State cuts to education worse than expected
Educators and districts across the state are reeling from news this week that Governor John Hickenlooper is proposing to cut $375 million from K-12 education in 2011-12. That means every student in Colorado would receive nearly $500 less in funding.
“These reductions are beyond our wildest imaginations and will be difficult to manage. However, you must make your communities aware of the magnitude of the impacts that will be felt by children across the state,” said Colorado Assistant Commissioner of Education, Vody Herrmann, in a letter to school districts this week.
For Jeffco, the deep cuts could mean larger class sizes at the elementary level, furlough days for employees, the loss of more jobs, and increased fees for families. Like other districts, the majority of Jeffco’s budget goes toward salaries and benefits. As a result, the increased cuts could mean the loss of positions and programs.
“This news from the state is devastating for our students, our community and our employees,” said Jeffco Superintendent Dr. Cindy Stevenson.
The district is already planning to reduce the 2011-12 budget by $26 million, but that number could go up based on the proposed state cuts. Final decisions about the budget will be made by members of the Jefferson County Board of Education this spring. You will have a chance to make your opinion heard during public hearings scheduled in May.
Read an article from the Denver Post about the proposed cuts to K-12 education.
(Denver Post copyright only allows excerpts- so I have cherry picked several paragraphs to give readers a flavor for what the article says. The rest of the article shows all the other states that are also struggling financially-- so it's the right thing to do because "it's what everyone else is doing!" essentially!)
NOWHERE ELSE TO TURN"
Colorado's education cuts mirror situation across U.S.
POSTED: 02/20/2011 01:00:00 AM MST
UPDATED: 02/20/2011 10:24:19 AM MST
"Despite Gov. John Hickenlooper's proposing a $332 million net reduction next year in total spending for public schools — the largest-ever cut to districts in dollar terms — when it comes to deep cuts to K-12 spending, Colorado is not alone. Not even close.
Tim Hoover: 303-954-1626 or thoover@denverpost.com"It's bad all over," said Mike Griffith, senior policy analyst for the Education Commission of the States, a Denver-based organization that advises states on education policy...
The reasons are pretty much the same in every state: Flagging tax revenues combined with the loss of temporary federal stimulus dollars and ever-increasing costs for education have resulted in 2011-12 being the "cliff" year for many states."While state revenues are starting to pick up, the growth is unlikely to be sufficient to replace expiring American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds or cover projected increases in program areas such as Medicaid and K-12 education," according to a December analysis of states' budget troubles released by the National Conference of State Legislatures.
"Because teacher salaries and benefits make up 65 percent of total education spending, it's tough to make large cuts without impacting teacher salaries and benefits one way or the other," he said. "Some of this stuff had been talked about for years, but a lot of it is moving forward because of the down times in the budget."Read more:Colorado's education cuts mirror situation across U.S. - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_17434330#ixzz1EWXOI19N
Read The Denver Post's Terms of Use of its content: http://www.denverpost.com/termsofuse
For more on what the right has in store for public education, read the post 'All Children left Behind: A race to the bottom'.
No comments:
Post a Comment