The bad economy is hitting all parts of the country hard and in many different ways. One example concerns public schools and the moneys allocated to them. In Miami, Florida, the county’s school budget is based on a combination of state funding and local property taxes. When property values in Miami-Dade County began to decline three years ago, problems with funding public schools began to emerge. It began to become increasingly harder to keep all the programs previously offered and not cut any jobs.
The main reason behind Miami-Dade County’s school budget problem is the plummeting property values. The county appraiser announced last week that property values in Miami-Dade County have dropped by 13.4%. The worst drop in the last three years, and possibly ever. The part of the county where I reside saw a drop of over 31%! Property values are directly linked the the school budget, comprising 70%. The remaining 30% is state funded. The last drop in home values will take an estimated $180 – 200 million out of the pot that would have helped fund the 2011 school budget. To add insult to injury, the federal stimulus money that the state of Florida allocated for Miami-Dade county, which helped to keep the schools running for the upcoming school year, will disappear for the 2011 – 2012 budget. It remains to be seen how the county will find the money needed to balance the 2011 – 2012 budget.
Last month, the school board proposed a $4.3 billion dollar budget that maintains teacher jobs while cutting some gifted programs, central office functions, and special education programs. However, the district has another budget problem on the horizon. This past school year, schools had to calculate an average class size and maintain the ratio of students to teachers below a certain number. Starting this fall, each individual classroom has to comply with the caps. A state constitutional amendment is set to be voted on in November that would decide whether to continue with school-wide averages instead of individual classrooms. Alberto Carvalho, the Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent, is recommending continuing with school-wide averages, rather than complying this fall with the caps. While compliance this fall could cost the county $40 million dollars, it would be cheaper to pay any penalties that would arise from not complying. Full compliance could mean layoffs of language, arts, and other elective teachers. While no one wants to see teachers losing jobs, the only other solution would be to raise taxes, something those of us who live in Miami-Dade County cannot afford.
Across the country, public schools are not fairing any better. A study released in April of this year by the American Association of School Administratorsfound that while the nation may be beginning to recover from the economic turn-down, schools are not. Budget cuts will only continue, especially as federal stimulus money runs out. This could lead to more layoffs and a higher ratio of student to teachers. I would encourage more schools to take note of the creative budget changes that the Miami-Dade district developed to preserve jobs, and follow suite.
Update: According to John Schuster, Chief Communications Officer at Miami-Dade County Public Schools at a July 21 hearing on the class size issue, Superintendent Alberto Carvalho stated that the District will meet the Constitutional mandates of the Class Size Amendment. This will be accomplished by hiring 100 new Teach for America instructors, deploying 200 people from central and regional offices to teach at schools, and requiring activity and athletic directors already working at schools to teach more classes. The District will not lay off any teachers. [Note: District records indicate that property values comprise 53 percent of operating funds. The remaining 47 percent is state and federal funded.]
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