Budget cuts in California are forcing many school districts to balance budgets by cutting the school year.
Difficult Times in California Schools
In the 1990s California increased the mandatory number of student school days to 180, which is the number of school days most states mandate. Many teacher contracts are for 190 days to include in-service days. California is now giving school districts permission to reduce school days to 175.
California is also rolling back limiting class sizes to 20 students. Class sizes will remain large and school days will not be lengthened. "This is a major setback. We’re reducing opportunities for our students, which puts California students at a competitive disadvantage relative to other states," says Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell. [1]
Cutting the days will reduce teacher salaries because teachers are paid based on days of work. The hope is that the days that are to be cut will not be student days but rather in-service days. However, each district will decide what is best for the individual district.
Currently, teachers are paid to attend conferences, trainings and class preparation. Schools may reduce trainings and in-services to avoid paying teachers. Training is key to improving classroom instruction. These will be difficult decisions for school districts because teachers already work without compensation. Educators have historically put in long hours without pay, in addition to buying classroom supplies and providing students with necessary items. It is common for teachers to work at school into the evening hours, weekends, and weeks during summer beyond contract hours.
Schools Cutting Programs to Save Money
In addition to cutting days in the school year, schools are also looking at cutting programs, tutors, and after school programs. The most vulnerable programs are art, music, physical education, Talented and Gifted, and counseling. Many programs have been cut by 50% for the 2010-2011 school year and some have even been completely eliminated.
State budget deficits are not allowing funding to schools at the past monetary levels so schools are forced to make tough decisions. It is ironic that President Barack Obama is placing so much emphasis on school improvement at a time when schools can not afford to implement new strategies to improve education. Schools are expected to do more with less when there was already no fat in the budget. In fact, many schools are cutting to the bone.
Stimulus Money is Possible for 2010-2011
Senator Tom Harkin, Democrat from Iowa, is sponsoring a "Teacher Bill" to pour money into schools as a stimulus package to save jobs for the 2010-2011 school year. This bill has the possibility of reinstating the majority of cut programs and teachers. Unfortunately, the bill is attached to military funding and is still hung up in Congress after several months of discussion.
While No Child Left Behind is demanding non-proficient schools terminate administrators and teachers, the pressure is even greater for students to achieve higher scores. It is difficult to imagine how educators can raise standards when the school year is being shortened, tutors are not available, programs are being cut and classroom sizes remain far too large for effective teaching.
[1] Freedberg, Louis. "School year shrinking as budget crisis grows." San Francisco Chronicle, July 19, 2010.
Barbara Pytel - Email me Experience Although I was never particularly fond of going to school as an ELL student, I ironically became a teacher, ...
