Here's a synopsis of how Wake County school administrators are dealing with a proposed 8.8 percent funding cut from state House Education leaders.
With the cut being far higher than the 5 percent reduction the new budget was built on, Wake is drawing up plans should they need to lay off teacher assistants and custodians.
One of the major differences between what the state Department of Public Instruction and the state House has proposed is a greater reduction in funding for teacher assistants. The state House plan would remove all funding for teacher assistants beyond kindergarten and first grade.
In Wake’s case, Chief Business Officer David Neter said they'd first move all teacher assistants from 10-month to 9.25-month contracts. They'd basically not have the TAs come in on days when students aren't in, such as teacher workdays.
Neter said the second thing they'd do is not rehire teacher assistants whose contracts expire at the end of the school year. That includes teacher assistants who are in their first two years and new hires for this school year.
But Neter said the first two steps wouldn't be enough to absorb the state House cut so they're drawing up contingency plans in case they need to lay off some of Wake’s 2,064 teacher assistants.
The state House is also calling for $4.5 million more in cuts for non-instructional staff than projected by DPI. Wake bad already planned to eliminate one clerical position at each of its 163 schools based on the DPI budget proposal.
But with the additional state House cut, Chief Facilities and Operations Officer Don Haydon is drawing up plans to reduce custodial services. He said that all schools currently receive daily custodial service with one-third of schools having a custodian on staff and the other schools contracting with a private service.
Another possible cut that Haydon is dealing with is an additional $2.6 million reduction for transportation proposed by legislators.
Wake’s budget problems could potentially get worse if the state Senate, as some school board members and Neter anticipate, increase the cut in K-12 funding to lower the reductions for the UNC system.
The budget proposed by Supt. Tony Tata called for offering a one-time $500 teacher bonus, adding more foreign language instruction in middle schools, starting new technology and global studies programs and helping schools that are under-enrolled.
Tata said today’s he still committed to keeping those new programs even in the face of deeper budget cuts. He said they’re necessary to provide balance in the schools.
But Tata said some things he had proposed such as increasing the number of alternative school seats might have to be reconsidered. His proposal to not lay off any teacher assistants may also be impacted.
Comments
How about cutting DP from DPI?
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 06:01 — IDoverWhere are the cuts at DPI? For example, you have an complete waste of money paying someone like Deborah Prickett for doing what?? Her most recent positions at DPI include being a "Character Education Consultant".....how did that work out for you Deb? Now she claims she travels around the state doing something with after school programs. Really? Seems to me that DPI is paying her to travel to Tea Parties. How in the world does Deb do it? Full time job with pay/benefits @ DPI; paid worked for BOE and rallying for the Republican Party around the state. A lot of fat could be cut with the elimination of the fluff DPI positions such as the ones held by Prickett.
Wow, she sounds like a real
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 08:51 — woodstockWow, she sounds like a real go-getter to me... and someone with a real passion and dedication to education. I guess that is what it takes to be a leader and an agent for positive change. More power to her! However, I do not recall any reports of Prickett being involved with the Tea Party or "rallying for the Republicans around the state." Can you please cite the sources for this information.
I've never heard of Prickett
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 14:21 — jenmanI've never heard of Prickett attending Tea Party events either.
Question for those with more knowledge
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 10:46 — Dove314How would this funding decrease impact charter schools? Would they be in similar circumstances of having to drop TAs and custodial staff? Would they have the option to decrease the number of students instead?
I have no idea, but very
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 10:53 — jenmanI have no idea, but very interesting question.
I didn't know we had that now!
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 22:23 — raleighlauraWho has teacher assistants in classrooms beyond first grade today?
I was wondering this as
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 22:42 — jenmanI was wondering this as well. I think that some grades at our school have a teacher's assistant that works for an entire grade's teachers, making copies and helping grade papers. But I'm not aware of classroom TAs for anything above K & 1.
There are ta's all the way
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 07:06 — Andrew95There are ta's all the way up through highschool, although they are less common at you go up in grade level.
You are right
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 22:53 — duvalThey are shared among many classrooms....and being cut.
They are the greese that keeps the schools moving smoothly, but are unrecognized by most.
So, what will our classrooms look like without the TA's!?!
Less of everything creative, for one:
Less collaboration with really inventive individuals.
Less time for teachers to plan.
Less of everything...period.
And they just keep on cutting
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 16:46 — openmindWhere will the cuts end? We continue to cut in education, do people think things won't impact the classroom. A little here and a little there. Trim the fat is what you keep on hearing. At this rate the district is going to be anorexic. Oh and by the way Hui, any reason there really hasn't been much if any mention of the fact that all assistant principals in Wake County were cut from 12 months to 10 months not too long ago?
Argh
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 16:12 — Bob_Sconce"Lower the reductions to the UNC system."
UNC Schools are still an amazing deal -- $6500 for a year at NC State? That can easilby be bumped to $8500.
college costs
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 20:17 — turnerk1I know that the tuition seems low, but remember that there is a lot more to college costs than the tuition. The student fees are about $1000 every year, along with room and board, books, etc. Currently going to State with all costs included is just under $20,000 per year. Tuition at UNC-Chapel Hill has increased about 40% over the last four years, at some point we can't keep raising tuition of the UNC schools. Bob, I know your kids are young, but just wait until you have fill out the FAFSA form. Basically, if you own a home that costs around $250,000/year there is no way to qualify for financial aid to go to a state school, no matter how big your mortgage. So, there isn't any need based aid available for the vast majority of the middle class, and state schools have almost no merit based aid available either.
So...
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 20:46 — Bob_SconceThat $20K includes living expenses and tuition. $20K is still a fantastic deal -- Duke's number is $55K. A college student can easily earn $5K over the summer, $2K during the year, throw in another $10K from mom and dad (I'll assume that they're wealthy enough not to qualify for need-based aid), and you only end up with $12K in student debt. That's fantastic.
One thing that really shocked me when I moved to Raleigh (in '90) was that most parents don't save for their kid's college at all. We've been saving since mine were born.
In any case, financial aid and loans are available for college -- they're not for K12.
A bit naive
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 10:30 — Dove314The $20K includes only room and board and by no means covers all of the living expenses. There are a LOT of additional expenses, particularly for the freshman year when a student starts with nothing. Also, one of the points being made in the previous post is that many don't qualify to take out student loans of which you speak. Each college has a formula for student aid somewhat analogous but definitely not the same numbers you quote. There is a student component and a family component and then there is "the rest". The student and parental components are automatically deducted from the total amount a student could be loaned (whether or not the student or the parents have that money) and then assessments for need are based upon the remainder. Depending upon your income and FAFSA result, your student may only qualify for a small proportion of the remaining amount leaving a family responsible for the remainder to be funded via whatever other mechanism a family can sort out.
So...
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 11:26 — Bob_Sconce(1) The number from NCSU is $18,427, which includes tuition, room, rent, meals, books & supplies, transportation, health insurance and personal expenses. Sure, that doesn't include things like "going to Panama City for spring break," but I don't know why taxpayers should subsidize those things.
(2) The loans mentioned in the previous post were need-based or merit-based loans. It's always possible to take out non-need and non-merit based loans (i.e. private loans). Also, I disagree with the "if you own a house > $250K, you don't qualify" part, since I know a number of people who do, and qualified for federally subsidized Stafford Loans. The big problem appears to be with parents who have significant non-retirement assets or a fair bit of disposable income, in which case the parents are expected to pony up.
Don't misunderstand my position here -- I'm not a huge fan of increasing tuition in the UNC system. But, if it's a choice between that or significant cuts in K-12, increasing tuition seems the far more reasonable thing.
stafford loans
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 20:00 — turnerk1You can qualify for Stafford loans, but you can't qualify for gift aid assuming a total cost for school of $20-25 K. The question is, do you want your child to leave school highly in debt, especially if they are pursuing a field where they will make very little at first, always assuming they can find a job. We've also been saving since our kids were born, but it is quite a shock when you fill out the FAFSA and realize that being responsible and saving puts you at a huge disadvantage. The form assumes that the parents are willing to put every bit of their savings, as well as borrow to the limit, to put their kids through school, and there is no accounting for how many children are in the family. So, the form assumes that everything that is saved for three kids (in our case) will be spent on child number 1.
?
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 09:49 — Bob_SconceI suspect you may have made an error. You should probably have college money in a 529 plan, held by grandparents or an aunt or uncle. My understanding is that when you do this, you are expected to draw down a lot less. I also believe you should *never* have college money in a savings account or, even worse, in a UGMA/UTMA account. IIRC, Clark Howard has a bunch of information on this on his website.
I perhaps have a different view on college spending. If you're going to go to college for philosophy or something that won't pay well when you go out, then you should definitely go as inexpensive as possible. But, if you're going to be an engineer, then having student loan debt is really just an investment in your future.
Hmm
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 08:51 — Solon77Little on the aggressive side with the estimate of $5k in summer earnings and that is if they can find a job. Most jobs will be service/retail type that pay minimum wage and most positions are swing shift - 4 hours to fill in for the peak times. Gone are the days when employers committed to 8 hours a day for PT summer help.
Regarding working during school - we are taking a different view. Instead of working at a paying job, my daughter is taking 18hrs a semester and is on a track to finish in 3.5 years. The 1 semester tuition and living expenses is more than she could hope to earn during school and hopefully she will be earning professional pay by then.
It is not surprising that most people do not save for college education, all you have to do is look at retirement savings. If they don't save for retirement there would not be any savings for college. Most people live paycheck to paycheck - let alone save for something like education or retirement. It is a different world when you are not in the top 5% for income.
Well...
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 10:08 — Bob_SconceI'm not sure where I am on the income scale right now, but make nowhere near the $300K+/year that it appears you need to be in the top 5%.
Watch out with that paycheck-to-paycheck thing. For many people, that's really a choice they're making between present-day consumption and future consumption. If somebody gets a car more frequently than every 7 years (10 years if they buy new), then they're paying for today's lifestyle by not paying for tomorrow. I don't know why taxpayers should subsidize that behavior.
Where do you get $300k / 5%
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 21:09 — Solon77The upper class is most commonly defined as the top 1% with household incomes commonly exceeding $250,000 annually.
I remember my parents
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 10:34 — loriacI remember my parents complaining about that when I went to college - they had saved, so were not eligible for any financial aid... versus the families with lots of toys, but no savings, getting lots of aid. It's messed up.
I agree $5K is unrealistic for even a college kid w/ a plum intern job to save over the summer. I hire high school/college kids for our summer youth sports - they have the opportunity to offer lessons on the side (swim/tennis) in addition to the coaching - but it's a lot of hustling, and i bet after everything they could bank $2000 at the very most.
Ok...
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 11:29 — Bob_SconceOk... $5K is probably a little high -- $8/hr x 40 hr/wk x 10 weeks = $3200, subtract out FICA (which they'll never see again) and you're around $3K, several hundred for gas to/from the job, etc... and you're down to $2K.
No matter how you slice it,
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 21:19 — CaryCurmudgeonNo matter how you slice it, UNC and NC State are incredible deals, and they are better candidates for funding cuts and K-12. Fine with me if they jack up out-of-state tuition even higher, we can learn to live with a less geographically-diverse student population much easier than living with teacher reductions.
But we shouldn't be here at all. We just went through two "education governors" and started an "education lottery" but we are still near the bottom in terms of state-level per-pupil funding.
I think that, like me, you'd gladly pay a few hundred more a year in property or income taxes to fund a school system we can be proud of. It seems like we are going to have to wait for NC schools to bottom out before either party will give us a chance to vote for that. When we get to the point that companies are avoiding NC and instead turning to Mississippi, Arkansas and Louisiana because they have better schools, then maybe we'll start investing in education. Funny how folks who loved to call our schools an "economic development tool" were always wont to investing in them.
People made choices
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 08:52 — Dove314During the last election cycle, there was a clear choice between those who would and would not fund the schools. People chose to make other issues a higher priority and thus, while you say you support a tax increase, those are empty words. You know already that those in office, many of which you supported, will never even propose such a tax increase much less implement anything.
Empty words? The empty
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 12:02 — CaryCurmudgeonEmpty words? The empty words have come from those who promised better school funding in their campaigns, but didn't deliver. Stan Norwalk had a Dem majority on the commission for two years, and school funding will be less when he leaves than it was when he was appointed.
During the last election cycle, there was a clear choice between those who would and would not fund the schools.
Did you attend any of the debates? I did, and the only county commissioner candidate who had the guts to say he would look for increased tax revenues now was Steve Rao.
For state legislature, we could have voted for the same Democrats that got us ranked as one of the worst schools-funding states in the union, or for Republicans who would probably do no better.
You know already that those in office, many of which you supported, will never even propose such a tax increase much less implement anything.
I agree, I don't see any support from either side of the aisle to increase school funding, and I think that sucks. But if you believe that Democratic victories last Fall would have made school funding any better this year, then you are ignoring over one hundred years of history.
Untrue
Fri, 04/29/2011 - 13:40 — Dove314"or for Republicans who would probably do no better."
There was never any pretense on this. There was a clear stated Republican goal to enact exactly the budget cuts they are implementing including the significant cut to the education budget and the changes to the charter schools.
There is no crime in considering other platform planks more important than education but we should own that we did that knowing what the impact would be on education rather than acting as though this is unexpected.
As for your first point, it seems important to point out the economic situation during the exactly 2 years you mention in conjunction with the continued high growth in the school system. That is like saying your new majority has now had a year to even request some sort of funding increase and has not only failed to do so but has publicly stated, in the case of Mr. Tedesco, that such an increase is unwarranted and politically wasteful.
I support the new board
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 09:12 — woodstockI support the new board members and I fully expect additional funding for schools... however that does not necessarily mean raising taxes. First priorities need to be how current tax revenue is appropriated and getting the business community more engaged.
Top priority much to Yvonns displeasure
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 11:16 — FSandYOUshould be to save every dime we have and change these 14 schools to track 4 yesterday. The easiest decision has been passed over for 2 years now and we're still waiting.
Maybe when the quote becomes
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 21:46 — loriacMaybe when the quote becomes "you're my North Carolina", instead of "you're my Mississippi" we will know we've hit bottom.
Jobs
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 21:12 — Solon77Again assuming they can get a job(s) to work 40 hrs a week.
JT said the classrooms would
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 15:55 — HereWeGoJT said the classrooms would not be touched.
Is Stan Norwalk or JT the liar?
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 21:27 — FSandYOUStan said we'd see 2 - 3,000 teachers cut, but not one is being cut. So who is the liar?
I don't believe that not one will be cut, but hey, smoke and mirrors can work magic in Wake County.
Just as it has for years.
It is coming
Wed, 04/27/2011 - 09:05 — Solon77The initial budget Tata submitted assumed a $50m increase in state funding. This is not likely to happen. To cover inflation and other cost increases he cut school admins. While this may seem like cutting the fat, the school admins do a heck of alot that allow teachers to stay in the classroom. Take away the admins and the amount of time teachers actually have in the classroom declines. Cutting TAs will have the same impact. Sure noone is cutting teachers (yet) but the cuts will have an impact on their effectiveness in the classroom.
To put it in military terms - there is roughly 10-12 support personnel for each foot soldier. Cut the support personnel and you impact the foot soldier (teachers). Given Tata's military career in support and logistics he should know this better than anyone. When they cut the custodial staff - who is going to do the work ? I suppose teachers could push a broom and empty their own trash during what was once their PLT time. Maybe come in early or stay late, to do custodial duties instead of tutoring or student support.
To say - we didn't cut teachers when you cut everything around them is nothing more than political spin.
Where are you Stan?
Thu, 04/28/2011 - 11:17 — FSandYOUWhy haven't you chimed in since your tall tales have been squashed?
Teacher Assistants
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 22:06 — duvalAre unsung heroes in our school system.
If you do not think that loosing even one of these positions will not affect your child you are delusional.
doesn't put Tedesco in the
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 21:44 — Andrew95doesn't put Tedesco in the right.
He certainly says a lot of
Tue, 04/26/2011 - 16:23 — Andrew95He certainly says a lot of things he has trouble backing up.