Students Could Feel Effects of Budget Cuts
January 12, 2010
No additional 4 year olds can be enrolled in the LA-4 pre-school program this year, high school students could be limited in co-enrolling in community or technical college courses, literacy and math programs will be reduced and college readiness programs will be trimmed.
These are just some of the impacts of a $16 million cut imposed Monday by the state Department of Education to fulfill the state’s demand for an across-the-board reduction of funds. Statewide, agencies cut $247.9 million because of declining state revenues.
"These decisions are difficult, but necessary, considering the significant mid-year shortfalls," said State Superintendent Paul Pastorek in announcing the cuts. "All districts and most charter schools will be impacted by the reductions in some way, but our aim has been to identify cuts that are the least burdensome for them. Over the next several weeks, we are going to be working with districts and charter schools to make the necessary adjustments."
Pastorek said his department worked to "minimize the impact of these necessary reductions on districts, schools and students."
Students will feel the impact of a $2.25 million cut in a program aimed at improving literacy and math skills so each student is proficient by fourth grade and a $2.1 million reduction in funding that pays for high school students co-enrolling at community and technical colleges.
Pastorek said the department is working on a solution to the co-enrollment problem with the Louisiana Community and Technical College System.
The $825,561 reduction in the Cecil J. Picard LA-4 Early Childhood Program won’t affect students currently enrolled but no new s tudents can enter the program this year.
Adult education will sustain a $3.7 million cut to programs aimed at increasing the state’s literacy rate, so some classes could be eliminated or consolidated.
"Clearly this is going to create challenges for the education community, as we are working aggressively to raise student achievement across our state," Pastorek said. "But we and the education community have and will continue to find ways to streamline our resources without compromising our effectiveness."
BESE President Keith Guice of Monroe said he was disappointed that some of the cuts affect students.
"Any time you cut services directly related to students, it hurts," he said. "It hurts efforts people have been trying to make for years. When you cut services to children, it hurts the education system."
But because "it’s a bad time," Guice said, "I don’t think it was possible to make such substantial cuts without affecting students."
More than $825,500 was cut from the Cecil J. Picard LA-4 pre-school program, but Pastorek said it would not affect any students currently enrolled because it was uncommitted funding.
Although more than $4.1 million of the cuts were made in the state department — $3.7 million by reducing contracts, supplies and travel, and $452,172 by eliminating vacancies — at least one BESE member says the department could have absorbed more.
"BESE members were not involved in making these cuts," said Tammie McDaniel of Oak Ridge. "I would have preferr ed conversations about more reductions in the department’s budget. Other state agencies furloughed employees and made salary adjustments."
McDaniel said she realizes "these are tough times," but she hates to see cuts in pre-school, literacy and college readiness programs. "These will be painful."
"It’s imperative that we align spending with revenue, and educators understand budget adjustments quite well," she said.
BESE’s budget was cut $94,116. Pastorek said the "silver lining" in the cuts is that the formula that funds the overall operations of public schools was not touched, even though there is a process for doing that. Instead, the formula has received a $52 million increase to account to additional public school enrollment this year.
However, another source of funding for school systems — flow-through dollars — was not so fortunate.
In addition to formula dollars, districts and schools receive state and federal flow-through funds. The state portion of those is $122 million this year. Schools will see a $9.36 million decrease in state flow-through dollars, representing an 8 percent decrease in state funds.
The state’s special education schools did not escape the cuts. The Louisiana School for the Visually Impaired is cut $260,544 and the Louisiana School for the Deaf $659,546.
The state is also reducing assistance it gives districts in funding for non-public school student transportation with a $982,397 reduction. However, services in that area will not be affected because districts are mandated by law to provide such transportation.
Nationally certified teachers will find $427,481 less in a fund that pays them extra money and $230,000 in unobligated funds was cut from teachers’ Professional Improvement Program.
Another $330,613 in unobligated non-certified support personnel funds was also eliminated to balance the budget.
The Recovery School District was not included in the list of cuts distributed by the Department of Education.