MPS budget will alter the path of public education

Milwaukee Public School Superintendent Dr. Gregory Thornton released his proposed 2011-12 school year budget last week, which includes $187 million in cuts and pink slips for almost 1,000 district employees, including 468 teachers.

Spending still tops the billion dollar mark, with $1.17 billion budgeted for the district next year.

The cuts stem from reductions at both the federal and state level. MPS will lose $92.1 million in federal funds due to the expiration of President Obama’s stimulus program; another $81 million will be lost from proposed cuts to education funding and tax levy restrictions in Gov. Scott Walker’s 2011-13 biennial budget.

Among the programs losing state funding are math teacher coaches, school nursing, the Children at Risk program, Advanced Placement courses and P5 funding, which supports small classrooms in the early grade levels.

Federal stimulus funds lost will effect Title I and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs, along with professional development for teachers and principals, parental involvement initiatives and Early Childhood programs.

The “EduJobs” program, which was funded with $14 million in federal dollars, will also be eliminated, along with the 144 teaching positions that came with it.

Overall, the district will reduce the school operations (classrooms) budget by $54,126,834 in the next school year to $944,311,187. Within that final number is $50 million in aid that is diverted from MPS to choice and voucher schools. Construction and maintenance will drop by $23.1 million, while categorical aids (which supports programs such as nursing, special education and AP courses) will drop by $110,445,615.

While Walker has touted his tools to save school districts money – the elimination of bargaining for health and pension benefits, work rules and curriculum choices – none of them can be implemented by MPS since the district and the Milwaukee Teacher’s Education Association have a contract in effect until 2013. The other district contracts expire in June 2012.

The actual number of layoffs won’t be known until the budget is approved by the full school board in June. It does include a number of positions that are currently vacant and those that may be lost to attrition from early retirements or resignations.

“We believe that in the weeks ahead and before any layoff notices go out, that this large number will become a much smaller one,” Thornton said.

Thornton said the path to academic success for Milwaukee’s children would be arduous, but he is proud of the progress that has been made.

“The challenges that face us in the form of massive cuts in the proposed state budget cannot cause us to abandon the journey, because if we do that, we will leave Milwaukee’s children behind.”

He explained that while the budget is grim, he and his team developed a plan that would provide the basics that students should have no matter which MPS school they attend.

“I have great faith that this district will move forward,” Thornton said. “We continue to stay focused on this important work, despite the odds. We will continue to help children find their voices, discover new skills, open doors once closed to them and have successful lives. That is what the journey  is about.”

Where are the cuts coming from

• 468 teaching positions will be eliminated, including  – 101 high school teachers, 98 math teacher leaders, 28 art teachers, 37 Phy. Ed teachers and 20 music teachers could receive pink slips.

• Benefit savings will come from medical and dental premiums, which are expected to go down by $19.3 million; $2.7 million in pension contributions from principals and administrators and a $4.4 million claim against the federal government for excess health care costs. Savings in benefits are important, since for every dollar spent by MPS in salaries, 70 cents is spent to provide benefits to workers.

• Across the district, there will be $7.6 million less spent per student, due to the governor’s cuts in aid. The dollar amounts vary by grade level, with high school pupils losing $335 each, while students at the elementary level will see $112.45 less per pupil. The district has said it will make up a portion of those reductions by centralizing guidance services within the district.

• Class sizes continue to increase in MPS, mainly due to the loss of the P5 funding and SAGE programming. During the current school year, 77 schools had a teacher to student ratio of 18:1, with the state providing over $2,000 per low-income student to maintain these staffing levels. With the loss of funding to maintain small class sizes, Thornton expects 27 schools to eliminate the SAGE program all together. SAGE currently allows for class sizes in K-3 to stay in the 15:1 staffing range.

• MPS will lose $1.5 million for school nurses, for a total loss of 21 medical professionals across the district. The district reports that 21,000 students will lose daily school nurse service in 2011-12 due to the cuts. During the current school year, there have been 105,474 visits by students to the school nurse, not counting medication and regular treatments given on a daily basis. The district is searching for ways to continue health care for the majority of its students, who live in poverty and use the school nurse for their primary care.

• Mental health support is being cut by the district to help with the funding shortfall. Specific cuts include MUTT (MPS Mobile Urgent Treatment Team). MUTT is run by the county to provide mental health interventions within schools. Eliminating the program will save the district $480,000.

• 14 safety aides that provide security will be eliminated district wide.

• Summer school programming will be reduced by more than half, from $8.1 million to $3.5 million. Instead of 65 elementary summer school programs, there will now be 23, in combination with recreational programs and summer meal services. The district will maintain the Grade 8 Promotional program, to help students stay on track for high school, and the Grade 12 program for 450 students to work on credit recovery and obtain their diplomas.

• To save more dollars, Thornton proposes to eliminate bus service for regular education 3- and 4-year-old students. Special education K3 and K4 students will keep their busing service if it is part of their educational program plan. To further reduce transportation costs, all new students in the district or those who want to transfer to a different school will be limited to their neighborhood school. Plus the district will no longer provide bus passes to students attending partnership schools. The total savings from transportation changes could be as high as $3.8 million.

• With the exception of high school science and some 9-12 English courses, the district will cut textbook purchases, saving at least $4.3 million next year.

• Thornton estimates there will be 89,501 students attending MPS during the next school year. However, the district still has the capacity to serve up to 113,000 students, leaving more than a dozen vacant buildings and under-enrolled schools. The district already has plans to close 10 schools and merge others before the start of the next school year. The consolidation of two campuses – North and South Kilmer to the currently vacant 27th Street School – will save the district more than $641,000.

• With fewer buildings comes less maintenance. Thornton proposes to defer $6.5 million in maintenance costs, including the replacement of pool piping and filtration systems, emergency generators and carpeting, exterior painting and the repair of parapet walls and ash pits.

• Currently, MPS is divided into eight support regions encompassing 25 schools and headed by an administrator who reports directly to Thornton.  At the start of the next school year, three of the districts will be eliminated, along with the three Regional Specialists who oversee them.

• In addition, the district will increase breakfast and lunch prices on average by 25 cents for all paying students. Thornton has also suggested delaying any decision on the consolidated commissary for the district until after the fiscal crisis is solved.

The school board now has the opportunity to debate and revise the budget presented by Thornton. Public hearings on the budget will be held at the School Administration Building on Viliet Street starting Tuesday, May 10. Other hearings are scheduled for May 12 and May 19. All meetings begin at 6:30 p.m.

The final vote on the 2011-12 school budget will be June 7 at 7:30 p.m.

For more information on the proposed MPS budget, click here.