Related: Boston Schools $lu$h Fund
It's a nonprofit to pay for holiday parties, first-class plane tickets, and even moving expenses for admini$tration a$$holes. I'm sure the dinners at Legal Sea Foods and the Park Plaza were well worth it!
"Boston schools brace for more cuts; Revenue shrinks amid plans for new initiatives" by James Vaznis, Globe Staff January 03, 2015
The Boston school system, as it prepares a budget for the next academic year, is bracing for the potential of tens of millions of dollars in cuts that are putting schools and parents on edge.
How can that be in the midst of a booming economic recovery, especially in Bo$ton?
While the school system has not generated a total spending figure for the next school year, district leaders say they expect the cost of maintaining programs will increase between $55 million and $65 million because of higher transportation costs, contractually negotiated pay raises for teachers and other unionized employees, and other factors. School officials also anticipate a $14 million decline in federal funds.
When I read that I nearly hit the roof. What do they mean HIGHER TRANSPORTATION COSTS? Have they SEEN the PRICE of GAS lately? What kind of accountants are they employing in the $chool $y$tem? Can they do math?
That excuse won't work, and the blame the unions for the cause of everything has gotten old, especially since Wall Street stole all their pensions with their mortgage-backed securities fraud. That's why you all had to give back benefits while paying more for them. We can only wonder (wink, wink) what those "other factors" are. As for the federal funds, I'm $hocked coming as it is from the education president.
Then they piled on with lying:
“The costs are rising faster than the revenue,” said Michael O’Neill, the School Committee chairman. “That is our challenge.”
This when I've been told the economy has been humming.
The grim outlook comes as the system undertakes pricey new initiatives.
Kids, you are allowed at this point to ask WTF?
Last week, the school system, the teachers union, and Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced their intent to add 40 minutes a day at more than 50 elementary, middle, and K-8 schools over the next three years, gradually increasing spending over that time by about $12 million to cover the initiative.
Related: Longer School Day For Boston Students
Also see: Boston’s longer school day isn’t long enough
Easy for them to say. Will this class never end?
The school system also made a significant change in hiring last school year, giving principals the authority to select outside candidates over internal applicants. Consequently, 72 teachers who had previously gained “permanent” employment status have not been assigned to their own classrooms, forcing the school system to create co-teaching positions for them at a cost of about $6 million.
See: Boston’s hiring practice for teachers is affirmed
Try to think of that as a gift.
Aside from extending the school day, school officials have outlined other new initiatives.
They want to overhaul high schools, step up interventions at struggling schools, restore deferred maintenance on school buildings, expand the number of K1 classrooms, and increase the number of classrooms that educate both regular education and special education students.
Where you been? Where did all the money go in the middle of a great economic recovery, or so I've been told?
WTF, Boston?
But O’Neill said the school system cannot let tight finances prevent Boston from pursuing new initiatives if it wants to improve schools and the academic success of its students.
Parents, tired of seeing cherished teachers lose jobs or witnessing the demise of art or other programs, already are mobilizing....
WHAT???
“We live in one of the richest cities in the country, but we can’t get our act together to fully fund the education of our kids,” Heshan Berents-Weeramuni, the parent co-chair of the Curley’s School Site Council, said in an interview. “It seems like parents are the only ones advocating for our kids because we know the extent of the cuts.
I don't think it is a can't, I think it is a won't.
And whose "we," anyway? Don't include me in any of this me$$.
“Strong schools probably are the greatest asset to every neighborhood. I don’t understand why that is not front and center,” Berents-Weeramuni said.
I do. They don't want the kids being taught well and to think critically. They want impressionable minds filled with politically correct dogma.
It remains unclear which schools could suffer the biggest hits. Budget allocations are made on a per-student basis. More information will be known later this month when principals consult parents on developing their individual school budgets.
Interim Superintendent John McDonough will then present a systemwide budget to the School Committee on Feb. 4.
He's the guy who oversaw the $lush fund -- yet to be mentioned in this piece.
Tight budgets have become the norm in the Boston schools, initially spurred by an economic slowdown during the last decade. The city’s school system, like others statewide, is still struggling to recover because of sluggish revenue and rising costs.
The fact that they have to flog the foolish non$ense again proves it a lie.
I mean, this blah-blah, narrative that never changes.... really.... c'mon, Globe.
Even as the Boston system looks toward its next budget, it is still trying to balance its current one, which is accruing about a $10 million shortfall, a typical amount for this time of the year, school officials said.
No kidding?
That gap is emerging for a variety of reasons.
This is gonna be good!
Most notably, the cost of food services is running about a $4 million deficit and the school system, at the request of the mayor, decided to delay plans for a year to eliminate bus service for seventh-graders.
Not only that, the food is horrible!
In response to this year’s budget gap, the school system has enacted a hiring freeze on all non-classroom positions, reduced spending on catering, and taken other measures.
I don't get it. They increase the budgets, then have to cut 'em?
And what are the other "variety of reasons," Globe? And the "other measures," for that matter? What's with the vagueness?
McDonough warned the School Committee at a meeting last month that the system would face another difficult budget year and that there would be tough trade-offs to balance the budget and fund new initiatives.
Uh-huh.
You hear anything $lu$hing around?
So much for that booming economy, hey!
The extent of the cuts that will be needed as the city pushes ahead with new initiatives will hinge on how much Walsh is willing to spend on education next year. Last year, Walsh supported an approximately 4 percent increase in spending, pushing the overall school budget to about $975 million. The city’s contribution to the school budget represents the lion’s share of revenue.
Even then, the school system still had to cut $100 million in spending to compensate for rising costs and new initiatives.
There it is again. Rising costs.
The cuts included ending bus service for most eighth-graders, and eliminating dozens of central office and teaching positions.
I gue$$ they will have to find another way to school on the unsafe streets of Boston.
O’Neill said he expects Walsh to be supportive of another budget increase for next year, saying “he continues to focus on minimizing cuts in the classrooms.”
Did you kids see him talking out of both sides of his mouth?
Kate Norton, a mayoral spokeswoman, said Wednesday that Walsh is still working through the budget process.
Many parents and teachers say the state should shoulder a larger share of school spending in Boston and elsewhere, especially as Massachusetts pursues new mandates, such as overhauling teacher evaluations and trying out a replacement for the MCAS exams.
Why? Most of the wealth is in Boston and its suburbs!
In Boston, state aid covers only 11 percent of this year’s school budget, a level that has been dropping for much of the last 15 years.
This during the tenure of the education governor?
He borrowed a billion dollars to give to profitable pharmaceuticals, though.
“All sorts of people need to step up, including those on Beacon Hill,” said Richard Stutman, president of the Boston Teachers Union. “It’s disruptive to plan something in year one and have it cut in year two. . . . We are all sick and tired of this.”
I second that.
Ever notice teacher unions are the most ineffectual of all?
--more--"
Also see: Walsh appoints new Boston School Committee member
It's a start.
