Ed chief addresses budget goals

On the eve of the State Board of Education's scheduled vote to approve the 2011 budget, State Superintendent Larry Shumway's State of Education address hit hard on the dollar signs.

The board is proposing a $2.5 billion budget, the same as the 2010 budget. This is despite a projected increase of 11,000 students, which would equate to a 2 percent budget cut.

"If we can hit this budget mark in these economic conditions, I for one will be thankful," Shumway told the crowd of about 100 education leaders who gathered at Northwest Middle School in Salt Lake City Thursday night.

Shumway didn't hesitate to highlight the financial sacrifices school districts have made statewide. He further made a plea to lawmakers to fish some dollars out of the "rainy day" fund to help out state education in the upcoming year.

"It will be a heavy lift for legislators to find the funds to avoid further cuts to public education, but the State Board and I have high hopes that they will respond to this crisis," he said. "Even if we reach the funding goal the State Board has set, let's remember that next year we'll have 11,000 more students than this year to educate with the same amount of money as this year."

The superintendent's address, which earned him a standing ovation and was broadcast live on KCPW radio, also detailed four goals set by the board.

From last year to this school year, the state appropriation for public education fell by $172 million, a cut of about 5.5 percent. This loss of $172 million means fewer teachers, larger classes, fewer school days and lower annual pay and benefits for school employees, Shumway said.

School districts handled the cuts differently this past year. Granite School District sliced $28 million with deep reductions in the central office and cut teacher employment days by 5.5 days. This meant a wage loss for the average teacher of nearly $1,400. The district also raised the teacher-to-student ratio by a quarter student. This meant one or two fewer teachers per school and 150 fewer teachers across the district.

Granite District's cuts "resulted in larger classes, fewer school days, less support for teachers, and lower pay for all school employees," Shumway said.

Millard School District cut its school year by five school days and reduced employee days by three, resulting in an employee pay cut of 4 percent. The district also cut 21 jobs and raised class sizes. "In small towns, cuts like this reach all across a community," Shumway said.

Utah has more than 1,000 schools in 41 school districts, along with 72 charter schools, with a total of 563,000 students.