Here is a puzzle for someone to solve.
Governor Pat McCrory in North Carolina says that he did not cut the education budget. He says that the state is spending more than ever on education.
This legislator says the budget was not cut, and anyone who says so is expressing “an outright lie.” And this legislator agrees.
But every district is laying off teachers, teachers’ assistants, assistant principals, and other positions, and they have less money to pay for instructional materials.
This is a puzzle. Can anyone solve it?
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Their favorite cards are pension contribution and consultants when it comes to “spending more but giving less to the schools”. I’d add in charter schools too, but, somehow, those are never paid too much for their services.
LikeLike
Roughly: The raw bottom line number increased slightly; however, it does not account for a projected 17k more students. Include those and per-pupil spending is down. Additionally, if you adjust for costs, the budget is approximately $1M short of allowing schools to maintain last year’s level of services. Funds are also diverted for charters/vouchers, and teachers again get no raise. Since the recession, NC teachers have gone from “middle of the pack” to 46th in pay and are projected to drop to 48th.
So it’s spinable as an increase, but reflects a blatant disdain for public education.
LikeLike
So Pat where is the money? No raise in 5 years (I teach Econ. and every one of my students understand that factoring in inflation this represents a decrease in salary)…School cutting, and certainly not increasing, electives and increasing classroom size…District doing the best they can but sooner or later the smoke clears and the mirrors break. So I ask again…where is the money?
LikeLike
I am very interested as well. I will be watching.
LikeLike
That is a BIG PUZZLE! Hmmmmm…. Why were 67 teacher assistants recently cut in the district in which I work?
LikeLike
There will be 44 fewer TA positions in my small district. The remaining TAs will be earning 82% of their former salaries.
Thom Goolsby – positively ghoulish! Who elected that fool?
LikeLike
Smokescreens! The cuts, especially to teacher assistants and increased class size will be attributed to local decisions as in make the local districts the bad guys.
LikeLike
This explains the budget fairly well:
http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/08/12/a-thorough-look-at-the-new-two-year-state-budget/
The budget fully funds the enrollment growth in K-12 schools but makes harmful cuts—such as reducing funding for teachers, which could increase the number of students in each classroom, and eliminating funding for 1 in 5 teacher assistants—that will make it harder for kids to learn. It also provides $10 million for children to attend private and religious schools through a voucher program. – See more at: http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/2013/08/12/a-thorough-look-at-the-new-two-year-state-budget/#sthash.ri4hWeWp.dpuf
LikeLike
All I can say right now is bravo to Buncombe County for allowing schools (mine at least) to have a TA who can give time to 3rd and 4th grades. I see local commitment to keeping things strong despite setbacks and that is what we need (while still pushing for the right stuff from Raleigh).
People are stunned by the cuts to education. Hours were cut,but not people (in our building).
My principals are excellent leaders and I know they will navigate us through this admirably. We are getting a dual language kindergarten and all 32 K-4 classes of children have art, music and PE every week. There was one change to computer lab (one fewer staff person).
Our PTO is the best one I have ever seen, bringing in enough to pay a TA plus fund numerous projects (including my musicals) AND buying at least 10 new Smartboards for classrooms this year.
A local church landscapes at our school each spring. A high dollar golf community across the street funds several projects and last year gave generously to students in need. Local churches have a back pack program that provides meals to children on the weekend.
We have seven Title I assistants.
———-
Will Raleigh take credit for thriving schools despite setback? We will find out, I guess.
As for the puzzle, first you piece the edges together.
LikeLike
We do have 26 Kindergarteners in each section of dual language, which will make for a lively music class. But I think that is more a testimony to the need for dual language.
LikeLike
Looked at the links. Need to do more research.
Tim Moffett happens to be the only rep in Raleigh who has responded to an email (he doesn’t like Common Core). But I know he made even staunch Republicans in my town angry over wanting to privatize the airport (and something about the water too, which we got to vote on).
Hmmm. This is interesting. Tonight’s reading material has presented itself.
LikeLike
I thought the answer was already announced. $$ were sent to charters instead of free public schools and already impoverished teachers. Bless Joanna’s PTO but imagine what they could do if the state wasn’t playing a shell game with tax payer dollars.
LikeLike
Michigan is going through the same thing. Gov. Snyder claims he has increased school spending, but 55 districts are running deficits. Here is an explanation of the shell game here entitled “Who Has Fact Issues?” from Michigan Parents for Schools, which sounds very much like what is going on in North Carolina. None of this stuff is local; it is a well-coordinated national campaign:
http://www.miparentsforschools.org/node/204
LikeLike
It is possible to keep the budget appearing “uncut” on the surface but to redirect funding to privatizer preferences. Of course, there is the incessant bleeding of public school funding to charters, vouchers, online schools, and the hefty price tag on ever-increasing standardized testing.
LikeLike
I may be fiscally stupid but I believe the massive push to put technology everywhere in the school building eats up a lot of money for personnel. I have nothing against technology but it is expensive to purchase, repair, and it needs to be updated (newer models, versions etc.) frequently. This expenditure is bound to be a budget buster and while the money is supposedly not being cut, it is not enough to maintain the current needs of our schools.
LikeLike
If the budget was not cut and teachers are laid off. then there was a shifting to where the money went…the shifting to privatize, perhaps? Follow the money…
LikeLike
This year’s budget for ed is less than the budget of 2007. After the economy crashed, monies were cut back and have not yet been restored to the levels of 2007.
LikeLike
In Indiana, our previous governor LOVED to claim that education was the largest line item in the state budget…. and it was, but only because in 2008 our legislature passed laws to change the way schools were funded. Our schools are funded primarily through property tax. Before 2008, money from our property taxes that was earmarked for our local schools stayed in our counties or townships. Then the law changed, and all money from property taxes had to be sent down state and pooled together in a pot that was then redistributed back to local communities. As a result, the budget for education became the largest line item in the state budget. It also looked like it had been increase. So then the DOE and our governor and the legislature started to cut our budget by hundreds of millions of dollars, all while claiming they increased the budget. Teachers and school staff were cut and programs were cut. Class sizes increased. Extreme measures in nearly every public school had to be employed that effected the conditions in which children were learning. And over 100 school districts have had to put referendums on the ballot to barely make ends meet. Our district passed theirs, but our current budget, even with the money from the referendum is well below 2008 levels. The public was unaware this had happened, and it’s harder to explain than the one liners about education being a priority and education having the largest line item in the state budget.
At the same time, our state conveniently “misplaced” nearly the same amount of money that had been cut from education budget. Actually, the state realized that it had misplaced money twice… the first time it found $300 million:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1211/69937.html
And a little later it found another $200 million:
http://www.wthr.com/story/17342024/indiana-officials-say-205m-in-local-taxes-mishandled
Last year, the state issued tax credits of about $100 to each of its citizens because we had a surplus. Meanwhile, education budgets have yet to be restored to their 2008 levels.
LikeLike