DOE to principals: Budget cuts across the board
Today, Chancellor Joel Klein previewed budget cuts at the city’s schools in a message sent to all principals. The news is good or bad, depending on your point of view — and your school’s fiscal status, he said.
“In aggregate,” Klein wrote, “the total dollars in school budgets will be reduced by 3.8 percent.”
In specifics, which he described at a briefing today at Tweed, more than 40 percent of schools may experience cuts of 4.9 percent, while others, such as the approximately 80 schools with large Title I populations, might “get a slight bump” in funding, Klein said.
Schools that managed to save and “roll over” funds from Fiscal Year 09, which ends on June 30th, will experience less severe cuts than those who spent their budgets down, said Klein.
“To be clear: if you rolled over money, the good news is you will be able to spend that money. We are not cutting the money you rolled forward,” he wrote in his letter to principals. Schools were cautioned to save money from this year to plan for the next, although the rate and ability to save varies from school to school. The cut is designed to save approximately $318 million in the coming fiscal year, in addition to the $100 million in midyear cuts.
Principals will be responsible for making decisions about whether to cut programs — Saturday school, after school programming and professional development were three options the Chancellor mentioned — or to trim staff.
“Most schools will be able to find significant portions of this in OTPS [Other Than Personnel Services].” But school leaders are free to lay off staff, “if an aide or a para that they feel is more cuttable than a program,” Klein explained.
At LaGuardia High School, our student blogger writes that upper-level math courses will be snipped.
Specific budgets for each school will be presented to principals tomorrow, and according to the DOE, posted to the DOE website.
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I wonder what the % cut is down at Tweed?
Comment by vsan23 — May 19, 2009 @ 10:48 pm
If Klein cuts some of the fat at the upper levels of the DOE, this cut wouldn’t be necessary. Instead of a system that was working, they created this new monstrosity, the Office of Family Engagement and Advocacy. They are paying these snots, who are just out of college, lots and lots of money to work on parent engagement - and they know nothing of what goes on in the schools. Instead of trimming at the ISCs, and Tweed, they go merrily along, cutting school budgets, and increasing the number of employees at the top.
Comment by Queens PC — May 20, 2009 @ 8:04 am
“Principals will be responsible for making decisions about whether to cut programs — Saturday school, after school programming and professional development were three options the Chancellor mentioned — or to trim staff.”
Is he kidding??? Our school doesn’t have money for any of these things - the PTA or private grant money pays for these things if we have them at all. There is no choice here. Class sizes are going to grow and we will have to lose staff that are already overworked as it is. There is no fat to trim. I’m disgusted.
- Public School Parent (2nd & 3rd grade)
Comment by Brooklyn Mom — May 20, 2009 @ 9:23 am
Yes, I think those who have less should get extra help, but isn’t it illegal to not fund all public schools, equally? In addition, if Mr. Klein will cut the budgets of middle class schools more than those of Title 1 schools, he and others — like the NY Post — cannot take issue with parents raising funds to give our schools and our kids what the DOE has taken away.
Comment by Middle Class Mom — May 21, 2009 @ 9:13 am
There are teachers who are sitting around in a rubber room still receving money to do nothing. If other unions are willing to cut workers who are sitting around doing nothing why isn’t the teachers union making consessions too?
Comment by Manhattan Parent — May 22, 2009 @ 9:23 am
Most of teachers in the rubber room have not had any sort of disciplinary hearing. If you had your way, teachers could be fired based solely upon student (or administrative) accusation without any sort of due process.
Comment by Douglas Morse — May 27, 2009 @ 6:24 am
I can’t even imagine where my son’s small school could make cuts that wouldn’t be deeply felt. As it is, it seems that the parent coordinator (who is fantastic!) does the work of at least 3 full time staffers! The school doesn’t have an after school program to cut and the PA goes to great lengths to fundraise in order to maintain the existing activities and programs that fall outside of the realm of the 3R’s.
As for cutting “middle class” vs. title 1 schools, I think all families are very much affected by any cuts because I don’t think any of the city schools have the full resources they need. I agree with Queens PC that the cuts need to come from the top and extraneous new offices that have been created, including from the people they pay to do the quality review and accountability stuff that results in nearly illegible mish mosh!
Comment by Bronx mom — May 27, 2009 @ 12:38 pm
We just learned that our middle school’s budget will be cut by more than 8% - on top of all the other cuts over the past two years this is unimaginable. The DOE’s assertion that the maximum reduction is 4.9% is simply not true.
Comment by Parent of a middle school child — May 29, 2009 @ 11:08 am
Go to seethroughny.net, payrolls, NYC DOE central adminstration employees.
Nearly 12,000 people at a total payroll of about $600,000,000 per year.
There is a ton of fat to be cut at Tweed. I wish the mainstream press would address this for once.
Comment by Anonymous — May 29, 2009 @ 2:25 pm
Schools like Mark Twain (District 21) and Christa McAuliffe (District 20) have lost their ‘Hold Harmless $$$’. This will lead to a loss of 1/2 million or more.
Comment by Anonymous — May 29, 2009 @ 3:14 pm
[…] Students are not the only ones wrangling with mathematics this year. Yesterday, The New York Times reported how principals have cut costs to meet their 5% slimmer school budgets, after the budget cuts announced last spring. […]
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