Tough economic times require tough economic choices, and unfortunately Boston Public Schools are not immune from budget cuts. Forced to cut $81 million from next year’s budget, the system will lay off 1,382 staff, freeze salaries, shut down five schools, up class sizes by three students and reduce individual school budgets by 10 percent. Obviously, school budgets have to be reduced, but all levels of government must realize that these cuts will hurt education, and they must do everything possible to minimize their effects.
Although the school system has cut $81 million now and reduced its budget by $31 million, the cuts will be worthwhile if they can prevent a severe crisis during the next few years and get the system back on track economically. While no one wants to see education funding reduced, the system is left with limited options since state and federal aid has declined. If implemented appropriately, seeing these cuts now is far better than letting fiscal woes mount to the point where Boston has to consider drastic changes such as switching to four day weeks which schools in New York and Oregon are seriously considering.
Even if these budget cuts are the best option available to Boston Public Schools, they will impact the quality of education. Especially disturbing is that the class size increases bring kindergarten classes to a maximum of 25 students and high school classes to 34. While the increase will save $8.4 million, packing that many kids into a room will make learning difficult and will risk turning teachers into baby-sitters.
Most of the 619 teachers laid off will be ‘provisional teachers’ rather than ‘permanent teachers’ who have at least three years of experience. Although it does make sense to give some preference to those with more experience and seniority, 15 percent of ‘permanent teachers’ are expected to retire within seven years. This could potentially hurt the system by failing to provide experienced teachers several years from now, and Boston school administrators must remember that building up their future staff is also crucial to the long-term health of public schools.
Furthermore, closing the five elementary and middle schools will drastically change the education of 1,802 students who currently attend them. Fortunately, the school system has shown consideration for these students by promising to inform them of their new assignments by May 9 and attempting to relocate after-school programs.
Although these cuts will resolve the economic dilemma of costs increasing while resources decrease, their effect on education is particularly problematic because schools are facing increased pressure to meet higher performance standards. Government officials, school administrators and parents cannot possibly expect schools receiving less money to fulfill the No Child Left Behind Act’s provisions and report higher Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System scores. While better accountability could improve education, it now seems more likely that officials might have to lower standards so schools can meet them and MCAS scores do not prevent large numbers of students from graduating.
While Mayor Thomas Menino did appropriate an extra $33.5 million for one-time expenses to bring the amount of cuts needed down to $81 million from the previously estimated $114 million, the state and federal governments have not offered extra help specifically targeted toward improving school’s fiscal crises. Because Boston is the 56th largest school system in the nation and the largest in the state, these budget cuts should send a strong message to both President Bush and Gov. Mitt Romney. Although citizens want better services like education but hate higher taxes, government officials must acknowledge this dichotomy and find some way to resolve it.
To truly improve education and implement recent legislation effectively, schools need more funding. However, this essentially means funds must be cut elsewhere or the government has to raise more taxes rather than continue passing Bush’s foolish tax cuts. Education must be one of the highest priorities because reducing its quality for even one year will affect children until they graduate. The state and federal governments must provide more aid to constantly improve education. The slogan that ‘the children are our future’ may be clichéd, but that does not take away from its truth and the danger of exchanging years of education for a few dollars now.