I have been trying to reduce the huge numbers in the budget, which seem so abstract, to something understandable. I fear that few comprehend the impact of the cuts in the introduced budget will have on our schools.
Here is my best shot:
The Kaine budget will eliminate state funding for 20,000 positions in our schools. This figure, which includes the support cap, is based on the state’s 55% share of a position being $40,000 and the $1,149,901,683 reduction in SOQ funding in the Kaine budget.
There are 183,853 employees in all the school divisions (2006 figure). So as the budget currently stands, you can look at the staff in your neighborhood school and assume that one out of ten of those who work there will not be back next year, and those who remain will be doing the work of those who have left on top of what they are now doing.
I believe we can say to parents, your child’s class size will increase by 10%.
That’s assuming adoption of the Kaine budget - which is not going to happen.
Obviously, when McDonnell amends the Kaine budget to re-insert the $1.9 billion for the car tax the situation will grow much worse. This will lead to approximately $340 million a year in additional cuts for K-12, $682.1 for the biennium. This is an additional loss of the state share of over 8,500 jobs.
If this course is taken, we may have a 28,500 reduction of staff in our schools - a 16% reduction in force.
Then state funding for three of every twenty jobs in our schools will be eliminated and class sizes will increase by over 16%.
Robley Jones is Director of Government Relations for the Virginia Education Association.
Thanks for the Chicken Little assumptions, Rob, but most of those cuts could be directed at our over-bureaucratized administrations and have very little effect on the classroom. And, of course, dues-paying VEA members.