Taking a line-by-line look at the actual budget worksheet documents of the Anchorage School District can show you room for making cuts that do not impact the classrooms. Thanks to the fiscal education watchdog, Alaska Policy Forum, they concluded that the District can make $30 million in cuts without laying off any teachers.
We have heard from those who benefit financially from public education funding that the $43 million decrease in funding by the Legislature would seriously affect education. On April 6th, the ASD School Board had a work meeting to discuss these recent reductions of 4.1% from the Foundation Formula. This would add up to about $30 million in cuts for the ASD. The Board asked the Administration to come up with cuts to offset these losses.
Shown below is the budget worksheet that the Administration developed for the Board. Despite the cries of “We will have to cut 300 teacher jobs”, the District can save $28,720,000 without cutting any teachers in the classroom (line 40 below). It seems as if the District has tentatively done a good job of not impacting the classroom, where education really occurs. Of course, some will still echo the shouts of “Keep your promise” and “Fully fund education”. But as the ASD has shown, these reductions do not adversely affect the classroom. We say, “Keep up the good work, ASD”.
See Full Story Here at Alaska Policy Forum
