Schools Confront Long Term Pain

December 14, 2009

Bay County school districts are making midyear cuts as the battle over school funding continues to wage in Lansing.

Last week, Bay City Public Schools laid out a plan to cut 13 employees, including custodians, teacher aides and transportation and technology staff.

"It’s not pretty," said Bay City Schools Interim Superintendent Douglas Newcombe. "Frankly, it’s disgusting. I have never been so unhappy with this. Until we get some relief out of Lansing, it doesn’t appear things are going to change. It’s going to get worse."

And this week, Pinconning schools will discuss laying off three teachers, a librarian and the district coordinator, who oversees student programs.

The cuts are another round in the school budget crisis that has districts throughout the region scrambling for ways to save money. Talks have ranged from consolidating busing systems to eliminating athletics.

On Thursday, Granholm rescinded a $127 cut to per-pupil funding because of higher-than-expected revenues in November. School officials aren’t holding their breath, though.

"It’s a good announcement … for now," Newcombe said. "This can put us in a situation that can help in the short run but not in the long run."

The move would restore about $1.1 million in revenue to Bay City schools.

Still, school leaders are discussing ways districts can save money. Bay and Arenac schools gathered last week for such talks, with a polling session on how individuals would choose to cut.

A majority of the school officials said they would support cutting or reducing noncore courses, such as wood shop or technology classes. Half would support cutting athletics. Most wanted to keep fine art programs.

And most agreed that the state should raise taxes as a way of increasing revenue to pay for schools.

What wasn’t on the survey was school districts’ biggest expense: wages and benefits.

Between 80 percent and 90 percent of school budgets are swallowed by employee salaries and benefits.

Kevin Stapish, who represents Bay City teachers for the Bay City Education Association, said wage cuts are difficult for any employee to accept.

"Over the years, we’ve done all sorts of things to help the district get through tough times," Stapish said. "It’s frankly at the point where it’s too difficult to do that."

Contracts with the teachers union are up this summer and Stapish anticipates difficult negotiating.

"We will do what we can to help the district continue to provide a high quality of education as we always have," Stapish said.

But Newcombe contends pay cuts may not be the answer.

"It’s more of a revenue problem," Newcombe said. "There are some expenditure pieces, costs for things like health insurance, but it’s revenue strictly by the fact that revenue is going backwards. It’s not even staying static."

A study, however, by the Mackinac Center, a conservative think tank in Midland, said the school budget crisis is about expenses – not a revenue problem.

&# x0D;

"It’s an issue of expense," said Michael Van Beek, director of education policy at the center. "Any revenue system we use is limited by economic growth, or lack thereof. There’s no way of predicting if we had been better off not passing Proposal A."

Proposal A, approved in 1994, diminished property tax levies and earmarked a 2 percent increase in sales taxes for schools. Money that was leftover before Proposal A in wealthier districts couldn’t legally be taken away, so per-pupil funding varied among districts.

The hope was that the lower-funded districts would soon catch up with the wealthier, but a lack of state revenue prevented that from happening. School districts in Bay County currently receive $7,151 per student in state funding.

Van Beek’s study showed that per-pupil funding has increased 33 percent since Proposal A. Adjusted for inflation, schools receive nearly $3,000 more in per-pupil funding, according to the Mackinac Center’s study.

"Why does it cost $3,000 more per pupil today to provide an education than it did in 1995?" Van Beek asked.

One possible reason school officials point to is numerous mandates in the state’s academic curriculum. Rising costs for special education also drain the student aid fund.

"All the regulations (the state) pushes down are more expensive," said Superintendent Darren Kroczaleski of Pinconning Area Schools. "The Michigan Merit Curriculum is basically unfunded mandates with no money behind it."

School officials say parents need to get involved and voice their concerns to lawmakers in Lansing.

"Until Lansing understands that they’re forcing these districts into difficult decisions that have a negative impact on students," said Saun Strobel, who represents custodians for Bay City Public Schools, "it’s not going to fix the problem."