School-Level Cuts Hit New York City; Why, Bloomberg, Why???

"Do more with less" is more than the bureaucratic mantra of this season of The Wire.

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and school chancellor Joel Klein have sent out word to principals that school budgets needed to be cut--immediately. On Bloomberg's watch, schools will be absorbing $99 million of $180 million in cuts to the Department of Education this year. Chopping 1.75%--an average of $70,000 per school, but for some schools as much as $447,587--with no notice has sent principals into desperate, furious tailspins. Teachers are incensed.

The New York Times and Daily News each reported a handful of representative horror stories from the fallout:

--Immediate cancellation of after-school programs. "What it means for my kids is they won't have a place to go after school," the Queens principal said. "They'll get into trouble or hang out at McDonald's."

--A Manhattan middle school may have o slash a program that's improved math scores by reducing eighth-grade classes from 30 kids to 23.

--A Queens principal is about to scrap plans to buy interactive technology for his students that he had already trained his staff to use. "I just wish we could've known earlier," he said. "I wouldn't have sent people for staff development on computers."

--At a Bronx high school, the principal lamented, "Basically, my whole tutoring program, my whole p.m. school is gone because I will have no money. For a lot of kids, this is their last opportunity to graduate high school in a timely manner, or to graduate at all."

Since Chancellor Joel Klein is an appointed appendage of the mayor, he is useless as an independent advocate against these kinds of brutal school-level cuts.

Bloomberg doesn't see any problems. He said the cuts would have "no impact whatsoever," adding, "I know of no organization where you couldn't squeeze out 1.7 percent, or even a lot more."

Here's a message for the simplistic CEO: you can "squeeze out" 1.7 percent or 5 percent or 20 percent from anything. But it won't have "no effect whatsoever." This is not about keeping a stock's price afloat; you are cutting kids' after-school programs, guidance counselors, smaller classes, computers. Erasing these entities will incontrovertibly have an effect, and a terrible one at that.

That's not to say there isn't room for cuts in the Department of Education. Students could probably do without the legions of high-priced consultants running professional development sessions. And they absolutely need a reduction of the standardized testing mania that has gripped city schools.

No child's education will be hindered if he takes fewer high-stakes tests. Regrettably, Bloomberg's ill-considered budget cuts keep in place a draconian testing regime while ripping out many of the support struts that enable students to achieve on those tests--and in life.

Dan Brown is the author of The Great Expectations School.

Follow Dan Brown on Twitter: www.twitter.com/danbrownteacher

Comments

[1will]

Any idea how much NYC spends yearly to educate the children of illegal aliens?

[desmirl]

Schools have traditionally done more with less. The average teacher spends several hundred dollars a year out of his/her own pocket for materials to use in the classroom to help students learn. Teacher salaries have always been on par with what we pay garbage collectors. And in lots of states, schools cannot recruit people with degrees in mathematics, biology, chemistry, physics, etc. to teach in such miserable conditions for such paltry salaries. And Bloomberg thinks that cutting 1.7% from an already inadequate budget won't hurt. Oh, my...

[NoMoFearNoMoHate]

To all of the principals out there:

Plan of Action:

Cut the most expensive, most popular programs first to make sure that the cuts affect the most people in the most direct way possible.

First cut - your school's most popular, and probably most expensive, sport. Continue cutting here first until the budget is met or there are no more sports to cut.

Second - any and all field trips.

Third - sell all of the computers and technology equipment except those pieces afforded to your teachers; those being retained to help teachers facilitate the education of the children.

Fourth - cut any spending on standardized tests, scoring, or support materials for said tests. If the spending is not for teaching it should be cut. No measurement of the education being received unless it is directly paid for by the consumer.

Fifth - Protect the bottom line. Ensure that the salaries of all hired employees are maintained and see a COL increase each year - it is simply good business to retain your best employees and it will benefit the economy if the teachers are affluent enough to spend. Eliminate any and all spending that is not focused on your primary good - your teachers.

Make your teachers your primary selling point. No extracurriculars, sports, technology, etcetera until the consumer indicates that they want to buy an upgraded product.