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Like the cavalry, N.C. lawmakers finally galloped to the rescue of many laid-off teachers statewide. Given the time it took, they seemed to be astride an old, loaded down mule.
Still, thanks to a budget that boosts some taxes to help public schools manage the $225 million in education cuts, N.C. school systems began rehiring some of the teachers they laid off. The state required school systems to notify teachers and support staff in June whether they would be rehired though lawmakers were still two months away from adopting a budget that would give an indication officials could pay them.
But with Gov. Bev Perdue's signature on a budget plan this week and notification that federal stabilization funds from the state also are being released, hiring is under way. Federal stimulus money won't help as much as you might expect. Wake County Schools officials said the state substituted $35 million of its funding to Wake with federal dollars. Superintendent Peter Gorman said that happened in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools too. The state cut non-instruction (bus drivers, custodians and the like) funding by $34.8 million, nearly the same as the amount of stabilization dollars CMS would receive.
Wake schools, the state's largest public school system, also faces a direct state funding cut of $35 million. But it was less than expected and officials have already rehired more than 900 of the nearly 1,500 employees – mostly teachers – it let go in anticipation of budget cuts.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, second to Wake in population, laid off more than 1,100, including 665 teachers. CMS also plans to bring back several hundred employees including nearly 300 teacher-level jobs.
But with a state funding cut of $32 million and an even bigger cut in Mecklenburg County funding of $34 million (county funding in Wake was cut by just $3 million), the losses of people and programs in CMS are still daunting as the school year starts.
It is worth remembering the losses will hurt. What was cut and seems unlikely to return this year?
In personnel, a lot teacher assistants, librarians and campus security personnel will be eliminated. Those people help teachers enormously. With many of those people gone, a slimmed-down teaching force will take on additional duties. Literacy coaches and social workers were also on the chopping block, but some will be brought back at the discretion of principals and assistant principals to fill some teacher level jobs.
Expanded day programs that research shows aids academic progress in high-poverty schools have been eliminated. Bright Beginnings pre-kindergarten programs will continue using federal stimulus money that could only be used for high-poverty schools and programs. But that money runs out in two years and CMS will have to find funding or end the programs.
Among the losses that have gotten little attention are cuts in field trips. If CMS can't find the money for these programs, I hope the public does. They are valuable, giving students a chance to get science instruction in a visit to Discovery Place or history instruction in a visit to The Charlotte Museum of History or the Levine Museum in a way that's often more compelling and enduring than in the classroom.
I got a chance to see the value of Junior Achievement's BizTown recently in a visit. CMS funding, 19 percent of JA's budget, is also on the chopping block. That's unfortunate.
I was wowed watching the students in their mock city handle jobs ranging from running a hospital to putting out a newspaper (my personal favorite). But it was more of a joy to see learning in action, and to see students so clearly engaged. The program includes 38 hours of in-classroom instruction, including financial literacy which is immensely valuable these days.
There are, of course, many other valuable school programs in Charlotte and across the state that the economic downturn has hurt. This state budget has helped some avoid elimination. Other programs have found needed efficiencies.
But to save others, we may all need to dig deeper and help.
Fannie Flono is an Observer associate editor. Write her at the Observer, P.O. Box 30308, Charlotte, N.C. 28230-0308. E-mail: fflono@charlotteobserver.com.
