Wake Budget REductions 2010-11

Facing a potential funding gap of $20 million for the next fiscal year, WCPSS Superintendent Del Burns called for his senior management team to prepare plans for cutting its Central Services operations. Burns outlined anticipated cost increases and revenue declines for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2010. The changes the school system must prepare for include:
• $8 million in discretionary cuts in state funding as part of the second year of the biennial budget;
• an anticipated increase of $6 million in employee retirement, hospitalization, dental insurance and local salary supplements;
• a reduction of $3 million available from system reserves to balance the budget; and
• unknown expenses associated with growth and new schools.

Burns directed his leadership team to develop and submit the reduction plans. Burns will then review them, make any revisions and include them in his budget recommendations which are slated to be presented to the Wake County Board of Education in early March. The school board will work through the recommendations and submit their request to the Wake County Board of Commissioners by May 15.

State Budget

North Carolina state government should have at least $620 million to use in the event of a budget shortfall this fiscal year, state budget director Charlie Perusse told lawmakers Wednesday. Perusse's office estimates it will have $469 million from unused funds and holdbacks of up to 5 percent from state agencies ordered by Gov. Beverly Perdue to ensure there's money to pay bills. There's another $150 million in the rainy-day reserve fund. So far, revenues are $95 million less than what lawmakers projected when they passed the $19 billion budget in August. That shortfall is nowhere near the $3.2 billion shortfall Perdue faced last year.(THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, 11/18/09).

Excel Spreadsheet

Patrick Phillippe (Kinston cohort) has created an Excel spreadsheet for your use in completing the final project for the course. You will find it under the Blackboard site for the course and under "Assignments" for "Class 10". Many thanks to Patrick for his willingness to develop this shortcut for all of you.

Stimulus Funding Cliff

How Big Is the Stimulus Funding Cliff? $16.5 billion. That's the amount of money that 36 states combined will need to find, somewhere, to get back to their 2008 K-12 funding levels after stimulus money runs out. That amounts to about 10 percent of these 36 states' combined budgets, according to my own calculations of figures presented in a White House report out yesterday on the impact of the stimulus package on education jobs. This is the funding cliff that states and school districts have been warned about.

States will need to replace this money at a time when the national economy only now is showing glimmers of a recovery, and state tax collections are still tanking by record amounts. Of course, when it comes time for states to write their budgets for fiscal 2011 and beyond, they have the ability to move money around, or rob other programs to help fill in K-12 budget gaps. But will there be enough money to go around? Looking at the size of these gaps, probably not.

Some states have a bigger cliff than others. California wows with its sheer dollar amount. Its fiscal 2010 K-12 state spending is $32.9 billion, or 14 percent less than it was two years ago. ($5 billion in stimulus money filled in that gap.) But proportionately, other states are in just as bad, or worse, shape.

Oregon reduced state funding by half-a-billion dollars in fiscal 2010, or 16 percent below fiscal 2008 levels. Illinois reduced its state contribution to education this fiscal year by nearly $600 million, or 14 percent. Utah reduced its contribution by $300 million, or 13 percent, below 2008 levels. All of those holes were filled, or will be filled, with money from the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund, the largest single chunk of stimulus money available to states for education.

As state policymakers face frightening budget gaps, folks are getting desperate. In Kentucky, state legislators are considering raiding the "rainy day" funds of individual school districts, which includes money raised from local property taxes. That's unprecedented in the state--and maybe in the country.

A recent report by the Education Department's inspector general called attention to this problem, maintaining that the real effect of the State Fiscal Stabilization Fund was to reduce a state's own funding contribution to schools, rather than prod states to invest more in K-12 education. Even the IG, however, acknowledged this was allowable under the law. Posted by Michele McNeil on October 19, 2009 3:07 PM | Permalink

Next Week

In preparation for next week's class, please review the course pack pp. 182-219 and you may find some assistance in determining which PRCs are to be included in the budget reduction exercise. When you come to class, you will need to sit with your team and you will have some time together to discuss the list of PRCs further before you submit a final list.

Please also read the material behind the tab for Class 10 as we will have some discussion about the principal's role in Capital Outlay expenditures.

Rewritten GS 115C-105.41

Please replace the section (p. 124) in your course pack with the following rewritten section:

SECTION 1. G.S. 115C-105.41 reads as rewritten:

"§ 115C-105.41. Students who have been placed at risk of academic failure; personal
education plans. Local school administrative units shall identify students who are at risk for academic failure. Identification shall occur as early as can reasonably be done and can be based on grades, observations, State assessments, and other factors that impact student performance that teachers and administrators consider appropriate, without having to await the results of end-of-grade or end-of-course tests. No later than the end of the first quarter, or after a teacher has had up to nine weeks of instructional time with a student, a personal education plan for academic improvement with focused intervention and performance benchmarks shall be developed or updated for any student at risk of academic failure who is not performing at least at grade level, as identified by the State end-of-grade test and other factors noted above. Focused intervention and accelerated activities should include research-based best practices that meet the needs of students and may include coaching, mentoring, tutoring, summer school, Saturday school, and extended days. Local school administrative units shall provide these activities free of charge to students. Local school administrative units shall also provide transportation free of charge to all students for whom transportation is necessary for participation in these activities.
Local school administrative units shall give notice of the personal education plan and a copy of the personal education plan to the student's parent or guardian. Parents should be included in the implementation and ongoing review of personal education plans.

No cause of action for monetary damages shall arise from the failure to provide or
implement a personal education plan under this section.

SECTION 2. This act is effective when it becomes law and applies beginning with
the 2009-2010 school year.

No Appeal

Attorney General Roy Cooper's office will not appeal a Superior Court judge's decision that State Superintendent of Public Instruction June Atkinson has the legal authority to run the state education agency, according to a spokeswoman for Cooper's office. Gov. Beverly Perdue had hired Bill Harrison to run the state Department of Public Instruction, going around Atkinson, who had twice won statewide elections for state superintendent. Atkinson, a Democrat, hired former state Supreme Court Justice Bob Orr, a Republican who runs the N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law, to fight the decision in court. She sued Perdue and the State Board of Education, and won. Cooper's office said immediately after the Superior Court ruling in July that it would appeal. But the office decided last month not to, said spokeswoman Noelle Talley. Harrison said he told Perdue soon after the decision that he thought an appeal would be distracting. He retired from the paid job of state education CEO, though he is still the school board chairman. (THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 10/12/09).

Why Schools Need to Be Better

While reviewing the law cases assigned as a part of Class 6, one group ran across the following quote (from the Serrano decision), which clearly states why we need to improve our schools and offer our children the very best we can:

"A child of the poor assigned to an inferior state school takes on the complexion of a prisoner, complete with a minimum sentence of 12 years". (Coons, Clune & Sugarman, spra, 57 Cal. Law Review, p. 388.

Sexual Misconduct

Nearly half of the 289 teacher license revocations and suspensions in North Carolina over the past decade were for sexual misconduct, the Wilmington Star-News reported Saturday. A database made public by the North Carolina Board of Education details teachers in the state whose licenses to teach were surrendered, suspended, denied or revoked in the past decade and the reason. But the problem may be worse than as indicated by the database, which only includes people who were caught. Currently, the state does not require background checks for teacher's license applicants. The state board of licensure relies on self-reporting - just two questions that trust the applicant to be honest about past suspensions and convictions. It's only when a would-be teacher applies to work in a local school district that a background check requirement kicks in.

But experts say those checks don't always catch teachers who resigned from their last school under a cloud. They note that past employers are often wary of passing on negative information for fear of a defamation lawsuit. Experts also say the myriad behaviors that lead up to molestation aren't currently covered by rules requiring schools to report sexual misconduct by teachers. Those behaviors, such as frequent or inappropriate text messaging, are difficult to police but are important to report. Repeat offenders usually have a host of subtle techniques that build over a long period of time. Reporting those behaviors is a way to cut off improper relationships before they become damaging. Another problem, according to experts, is that administrators do not disclose inconclusive investigations out of fear of risking a lawsuit by passing on a false accusation.

A state task force of veteran educators and legal experts has been meeting for more than a year to examine problems with the current licensure system and reporting practices. Their report is not complete, but its recommendations so far include fingerprinting of teachers when they apply for a state license and upping the number of ethics questions on the application from two to 20. It would also increase the standards on reportable offenses to inappropriate interaction of a sexual or romantic nature, instead of just sexual. By requiring that schools report the behaviors that often lead to sexual contact, hopes to discourage teachers from taking any chances. June Atkinson, the state schools superintendent, said Wednesday that she had not yet seen the task force's report, but she supports improving the licensing process while keeping it fair to educators. The final report will be presented to Atkinson later this month.(Chelsea Kellner, WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS, 10/03/09).

Charter Schools Suit

The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law has sued the state and seven counties on
behalf of several charter schools, parents and students, saying the schools are
entitled to capital funding. The charter schools receive public funding for operating
expenses and per-pupil allotments just like traditional schools, but have been frozen
out of construction and maintenance money. That leaves the schools with less
"money for teachers and other supplies," said Jason Kay, an attorney for the
institute, a Raleigh-based advocacy group. Cleveland, Edgecombe, Halifax,
Mecklenburg, Nash, Union and Rutherford counties are named as defendants in the
lawsuit.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Superintendent Peter Gorman and a county attorney
have said state law does not give counties or public school boards power to give
charter schools capital funds. A 1998 advisory opinion from the state Attorney
General's office concurs. The N.C. Institute for Constitutional Law sent a letter to
Mecklenburg commissioners in August, questioning the dearth of capital funding for
charter schools. In the suit filed in Mecklenburg Superior Court, the group argues
the state constitution mandates "sound basic education" and similar funding. "This
seeks to make sure public charter schools have a seat at the table," Kay said. "They
have never had a seat before."(Fred Clasen-Kelly, THE CHARLOTTE OBSERVER,
9/22/09).

Final Spending Numbers

State government spent $724 million less in the 2008-09 fiscal year than in the
previous fiscal year and $1.7 billion less than budgeted, according to figures from
the Office of the State Controller. An unaudited monthly report for the final month of the fiscal year, recently posted by the agency, shows total state spending of $19.65 billion for the year, compared to a budget of $21.35 billion. The report reflects a state struggling with declining tax revenues as a result of the recession and provides more details about how Gov. Beverly Perdue plugged a $3.2 billion shortfall. It shows personal income tax collections taking a huge hit during the year, declining $1.4 billion year-over-year and coming in nearly $2 billion less than forecast. Corporate tax collections were down $276 million from the previous year, while sales tax collections declined by $304 million. The Perdue administration made up nearly half the budget gap with $680 million in federal stimulus money and $802 million gained by raiding state reserves and trusts, including the state's Rainy Day reserves.

The figures reveal that many state agencies faced real year-over-year spending reductions, cuts that went beyond continuation increases. University spending fell $140 million, while community college spending declined $56 million. Public school spending increased by $165 million. Overall, tax collection came in 15.4 percent less than projected and spending was 8 percent less than budgeted. The report also show the state's Rainy Day reserves standing at $150 million to close the fiscal year.(THE INSIDER, 9/23/09).

Wake Schools Use ARRA Funds

Federal stimulus funds are being used to create 558 jobs in the Wake County Public School System. David Neter told the Board that the school system has worked to provide job opportunities with the federal funds provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Donna Hargens said there are four principles guiding the school system’s use of the two years of federal stimulus funds: *Spend funds quickly to save and create jobs *Improve student achievement through school improvement and reform *Ensure transparency, reporting and accountability and *Invest one-time ARRA funds thoughtfully to minimize the “funding cliff”

Funds are to be used for short-term investment that have the potential for long-term benefits rather than expenditures the school system may not be able to sustain once the recovery funds are expended. Hargens says all 558 jobs are in schools and include 460 certified jobs and 98 non certified jobs. In the certified jobs are 180 teachers and 280 instructional staff. The non-certified jobs include 98 teacher assistants. Hargens said these job openings benefited teachers who were displaced by budget cuts. The school system sought to fill these positions with displaced teachers.

Safe Keeping?

Local school officials call the recent theft of more than $25,000 in donations to a high school sports team from a private office in Scotts Valley, CA an aberration, but some acknowledge the system of ensuring cash from fundraisers gets to its intended recipient isn't foolproof. While schools must follow strict accounting procedures once they receive donations, fundraisers held on weekends or vacations can mean delays in banking proceeds. Travis Rebbert, Harbor High School's new head football coach, thought money raised by his team during the summer vacation would be safe in the office where he works until school reopened. But the cash and checks turned up missing from a locked drawer in his locked office last week.

A police investigation is ongoing, but Rebbert, after a brief suspension by Santa Cruz City Schools officials, returned to coaching Tuesday after being cleared of wrongdoing. Harriet Lacey, director of finance for Santa Cruz City Schools, said her district requires a school representative to be available to receive cash at the conclusion of school-sponsored fundraisers. Money also must be counted by two people and stored at the school. Donations must be moved to accounts at the district office within a week. In Rebbert's case, that didn't happen because he said the school wasn't open. District officials have said Rebbert could have brought the donations directly to the district office, but they acknowledged, as a new coach, he wasn't fully trained.

Longer School Days?

State Board of Education members spent considerable time Tuesday discussing longer school years. Board members noted that other countries, like China and India, have school years longer than 180 days. "We better pay attention to what's going on in other parts of the world," said board member John A. Tate III. But board chairman Bill Harrison acknowledged that having students spend more time at school is not something that's going to happen soon, considering the state's financial straits. In fact, Wilkes County schools got permission from legislators to cut this school year to 162 days and make each day 45 minutes longer so it could save money.

While most in the room endorsed more time at school, state superintendent June Atkinson said some students may be better off spending less time there. "Some kids don't need to come to school everyday," she said. Atkinson wants the state to move toward "personalized education plans," which she said would involve, for example, chances for high school students to take classes, work at internships, and work on projects with mentors. "We've squeezed all the drops of educational juice out of the traditional schedule in public schools," she said. (THE NEWS & OBSERVER, 9/02/09).

Wake Teachers Get Raise

RALEIGH -- In the face of larger class sizes, layoffs and frozen salaries across the state, about 1,600 Wake County teachers will get a small pay raise this year. State legislators froze salaries for teachers and state employees this year to help close a record multi-billion dollar budget shortfall. But with a unanimous vote Tuesday, the Wake school board agreed to spend local dollars to give educators who've recently completed five, 10, 15, 20 or 25 years of teaching a raise of $200 to $350 this year. It was a $420,000 decision that drew cheers from educators not expecting to get any extra money in their paychecks this year. Wake, like many school districts, adds local money to the amount the state pays teachers. Wake school leaders said they wanted to give raises to at least some of the district's 9,000 teachers so that they're not lured to other districts offering more pay.

Other systems' plans
Stephen Gainey said Chapel Hill-Carrboro and the Johnston County school system are taking similar steps this year to provide teacher raises. Stephanie Knott, a spokeswoman for the Chapel Hill-Carrboro school district, said some teachers will see a slight increase in their pay if they're moving from one level to the next based on their years of experience. Johnston County teachers who have 8, 16 or 25 years of experience will see their regularly scheduled local pay increases this year.

GA Adopts Furlough policy

ATLANTA (AP) -- High school librarian Melissa Payne is starting her new school year with $1,000 less in her paycheck and three days that she'll be forced to stay home from her job.
It's the same story across the country, where teachers -- once among the groups exempted from furlough days -- are being forced to take unpaid days off amid massive state budget cuts.
Georgia is the only state so far to impose statewide furloughs for educators this fiscal year, though others are considering it. But furloughs are happening in individual districts in states such as New Mexico, Florida and California, said Ed Muir, deputy director of research and information services for the American Federation of Teachers.

Athletes Get a Bigger Boost

Years ago, community groups affiliated with high school athletic programs paid for the extras: jackets, banquets, rings for state champions. As student fees continue to rise, fund-raisers are paying for everything from coaches to buses. Now they’re paying for coaches and officials, and buying such things as equipment, uniforms and - in the case of the Foundation of Winthrop (MA) - buses. As Globe North area student-athletes returned to playing fields this week and began practicing for fall sports, they found shrunken school budgets and, in many cases, higher athletic user fees that had to be paid before an athlete could step onto the field. They also found their sports increasingly funded by booster clubs and nonprofit organizations that are turning their attention to the nuts and bolts of athletic programs, including, literally, the nuts and bolts of transportation. Over the past five years, the foundation has provided about $405,000 in direct aid to all of the town’s schools in grants both big and small, from $300 for art club supplies to $5,000 for a drama club adviser. One of the largest contributions made by the foundation each year has gone to the high school’s athletic program, to soften the blow of steadily growing athletic user fees. A year ago, the foundation contributed $50,000, which allowed the user fee to remain at $350 a sport. Over the past five years, the group also sought to raise a $1 million endowment that would have allowed the foundation to fund grants and programs in perpetuity. The drive fell short, but $300,000 was raised.

BRAC

The Budget Reform and Accountability Commission, charged by Gov. Beverly Perdue with rooting out wasteful spending in state government, met for the first time Tuesday. Perdue told the panel that the state's fragile fiscal picture will continue for the near future, requiring additional ways to make government leaner and to eliminate outdated programs. Perdue, already has ordered holding back 5 percent of money that's supposed to go to state agencies from a $19 billion budget she signed less than three weeks ago. "The state is going to face another challenge this time next year," Perdue told the commission. "I need for you all to help me find some resources that we can deploy in a more efficient and effective way."

House Committees

Appropriations Subcommittee on Education
Reps. Glazier, McLawhorn, and Rapp Chairs; Reps. Bell, Johnson, Lucas, Parmon, and Tarleton Vice Chairs; Reps. Blackwell, Hilton, Holloway, and Wiley.

Education
Reps. Bell and Lucas, Chairs; Reps. Cotham, Fisher, Love, Parmon, and Womble, Vice Chairs.

Education Subcommittee on Pre-School, Elementary and Secondary Education
Reps. Cotham and Parmon, Chairs; Reps. Blackwood, Jeffus, E. Warren, and Wiley, Vice Chairs; Reps. Blackwell, Carney, Fisher, Folwell, Glazier, Hurley, Jackson, Johnson, Rapp, and Stam.

Senate Appropriations--Education

Co-chair: Vernon Malone, D-Wake; Co-chair: Richard Stevens, R-Wake; Vice chair: Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg; Vice chair: Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood

Members: Don Davis, D-Greene; Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus; Jean Preston, R-Craven; Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph; Don Vaughan, D-Guilford.

Senate Education Committee

Co-chair: Vernon Malone, D-Wake; Co-chair: Richard Stevens, R-Wake; Vice chair: Julia Boseman, D-New Hanover; Vice chair: Katie Dorsett, D-Guilford; Vice chair: Joe Sam Queen, D-Haywood

Members: Austin Allran, R-Catawba; Tom Apodaca, R-Henderson; Doug Berger, D-Franklin; Phil Berger, R-Rockingham; Harry Brown, R-Onslow; Charlie Dannelly, D-Mecklenburg; Don Davis, D-Greene; Tony Foriest, D-Alamance; James Forrester, R-Gaston; Linda Garrou, D-Forsyth; Eddie Goodall, R-Union; Malcolm Graham, D-Mecklenburg; Fletcher Hartsell, R-Cabarrus; David Hoyle, D-Gaston; Edward Jones, D-Halifax; Floyd McKissick, D-Durham; Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe; Jean Preston, R-Craven; William Purcell, D-Scotland; Tony Rand, D-Cumberland; Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg; John Snow, D-Cherokee; Josh Stein, D-Wake; A.B. Swindell, D-Nash; Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph.