School Savings | Is squirreling away federal education dollars the best choice for local districts?
A few years ago Fitchburg School Superintendent Andre Ravenelle convened a meeting of his principals during the first week of school with some bad news: They had to cut about $400,000 from a $43 million budget.
This year, the conversation around the administrative table is much less dire, thanks to $16 billion in federal funding allocated for schools across the United States.
But where there’s new money, there is a debate about how to spend it.
Flush With Cash
So far, the state has received $204 million from the federal Education Jobs Fund and another $250 million from the federal Race to the Top education reform initiative.
The intent of the jobs fund money is to save and rehire teachers and education workers that have been laid off.
But some educators say with a looming “funding cliff” in next year’s budget, the prudent approach is to save the money for next year when stimulus funds from the federal government are scheduled to run out. Other teachers and some state officials say the money should be spent now to rehire teachers that have been laid off.
“Kids only have one shot at third grade,” said Paul Toner, president of the Massachusetts Teachers Association. “Is it fair to hold off resources for them when they’re sitting in a class with 30 other students?”
Michael Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, a budget watchdog group, is warning education leaders to horde some of that money in preparation for continued cuts to education funding in the coming years.
While local education funding has already been cut by anywhere from 5 to 15 percent, Widmer said the budget situation could be even more dire in fiscal year 2012, when one-time money from the federal government is scheduled to run out.
Education budget gaps in the state could total close to $4 billion by 2012 if state revenues do not pick up significantly and no further support is provided from the federal government.
“You don’t do any favors to a school system by plugging a leak one year, just to have a calamitous hole the next year,” he said.
State Secretary of Education Paul Reville said the intent of the Jobs Fund money is to create or save as many jobs as possible, as soon as possible.
“We hope districts take an opportunity (to do that),” he said. “At the same time, I can understand district leadership wanting to hold on to some of this money. But we have people in Massachusetts who need to work right now.”
Districts have an 18-month window to spend the money and it will be up to individual districts to decide how to spend it, according to Reville.
Local Plans
Across Central Massachusetts, different districts are taking different approaches.
Shrewsbury Superintendent Joseph Sawyer said districts have been put in a difficult position. He still hasn’t made any decisions about what Shrewsbury will do with its $928,000 share of the money, but he’ll be discussing the options with the school committee and town officials later this month.
“If we spend it all this year and there isn’t any funding next year, we’ll almost certainly just have to lay off workers we’ve just rehired,” he said. “You really have to look at the long-term prospects of sustainability.”
Some districts, on the other hand, have already decided what they will do with the money.
Worcester Public Schools will not be using any of its $1.9 million in new money from the federal government this academic year, according to CFO Brian Allen.
Worcester officials cut about 10 teacher positions this year.
But because of declines in student enrollment, it just doesn’t make sense to add back teachers now. He estimates, on average, that class sizes increased by two or three students to about 22 or 23 students per class, which he said is not ideal, but manageable.
What’s more important, he said, is getting ready for a projected $10 million budget gap in the district’s $265 million budget next year.
He estimates that by saving the $1.9 million this year, the district could save 32 jobs next year.
Other districts are playing the balancing act too.
Terrance Ingano, Clinton’s public school superintendent, said he originally planned to cut three custodial positions and a secretary to part-time. With the new infusion of money, however, he’s hoping to restore those to full-time positions.
Thomas Scott, president of the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents, said it’s a difficult decision each school district will have to deal with.
“It’s tough,” he said. “You don’t want to use all this money in 2010-2011 only to have to cut those exact same positions the next year, and then possibly more. But given the size of these budget cuts and the class sizes we’re seeing, you need to make sure you’re offering a program that is serving the needs of the district."
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