City
schools brace for cuts
800 teaching jobs, programs targeted
By Tracy
Dell'Angela,
Tribune staff reporter.
Apr 12, 2005
Tribune
staff reporter Christi Parsons contributed to this report
Facing
a $175 million deficit next year, Chicago schools expect to slash
an estimated 800 teaching jobs, cuts that could save the district
about $50 million but force most of the system's schools to raise
class size and trim programs.
District
officials said Monday that the cuts only hint at the pain to come
if the state doesn't come up with tens of millions of dollars
more than what Gov. Rod Blagojevich has proposed in his education
budget. Principals first learned of the cuts during building-by-building
budget reviews last month; a final count is expected at the end
of April.
Schools
Chief Arne Duncan said he and other school leaders statewide will
push hard for more money in the next few months, but he said he's
worried because the current budget proposals rest on shaky ground.
"The
pain we're feeling in Chicago mirrors that of other schools statewide,"
Duncan said. "The horror stories we're hearing out there
are chilling. That's infuriating to me given all the progress
we've made. It's simply not good enough for [the state] to say,
`We tried.' Our children can't afford to wait any longer."
The
job cuts represent 3 percent of the district's teaching staff
of 26,000. But school advocates argue that Chicago's 600 schools
already suffer from stripped-down academic programs and crowded
classrooms.
Many
of these projected cuts reflect a strict enforcement of the district's
staffing formula--enrollment projections that leave schools with
fewer specialists, no wiggle room on class sizes and little ability
to create innovative programs and schedules that are supposed
to be the cornerstone of school reforms.
Now,
schools citywide are struggling to determine whether they can
preserve the small classes and special programs parents demand.
Irving
Elementary, for example, is considering charging parents a new
student activity fee to continue a popular instrumental music
class. Bethune Elementary is expected to lose a classroom teacher
and had to choose between cutting the gym teacher or the librarian.
Blaine Elementary launched a fundraising drive to raise $120,000
to restore its full-day kindergarten program. And at Spry Community
School, class size will creep up in the primary grades.
Cuts
would help new schools
Some
of the money saved by staff cuts will flow to 18 new schools opening
next year under Renaissance 2010, the district's sweeping reform
plan. These new schools will have more flexibility over staffing
because they will receive a pot of money based on a per-pupil
rate, rather than staffing formulas set up by the district.
"How
can we afford to create new schools under Renaissance 2010 while
we decimate our regular schools?" asked Clarice Berry, president
of the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association. "We
are cutting these other programs to the bone."
Elementary
schools face staff cuts because their enrollment is expected to
drop by 4,000 pupils citywide, although this doesn't include the
nearly 2,000 children expected to flow into city schools from
the 17 Chicago Catholic schools slated to close next year, budget
director Pedro Martinez said.
"They
say it's about enrollment. But what they are doing is balancing
the budget on the backs of children," said Ted Dallas, vice
president of the Chicago Teachers Union. "It's scary, and
I believe it will get worse. They have a lot of extra programs,
and if the extras are cut, you're going to hurt the kids."
High
school enrollment is expected to remain stable next year.
But
high school principals plan to cut advanced placement and vocational
classes, special education teachers and guidance counselors because
the district decided to hold every school budget to a ratio that
allotted one classroom teacher for every 140 students enrolled.
High
schools will also lose teaching jobs that were being used for
administrative duties, such as deans, counselors and class programmers.
"I
can't run a school with this few teachers," said Bill Gerstein,
principal of the School of Entrepreneurship. Created as one of
four new small schools at the former South Shore High School campus,
the school is projected to lose eight of its 29 teachers.
If
the district doesn't restore these jobs, Gerstein said he will
have to use all his discretionary money to buy back teachers.
These state and federal funds are supposed to buy extras to bolster
academic programs for his school where most students are low income.
Jay
Lalley, principal of Northside College Prep, one of the city's
selective enrollment high schools, said his school will lose a
counselor, advanced placement classes, a librarian and an athletic
director who will have to return full time to teaching.
"They
just don't have the money anymore," he said. "These
cuts will change our school."
Central
office not spared
The
system also promised to cut $49 million from its central office.
The cuts will eliminate about 250 administrative jobs by closing
150 vacancies and laying off about 100 professional and managerial
employees, Martinez said.
Chicago
is still hoping the state will come through with more money this
year, but that possibility is looking more unlikely.
Blagojevich's
education budget offered Chicago only a fraction of the $175 million
needed to balance its budget.
Recently,
the governor talked of adding new casino slots to pump $300 million
more into education, about a fourth of which would go to city
schools. Yet he has vowed to veto proposed legislation that would
shift education funding to income taxes from property taxes.
Still,
more than 1,000 city and Downstate educators are expected to descend
on Springfield Wednesday to lobby for more money and to make their
case for school funding reform--an appeal that will cost Chicago
schools as much as $100,000 to pay for substitute teachers.
The
teachers union is paying to transport busloads of the red-clad
teachers, said union president Marilyn Stewart. "People
take notice when you see massive numbers of people in the Capitol,"
she said.
In
the fight for money, the schools have an even more difficult road
ahead than does the cash-strapped CTA, which is threatening fee
hikes and service cuts.
Many
state officials have long supported the concept of shifting schools
from their reliance on property taxes to the state income tax,
but such proposals have faltered in the past as lawmakers figured
out which of their districts would end up sacrificing money and
which would profit.
Making
it more difficult is Blagojevich's opposition to raising the income
tax for school-funding reforms--or any other budget demands. Lawmakers
are reticent to cast difficult votes on bills that seem unlikely
to become law.
"The
governor has made it pretty clear that, should this bill arrive
upon his desk, he will veto it," said Rep. Barbara Flynn
Currie (D-Chicago), the House majority leader. "I think it's
difficult to pass a bill when the governor says he's going to
veto it. You need a veto-proof majority in both chambers, and
those tend to be pretty hard to come by."
-
- -
City schools
face shortfall
Chicago
Public School officials project a $175 million budget deficit
for the upcoming fiscal year but say the shortfall could shrink
with staffing cuts and the possible increase in funding from gambling.
CPS
FISCAL YEAR 2006 BUDGET CHANGES
COST
INCREASES
Salary
$136 million
Health
care $33 million
Pension
$39 million
Taxes
and other benefits $4 million
Early
Childhood Program $11 million
Building
upkeep $10 million
Debt
for new capital projects $17 million
Total
cost increases $250 million
PLANNED
REDUCTIONS
Administration
$25 million
Food
program $10 million
Transportation
efficiency $14 million
-
Total planned reductions $49 million
-
REVENUE INCREASES $26 million
Deficit
after reductions and revenue $175 million
Source: Chicago
Public Schools
Chicago
Tribune
Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune
