By Elena Schneider
Texas Tribune
Aurora Ramirez-Ford, a fifth-grader with Down syndrome, needs speech classes and occupational therapy, services that are guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But looming federal financing cuts could affect Aurora and her peers, because they may mean bigger classes and fewer teachers next year.
“If you take away staff, it’s a given that the quality of education will decrease,” said Stacy Ford, Aurora’s mother and a special education advocate in Leander. “It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure that out.”
In 2011, Texas schools were hit with a $5.4 billion cut in state financing. And now that the state is also facing automatic federal spending cuts that went into effect on March 1, administrators say they are running out of cost-saving options to maintain services that get federal money.
The Texas Education Agency estimates that for next fiscal year, up to $51 million in federal money could be slashed from special education programs and $65.4 million from Title I, a federal initiative that aids poor students, along with cuts to teacher professional development, career-technical programs, and English language acquisition classes.
The Department of Education is expected to announce final numbers by April. In the meantime, the TEA is predicting a range of 5 to 10 percent reductions in federal financing, which makes up 11.9 percent of its overall budget. The TEA will allocate financing for each district by July 1, said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the agency.
State legislators are not expected to ride to the financial rescue. Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who chairs the House Select Committee on Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, said lawmakers would need to see “if there’s truly an impact we need to address” before they increase financing for any programs affected by the federal cuts.
“Sequestration is painful,” Creighton said. “I believe all states are in this position.”
As federal and state financing sources disappear, the burden falls on local budgets.
“We will have to turn internally, as a district, to find a way to pick up the slack,” said Dr. Carl Montoya, superintendent of the Brownsville Independent School District, where 95 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged.
For most districts, internal options include reducing staff and increasing class size. Lynse Pawelek, the special education director for Pleasanton ISD, just south of San Antonio, said she might be forced to lay off five paraprofessional special ed aides who serve the district’s nearly 300 special-needs students. She also expects class sizes to grow.
Montoya said he would probably downsize staff and programming. Robbie Stinnett, special education director for Duncanville ISD, which has more than 1,300 students with disabilities, said she would probably eliminate jobs and decrease budgets for professional development and assistive technology.
“We are all in a dilemma of how to meet the needs of students that we’re required to meet, but not given the funding to do,” Stinnett said. “It’s a double-whammy.”
Although low-income and special-education students will be directly affected by sequestration first, general education could also feel the pinch.
“It’s the trickle-down effect,” Pawelek said. If school districts shoulder more special-education and low-income student costs, then “their general education students will suffer along the way, too.
But all administrators insist they will do what is best for their students first.
“We don’t want to hurt our students,” Montoya said. “We want to keep [the money] in the classroom.”
Aurora Ramirez-Ford, a fifth-grader with Down syndrome, needs speech classes and occupational therapy, services that are guaranteed under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. But looming federal financing cuts could affect Aurora and her peers, because they may mean bigger classes and fewer teachers next year.
“If you take away staff, it’s a given that the quality of education will decrease,” said Stacy Ford, Aurora’s mother and a special education advocate in Leander. “It doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure that out.”
In 2011, Texas schools were hit with a $5.4 billion cut in state financing. And now that the state is also facing automatic federal spending cuts that went into effect on March 1, administrators say they are running out of cost-saving options to maintain services that get federal money.
The Texas Education Agency estimates that for next fiscal year, up to $51 million in federal money could be slashed from special education programs and $65.4 million from Title I, a federal initiative that aids poor students, along with cuts to teacher professional development, career-technical programs, and English language acquisition classes.The Department of Education is expected to announce final numbers by April. In the meantime, the TEA is predicting a range of 5 to 10 percent reductions in federal financing, which makes up 11.9 percent of its overall budget. The TEA will allocate financing for each district by July 1, said DeEtta Culbertson, a spokeswoman for the agency.
State legislators are not expected to ride to the financial rescue. Rep. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, who chairs the House Select Committee on Federalism and Fiscal Responsibility, said lawmakers would need to see “if there’s truly an impact we need to address” before they increase financing for any programs affected by the federal cuts.
“Sequestration is painful,” Creighton said. “I believe all states are in this position.”
As federal and state financing sources disappear, the burden falls on local budgets.
“We will have to turn internally, as a district, to find a way to pick up the slack,” said Dr. Carl Montoya, superintendent of the Brownsville Independent School District, where 95 percent of students are considered economically disadvantaged.
For most districts, internal options include reducing staff and increasing class size. Lynse Pawelek, the special education director for Pleasanton ISD, just south of San Antonio, said she might be forced to lay off five paraprofessional special ed aides who serve the district’s nearly 300 special-needs students. She also expects class sizes to grow.
Montoya said he would probably downsize staff and programming. Robbie Stinnett, special education director for Duncanville ISD, which has more than 1,300 students with disabilities, said she would probably eliminate jobs and decrease budgets for professional development and assistive technology.
“We are all in a dilemma of how to meet the needs of students that we’re required to meet, but not given the funding to do,” Stinnett said. “It’s a double-whammy.”
Although low-income and special-education students will be directly affected by sequestration first, general education could also feel the pinch.
“It’s the trickle-down effect,” Pawelek said. If school districts shoulder more special-education and low-income student costs, then “their general education students will suffer along the way, too.
But all administrators insist they will do what is best for their students first.
“We don’t want to hurt our students,” Montoya said. “We want to keep [the money] in the classroom.”
11 comments:
Downsize the food stamp program and added to the education fund.
Money is not the issue with the education system. We already spend about 6K per student which is three times what a private school spends but the results aren't even close. Bureaucracy and unions are the issue.
Private schools do not have students who need these special services.
A recall on recently installed Board Members would more than likely free up badly needed resources instead of cutting down on Special Education Needs. Keep our Money and Fire recently installed BISD Board Members!!!!!!!!!
Bilingual Education programs are deliberately designed to keep our hispanic youth from academic success. It sets up the drop out to prison pathway. Stop this frivolous spending!!!! Take the shackles off our little brown brothers and sisters!!! ENOUGH ALREADY!!!
You mean Hector, and Otis?
A recall on recently installed Board Members would more than likely free up badly needed resources instead of cutting down on Special Education Needs. Keep our Money and Fire recently installed BISD Board Members!!!!!!!!!
Not one mention of cutting back on un-necessary and overpaid Administrative positions.
Stop all contracts that are not necssary and costs the district hundred thousands of dollars.
I agree get rid of the newly elected boardmembers.
We all need to keep a very close eye on these jokers, especially the leader of the pack Escobedo.
why dont we as citizens petition to reduce the number of school board trustees to 5 instead of how many you have cuz anyway way they dont do a thing FOR THE KIDS like they always say when they are runnign for election bola de putz and putzas. I think it can be done by a vote of the tax payers y que salten los que salten anyway no vale madre. chief
"Private schools do not have students who need these special services."
True. My point was that the money is there, though. It's just being misused due to beuracracy. But yeah, if there is one thing public school excel at is helping kids with special needs.
In Texas there is no provision for recall of a school board trustee. The only way to remove is 1)find them quilty of a crime or 2) prove gross incompetence (which is almost impossible to prove). You would have better luck praying that a plague is beatowed on the board. As far as cutbacks, the whole nation has money problems and the respective parties' platforms have caused the problems by their unwillingness to compromise a fix. The irony is that there are laws that mandate services be provided to different groups of children. If the funds are not there the school system is not absolved from providing such services. Failure to do so will result in additional reductions of funds. Washinton is notorius for passing legislation without funds and expect the local governing boards to pick up the slack since they have the ability to raise revenue through taxation. Damned if you do or damned if you don't.
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