The saga of the broke school system continues, but with the usual plot twist:
Guilford County School Superintendent Mo Green presented his recommended 2011-2012 budget to the Guilford County Board of Education on Tuesday, April 12 – and a strange document it was indeed. Green proposed increasing the total budget of Guilford County Schools by $13 million to $644 million. This was the budget in which the school system was supposed to, for the first time, feel the effects of the current recession.
…..After three years of recession, countless hours of debating budget cuts, and extensive success by the school board in portraying itself to the public as stone broke, Green’s budget proposal for 2011-2012 reflects no actual cuts – that is, actual reductions in spending from the previous year.
A couple of other interesting point in Paul Clark’s Rhino article. First, he notes that Green would increase class sizes by a quarter of a student, reducing the number of teachers in the classroom.
Second, Clark says the school board is in violation of state open meetings laws by discussing the budget in closed session. When pressed, chief of staff Nora Carr —as you can imagine —dismissed the idea, saying a budget discussion that involved layoffs was protected by state public records law that protects personnel records.
Last but not least, the board —a public body—- approved a resolution drafted by the private Guilford Education Alliance, which called for “full funding” of North Carolina public schools.
As Clark notes, “full funding” of public schools is a loaded term if there ever was one, considering the fact there is never —- and never will be —–enough funding for public schools.
One last question: What in the world is a ‘quarter of a student?’
