Durham and North Carolina public schools have struggled for years to secure adequate funding for their facilities and services. Potentially adding to their ongoing financial problems, Durham Public Schools may face a $7 million funding cut if the state legislature’s current budget plans for 2006 are approved.
This year, Gov. Mike Easley proposed a 4 percent reduction in state education funds, which amounts to approximately $5.5 million less for Durham. Easley’s budget also calls for a $1.6 million cut for DPS in discretionary funding reductions.
DPS officials described the cut as “significant” and even “catastrophic,” especially when coupled with the continuous reductions over the last couple years.
“Sixty-five to 70 percent of any school’s budget comes from state funds,” said Jennifer Bennett, executive director of finances for DPS, explaining that any reduction in state funding therefore greatly impacts schools’ budgets. “Twenty-five percent comes from local funds, and the rest comes from private and other funds.”
If Congress approves President George W. Bush’s budget plan, Durham schools may lose even more money because funding for specific educational programs will be cut.
“President Bush’s budget eliminates three main sources, including vocational education and educational technology,” Bennett explained. “And these sources amount to close to $1 million.”
To demonstrate their dissent, the DPS Board of Education voted 5-2 to draft a letter to Durham’s local General Assembly delegation asking the North Carolina Senate not to pass the reductions. Because the cuts will be felt all over the state, however, DPS officials are wary of being too optimistic that the General Assembly will support a significant decrease in the cuts specifically in Durham.
Although the Board of Education would have preferred a unanimous vote, Chair Gail Heath said, Vice Chair Regina George-Bowden and Board member Jackie Wagstaff voted against the letter to Durham’s local delegation.
Bennett explained there has not been a unified reaction on the part of DPS because the budget has not been approved and the areas the cuts would target have not yet been specified.
“It’s hard to react when you don’t see anything on paper,” she said.
When the state Senate discusses the budget, representatives will specify areas from which to directly cut funding, Bennett explained. The House must then approve those proposed areas. Education officials expect the areas targeted to be teaching positions or salaries and benefits because those comprise 95 percent of state educational funds.
“We do fear we may have to reduce the teaching staff,” Heath said. “The cut would equate to approximately 152 teaching positions.”
DPS officials said the funding reductions come at a particularly bad time for Durham schools because they are in the process of hiring for the upcoming academic year.
Bennett explained that it is difficult to know how many teachers the schools can afford to hire when the budget has not been approved.
“We want to get the best teachers under contract,” Bennett said. “We are then obligated to honor that contract.”
Bennett added that she hopes the situation will be resolved by June 30, but she admitted this was an optimistic deadline.
“Some years we have opened schools before we knew what the budget was,” Heath said. “We have to be very cautious in balancing our planning with efficiency.”
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