Penny Hodge, Assistant Superintendent for Budget and Finance, has laid out all the options discussed up to this point in her Budget Blog. One thing to keep in mind at this point is that unless the state makes an about face and decides to uphold its constitutional responsibility to fully fund its share of Virginia's public schools, drastic cuts will need to be made.
At the budget workshop on Wednesday, new ideas were presented to the school board that had not been publicly mentioned as possibilities before. None of these suggestions have been enacted...merely discussed.
- Close Clearbrook Elementary
- Close Fort Lewis Elementary
- Reduce employee salaries by 1%
- 1 day furloughs (unpaid)
- Eliminate middle and high school athletics
- Outsource selected services like custodial, nutrition, nursing, and transportation
- Tap the health insurance reserve to buffer the rising cost of premiums
- Increase class size by eliminating 37 teaching positions (presented Jan 28)
- Many more...
So what needs to happen? People, regular people, taxpaying people, non-educator people need to understand that our schools all across the state are facing (a word I dislike) "Draconian" cuts. People need to get fired up enough to send a message supportive of public school education to Richmond and our legislators. Unless that happens, public schools in Virginia will be fractured.
Keep up to date by reading VEA's Daily Reports. Rob and Doris are great advocates for public school education and educators. Their blog is timely.
2 comments:
The outsourcing ideas have true financial merit. This is good business thinking. Employees would likely remain employed but not by the school system.
The new trend in funding athletic is through private sports management and marketing. This idea could work well.
Unfortunately, the health insurance reserve (except for the paltry 20% payroll deduction of employees) is county-taxpayer dollars. Keep your hands clear there. You already received a bogus bonus going that route.
Dear Anonymous,
The only reason I'm leaving your comments up on this blog (a blog for RCEA members) is that you are managing to remain civil, although using a demeaning word like "paltry" and an unsubstantiated fact (20% payroll deduction)to inflate your point, puts you close to the blog's Mendoza line.
Outsourcing should be studied. My suspicion is that outsourcing these services will provide a control barrier that will be untenable. Speaking as an individual -not representing RCEA-I would have four demands that would have to be met for me to agree to outsourcing these services:
1. Benefits MUST remain comparable to current benefits, including inclusion of a defined benefit program with employees placed at exactly the same standing and commitment level as the employees' current VRS program.
2. Salaries for these employees must be no less than current salaries.
3. No one should lose their job over this transition.
4. Working conditions must be maintained at current levels or improved.
Now if it is deemed that a private entity can meet those expectations as well as meeting all of the standards of job quality, administrative guidelines, and monitoring guidelines,then I would consider the switch.
I am unfamiliar with private sports management and marketing. It sounds a rec program to me-like when I was 8 years old and played for the Northwest Cubs (sponsored by Cove Road Texaco).
You need to stop "bemoaning" the bonus. You lost that battle.
Have a good day,
Thom
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