The Lafayette Parish School Board made about $13 million in cuts during Tuesday's special meeting, but what are the repercussions?
The Lafayette Parish School Board made about $13 million in cuts during Tuesday's special meeting, but what are the repercussions?
"This is a bigger issue than just balancing the budget, it's an issue of fairness and equality" - Superintendent Pat Cooper
For one, about 160 positions will be cut thanks to a number of recommendations from board member Rae Trahan and board president Hunter Beasley. The cuts approved Tuesday include more than 55 teachers, 9-plus counselors, 13-plus assistant principals, an unspecified number of special education personnel and four deans of students who are charged with handling campus discipline issues.
But in its haste to reduce the $23.5 million budget deficit, the board has ignored what these cuts will mean for the district's schools.
The biggest repercussion (and we're by no means saying 160 jobs isn't a big deal) will be the impact on the district's at-risk schools with a majority population of minority students.
"One of the huge looming issues with their cuts is there's no way they can't say that they're not potentially discriminating against the poor and minority students," says Superintendent Pat Cooper. "A lot of what they're cutting is what we put in to protect those kids. Specifically, for the minority kids, by cutting those programs, the board is basically saying we don't want those kids to succeed."
What makes this situation so frustrating for Cooper is that the cuts are avoidable, either by dipping into the more than $60 million reserve fund or using revenues from the 2002 sales tax.
The problem with the using the 2002 sales tax, however, largely centers on the hell being raised by leaders within the Lafayette Parish Association of Educators, which would rather teachers receive a 14th check over saving jobs.
For the most part LPAE is a minority contingent, they're just noisier and they have the ears of a majority of the school board.
Their main argument against using the 2002 sales tax centers on the wording included in the ballot. Yet, despite Cooper's request for a legal opinion to clear the matter up, and once and for all determine whether the money can be used to save jobs, the board opted to do nothing during Tuesday's meeting.
"The ballot only calls for a 13th check for interest earnings, it doesn't even allow for a 14th check," argues Cooper. "According to the administrative plan, which may or may not be viable, it says first teacher salaries, then lower the student-teacher ratios, and if there's any money left over, you can use that for a one-time paycheck for teachers, but only when economic times are good. For us, economic times are not good."
For teachers, the 14th check would amount to about $2,800 per teacher - the most ever received. On the other hand, it also could be used to save about 160 jobs, and keep vital programs intact.
The decision seems like a no-brainer.
"This is a bigger issue than just balancing the budget, it's an issue of fairness and equality," argues Cooper. "The board talks a good game of not hurting the classroom, but all of those personnel are needed in the schools."
Moreover, the pending personnel cuts go against the requirements of the federal desegregation case's consent decree, which requires a 15:1 student-teacher ration in all minority schools.
"Most of our dropouts are minority. Most of our over-age kids are minority. We have not been following what we're supposed to be following in the consent decree, and we're trying to fix that with the Turnaround Plan," says Cooper. "But with the cuts the board's making, it's going to prevent us from addressing those issues. To me, this would give Lafayette such a black eye. It's 2014 and we still can't get our race issues settled."