ARP (KYTX) - The secretary of education says the country may be facing an 'education crisis.' That's because a survey of school administrators from 49 states shows budget constraints on 80% of school districts across the US. CBS 19's Jennifer Heathcock has been crunching numbers, and explains what this means locally.
From the districts we've spoken to in East Texas, no one's looking at layoffs or hiring freezes just yet. Arp school district is taking a long hard look at the bottom line, and how it could affect your student's education.
In Jennifer Arrington's algebra 2 class, students are learning about rational numbers. She goes over equations with a class of just fifteen.
"It allows me more interaction with the students, so I can help their individual needs. If class is too big, some might slip through the cracks.
While students crunch numbers in the classroom, the district crunches them in the boardroom.
"Over the next 3-4 years we're looking at cutting down some numbers of staff by attrition." Superintendent Toney Lowrey says cutting a position once it's left vacant could help them meet the bottom line.
"What you've got to understand with school budgets is probably 85% of it is salaries and benefits."
Keeping up with a budget for a school district is much like keeping up with your budget at home. You have to allocate your funds in the right places, so when you go to spend the money, you don't end up in the red.
"You can find ways to make things work, now is it optimal? Probably not, but it is what it is and we have to work under that framework,"said Lowrey.
Working to 'rationalize' the budget, with more than 80 teachers in the district could mean more students per classroom.
"It would hurt the students more than it would make it harder on me because they wouldn't get the individual teacher time."
We spoke with several other districts in East Texas, including Bullard and Lindale, who both say they're growing - so they don't see budgets becoming a problems anytime soon.
Tyler and Kilgore ISD say they're also looking at attrition. Whitehouse ISD says it's too early to tell how the budget will play out for next year just yet.
According to the American Association of School Administrators, job cuts in the education field from 2009 to 2011 could exceed jobs created by the government in the same time period.
