What more can be said about the dire financial condition all of us face in our districts? All of us are grappling with per pupil reductions to our foundation allowances and trying to figure out how we will balance our budgets next year, and I do mean all of us. I don’t know of one district that will be able to escape the budget axe next year, and absent any relief coming from Lansing, the cuts will be unprecedented. Although this is not a comforting thought, Michigan is not alone in its budget woes.
Within the last month, I have read about at least ten other states that are dealing with struggling economies brought on by the last recession and are telling their state education agencies that they will need to manage with less resources next year. The governor of Iowa has ordered a 10-percent, across-the-board state budget cut, creating difficulties for schools that lack the cash reserves to offset mid-year budget cuts. James Scharff, director of the Iowa Association of School Business Officials, said, "school leaders who want to preserve education programs might face cash-flow problems that force them to borrow money." In Kansas, the state has already reduced school aid by 4.8 percent or $215 per pupil this year. Lower than expected tax collections this summer and declining property tax values may force the state to cut aid even further. Sound familiar?
In Alabama, districts received a 7.5 percent reduction in school aid, and this is on top of an 11 percent reduction the year before. In South Carolina, an 11.7 percent jobless rate has reduced state revenues by almost 10 percent, which in turn will force the state to make spending cuts to its education appropriation. South Carolina, like Michigan, is making the reductions one third of the way into the current budget year. To deal with the shortfall, the governor is asking state agencies to tell them how they will deal with a 15 percent reduction to their budget. This is on top of the 20 percent reductions they received last year. Sound familiar?
In Utah, the state superintendent is urging lawmakers not to cut funds to education any further, stating that “our schools can’t provide essential services to students without essential funding.” State board of education members are asking lawmakers not to cut education by dipping into the state’s rainy day fund and using $100 million that was set aside for future education funding. One member of the state legislature cautions about not using all of the rainy day funds “because they are one-time funds, and once they’re gone we won’t have anything else to use.” Sound familiar?
In Maryland, the governor has told superintendents that he needs their help to deal with a $2 billion shortfall in next year’s $13 billion operational budget. The president of the senate stated that he did not believe that the state would be able to continue paying the entire cost of teacher pensions because he did not believe it was sustainable. Doesn’t this sound like Michigan prior to Proposal A? And in Montgomery County, top county officials are threatening to sue the state after the state attorney general found that the county had failed to meet the state’s minimum level of education funding. Sound familiar?
So why I am writing about the education woes of other states when Michigan is having such a tough time? One reason is to point out that we can’t simply look to other states for a simple solution because there are no simple solutions and other states, like Maryland, are dealing with the same issues we are dealing with now and prior to Proposal A. Another reason is the enormity of situation. Hawaii is estimating a $1 billion deficit through June of 2011, and their governor is worried that the public still does not fully comprehend the magnitude of the situation. In Troy, we have made budget reductions for seven years in a row, but those reductions will pale in comparison to what we will have to reduce next year. We have made a series of presentations to explain how school funding works and are holding community forums to solicit input on budget reductions. Like Hawaii, we need to communicate the magnitude of the situation, as all districts will need to do as we approach the budget cliff next year. Whether states operate county wide districts like South Carolina or Maryland, or local districts like Kansas and Michigan, or even a single state wide system like Hawaii, school funding problems exist.
Throughout all of this however, we must continue to concentrate on educating our students. We must still strive to offer a comprehensive curriculum and prepare our children for tomorrow. The children of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. Let us not lose sight of our educational mission.