Get Ready for Massive Teacher Layoffs

From the SunSentinel.com

by By Leslie Postal and Dave Weber,

If Gov. Rick Scott's proposed budget were to stand, Florida schools would suffer widespread layoffs and other devastating cutbacks, educators warned on Monday.

The governor's proposal would cut $3.3 billion from education spending and reduce funding for each student in public schools by about $700.

Under Scott's plan, teachers would help offset some of those cuts by being forced to contribute 5 percent of their salaries to their pensions.

But even then, Florida's school districts would face a "huge cut" for the school year that begins in July, said Wayne Blanton, executive director of the Florida School Boards Association.

"If this were the final budget, which it's not, it would be massive layoffs and a total inability to meet class-size requirements."

Scott's budget unveiling left many Broward and Palm Beach county educators worried — and frustrated. The governor's budget website kept crashing, making it hard for some to see the documents, and he also changed the names of budget categories, making it hard to compare his spending plan to those from previous years.

But the bottom line is: All education spending would decrease more than $3 billion, with colleges and universities also taking a big hit. Per-student funding could fall to below $6,200, compared with $7,306 in 2007, without the money from the pension fund change.

Broward Schools Superintendent James Notter said on Monday that it will be good to be working with solid numbers and not just the threat of cutbacks.

Palm Beach County schools are preparing for a possible "worst-case scenario" budget shortfall of up to $174.2 million and a stronger potential for layoffs, based in part on the governor's budget proposal.

School district officials say the "best-case scenario" is a $71.6 million budget shortfall, if lawmakers wind up adopting a budget that resembles one requested by the state Board of Education.

Both shortfall figures represent $70.4 million in rising costs, including class-size reduction needs, and the loss of $38.8 million in federal stimulus funds.

"Those are big numbers," Chief Financial Officer Michael Burke told the School Board in his latest analysis, prepared before the governor's announcement. "In the last few years we've done everything we can to protect the classroom."

Administrators have not yet determined how to reduce spending to make up for potential shortfalls and rising costs.

"We have not resorted to layoffs to date but that's obviously going to be quite a challenge going forward," Burke said. "It's going to be a difficult budget process."Blanton said his message to educators now is, "don't panic." That's because the Florida Legislature sets the budget, and other spending proposals will be debated before a state budget is finalized this spring.

Scott unveiled his spending plan at a tea party rally in Lake County, calling it a "jobs budget" that would cut state spending and taxes and help boost Florida's sputtering economy. His proposal would cut property taxes that support public education by about $1.4 billion.

During his campaign, Scott pledged to hold education harmless, even with the tax cut.

On Monday he said his proposal accomplished that goal because school funding from the state's general revenue account would stay the same. But since his budget does not replace federal stimulus money that had been shoring up public schools for the past two years, it would leave school districts with far fewer dollars to spend.

"Gov. Scott's math does not add up," said the group Fund Education Now, founded by three Orlando mothers angry about Florida's investment in education.

The group said cutting school taxes would be a "catastrophic strike to the core functions of public schools."

Aaron Deslatte of the Orlando Sentinel and Marc Freeman and Rafael Olmeda of the Sun Sentinel contributed to this story. Leslie Postal can be reached at lpostal@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5273. Dave Weber can be reached at dweber@orlandosentinel.com or 407-883-7885.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/florida/fl-scott-budget-education-palm-20110207,0,326649.story