Post by bot on Jun 5, 2004 14:01:54 GMT -5
District imperiled by $100 million deficit
Friday, June 4, 2004 Posted: 12:02 PM EDT (1602 GMT)
www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/06/04/cleveland.schools.ap/index.html
Cleveland school employees, many who may lose their jobs wear yellow caution tape to warn of cutting staff too deeply.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- In his 24 years with Cleveland's school system, math teacher Gene Tracy has taken the good with the bad: improved test scores and attendance amid crumbling buildings, outdated textbooks and students who lag behind their peers.
He's stayed, mostly because of passion but also because of progress. A tax levied since 1996 gave Ohio's largest school district the cash to make those desperately needed improvements.
But this spring, the Cleveland district faced a sobering reality: There was no more money.
State budget cuts and a drop in tax collections created a $100 million deficit.
To close the gap, school district leaders are proposing deep cuts, including 1,400 jobs, most of them teaching posts. If the school board approves, the district may delay textbook purchases, cancel summer school and drop football, baseball and club activities. The next board meeting is June 15.
"It's going to devastate the school," said Tracy, who teaches at Lincoln West High School. "It sends a message to the kids that they're not valuable."
Cleveland schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett cried at an April board meeting as she announced that the budget had to be slashed. In a May interview, she said "I try to keep a stiff upper lip. But the fact of the matter is, it's devastating."
Molly Burke, a researcher for the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, said Cleveland is not alone in facing such financial problems.
"State-level cuts trickle down, but there are other factors," she said. "Sometimes districts take on more ambitious projects in good times and make progress, then lose local tax money and state money."
Predominantly poor
Critics of charter and voucher programs say losing those students and their state funding has contributed to the budget worries. Cleveland is a diverse city of 478,000 people which is surrounded by more affluent suburbs, often with better schools.
People who can afford to leave the city or send their children to private schools usually do. As a result, 99 percent of the 69,000 students in the Cleveland Municipal School District are poor.
Friday, June 4, 2004 Posted: 12:02 PM EDT (1602 GMT)
www.cnn.com/2004/EDUCATION/06/04/cleveland.schools.ap/index.html
Cleveland school employees, many who may lose their jobs wear yellow caution tape to warn of cutting staff too deeply.
CLEVELAND, Ohio (AP) -- In his 24 years with Cleveland's school system, math teacher Gene Tracy has taken the good with the bad: improved test scores and attendance amid crumbling buildings, outdated textbooks and students who lag behind their peers.
He's stayed, mostly because of passion but also because of progress. A tax levied since 1996 gave Ohio's largest school district the cash to make those desperately needed improvements.
But this spring, the Cleveland district faced a sobering reality: There was no more money.
State budget cuts and a drop in tax collections created a $100 million deficit.
To close the gap, school district leaders are proposing deep cuts, including 1,400 jobs, most of them teaching posts. If the school board approves, the district may delay textbook purchases, cancel summer school and drop football, baseball and club activities. The next board meeting is June 15.
"It's going to devastate the school," said Tracy, who teaches at Lincoln West High School. "It sends a message to the kids that they're not valuable."
Cleveland schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett cried at an April board meeting as she announced that the budget had to be slashed. In a May interview, she said "I try to keep a stiff upper lip. But the fact of the matter is, it's devastating."
Molly Burke, a researcher for the Denver-based Education Commission of the States, said Cleveland is not alone in facing such financial problems.
"State-level cuts trickle down, but there are other factors," she said. "Sometimes districts take on more ambitious projects in good times and make progress, then lose local tax money and state money."
Predominantly poor
Critics of charter and voucher programs say losing those students and their state funding has contributed to the budget worries. Cleveland is a diverse city of 478,000 people which is surrounded by more affluent suburbs, often with better schools.
People who can afford to leave the city or send their children to private schools usually do. As a result, 99 percent of the 69,000 students in the Cleveland Municipal School District are poor.