D.C. Wire reports that this morning, the D.C. Council voted to strip $27 million from the DCPS budget for next year, on the grounds that that the original funding projected that school enrollment would grow by 3,000 students, an estimate that’s obviously unrealistic. The Council says it will not spend the money now, and voted to place it in escrow, to be released in the fall only if an enrollment audit confirms growth. “Given the enormous budget challenges facing the District in 2010,” Chairman Vincent Gray argued, “there needs to be a justification why this increase is warranted.”
A study conducted earlier this spring found that DCPS enrollment for the 2008-09 academic year stood at 45,190, down 8.5 percent from last year’s 49,422. Enrollment has been decreasing steadily in the District for the last several decades, in contrast with public charter schools, which now enroll about 36 percent of D.C. students.
Following the decision, schools chancellor Michelle Rhee swiftly protested that the loss of the funds will dramatically alter the FY2010 DCPS budget, and result in the termination of as many as 338 teaching positions. In a letter to the Council, Rhee wrote, “While [the $27 million] may be restored well after the school year opens, it is simply too late to staff schools. As such, we have no choice but to reduce school budgets and eliminate positions now.”
The withheld funds amount to about $623 per pupil, according to Rhee. While the Council obviously has a point – we don’t need the teachers if the kids aren’t there – any hint of teacher terminations is bound to cause a stink, and could potentially throw a wrench into the already fragile ongoing contract negotiations between DCPS and the Washington Teachers’ Union. From her end though, Rhee’s playing this smart – she may be comfortable taking unpopular steps like firing school employees, but the Council likely isn’t, and will perhaps reconsider holding back the funds. We wonder if the cuts couldn’t just be shifted to different sections of the budget, away from personnel.
