaries.
This year's cut was about $130 million for something like half a school year. Next year's proposed figures are far more than double that amount for the full year. The vast majority of education expenses are either fixed costs that can't be cut or salaries. So your basic choices are, cut teachers or lower salaries.
I know someone will tell me you can cut administrators. Yes, that's true. But that's not going to make a hell of a lot of difference when we're talking about budget figures like these.
Dr. Fagen, in an email to employees,said TUSD is preparing for a worst case scenario of an 80 million dollar cut in funding in the 2010 budget.
perhaps you read this already.
Worst in Class: How Education in Arizona Became an Economic Casualty
by Randall Amster http://www.opednews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/2/Worst-in-Class-How-Educat-by-Randall-Amster-090206-263.html
Soft capital will likely be minimal or non-existent next year, but it won’t be close to the cuts that ed will be expected to make. Districts will be forced to be very creative in how they make up the rest. This will not be pleasant.
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