The Boston school system will eliminate 1,382 jobs next year, including 619 teaching positions, school officials told the City Council’s ways and means committee yesterday during part of a week-long session of hearings.
In addition to reducing teaching positions, the school system plans to increase all class sizes by three students, close five schools and cut individual school budgets by 10 percent to meet its $619 million budget, $31 million less than the 2003 budget. The layoffs will save the district $50.9 million.
Superintendent of Schools Thomas Payzant said the cuts to the school system were particularly severe because the education budget grew faster than other departments’ budgets during the late 1990s.
‘The number of positions we’re looking at reducing reflects the growth since ’94 and ’95,’ Payzant told the committee.
The process of eliminating jobs is complicated because union rules require school officials to notify any teacher that might potentially be laid off.
Because of the rules, the district had to notify almost 3,000 teachers that they were ‘excessed,’ which means their jobs at their schools will be eliminated, according to Michael Contompasis, the district’s chief operating officer. Teachers given this status, however, might only be reassigned to different schools, he said.
Furthermore, the school district distinguishes between ‘permanent teachers’ and ‘provisional teachers.’ Permanent teachers, who are licensed and have three years of experience, have additional rights under the teachers’ union contract.
School officials said they structured the cuts so permanent teachers would be least affected, and a number of measures, including early retirement incentives, were being taken to minimize layoffs.
‘You cannot have a provisional teacher in a permanent position while there is a permanent teacher projected to be laid off,’ said Contompasis. This led to far more teachers receiving ‘excess’ notices than the number that will actually be laid off, he said.
The school district’s budget director John McDonough said they have tried to eliminate more jobs outside of the classroom in order to reach their budget goals.
Councilor Chuck Turner said losing provisional teachers was regrettable because 15 percent of the district’s permanent teachers are expected to retire in the next three to seven years.
‘While we certainly don’t want to lose permanent teachers, we also don’t want to lose provisional teachers who are essential to building the school system,’ Turner said.
The district is offering retirement incentives to teachers so positions could be eliminated with fewer layoffs. The incentives, which 310 teachers have opted to take, will be expensive for the school district next year, but are expected to save the district money starting in fiscal year 2005.
Turner took issue with the cuts to one school in particular, the Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester, which has been noted for its improvements in recent years. In addition to the 10 percent cut, the school will lose 12 extra teachers who have been considered ‘additional resources’ by the district and kept on board by extra funding.
‘It’s very hard for parents as well as people in the school to understand the logic of the budget,’ Turner said.
Deep cuts in state aid have forced the education cuts, in contrast to previous years when the education budget had steadily increased. On top of the general decrease in state aid, McDonough said, specific grants for programs like class size reduction and transportation were reduced or eliminated entirely.
Exactly how much money the state will give the school system is uncertain because the state budget is still being debated in the legislature, but officials said they planned the school budget based on proposals by Gov. Mitt Romney and the House budget proposal. Payzant said that in previous years, the city had been able to make up for funding cut by the state, but there is not enough money in the city budget to do so this year.
Despite closing five schools currently serving a total of 1,802 students, the district will open three new schools to serve 2,100 students.
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