Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools may - or may not - save nearly $20 million with cuts to school transportation services, as laid out at Tuesday night's school board meeting. But the costs of those cuts, and others being considered, could be this: the loss of academic gains.

Taxpayers should start paying close attention now and weigh in on what's important to them as budget talks for next school year get under way. The price of some cuts may be too steep for any savings gained. If struggling students lose access to programs that have been helping boost their learning, more are likely to fail academically and drop out. The ripple effect of that in unemployment, crime and other problems will be a lot more costly to tackle than the present budget woes.

Still, CMS officials are right to look in every nook and cranny to find possible savings. And they're right to start early in laying out options to plug a shortfall of up to $100 million.

But as with the school closings announced last month, the possible trims in transportation, Bright Beginnings pre-kindergarten and weighted student staffing (which assigns additional teachers to schools based on poverty) would disproportionately affect low-income and minority students. Those students often need more help to succeed. Central office cuts were also mentioned, but we'd like to hear more about reductions that more equitably distribute the pain.

Among the transportation options, eliminating busing for about 12,000 magnet students could garner the most savings - up to $9.5 million. If those students switched to neighborhood schools and need transportation, the savings would shrink to $4.4 million. The students least likely to be able to afford to provide their own transportation to magnets - and thus less likely to continue attending - are low-income and minority students.

The school system is also looking at cutting bus rides for about 51,000 students who live within 1.5 miles of their schools and at revising school start times. Some board members rightly raised concerns about traffic, crime and pollution - all costly - that could result from the 1.5 mile change. No school change should put students in harm's way.

Here's another wrinkle in making transportation cuts. State official Derek Graham spoke to the board about the state's school transportation formula. Weirdly, by making cuts CMS could lose state dollars based on the convoluted formula the state uses to fund school system transportation needs. The allotments don't seem to favor densely populated urban areas as much as they do rural communities. Communities that use local funds also seem to get penalized. N.C. lawmakers should take a look at that transportation formula.

CMS should look at a few things too. We're disturbed that documents related to Tuesday's budget talks were not posted for public view on Tuesday. We're also dismayed that talks about budget cuts didn't get under way until after 10 p.m. Neither was helpful in getting the public engaged in this important issue early on.

Big changes are inevitable as CMS tackles this daunting shortfall. The school system needs allies and partners to find the least harmful solutions. It's vital that the public is able to weigh in on what's essential to safeguard - and what our community will invest in to keep. It's also vital that CMS welcome that input with open arms.