Education Schools fear worst budget cuts ahead Thousands of education jobs lost since 2008

By Kimberly Hefling AP Education Writer LANCASTER, Pa. (AP) -- Teenage girls in ponytails and boys in long athletic shorts dash across the gym at Abraham Lincoln Middle School, pausing their game of indoor tennis to motion "Y-M-C-A" with their arms as the Village People's song blares from the loudspeaker. It's a scene happening less frequently these days. Budget cuts and teacher layoffs have forced the school to cut some PE classes, reduce library hours and eliminate small literacy classes for problem readers and Spanish for sixth- and seventh-graders. "I'm scared to death. As we continue to look at fewer and fewer non-classroom positions that are there, at some point it's going to impact core classroom positions and that's a very, very scary thing," said principal Josh Keene. Educators across America, like Keene, are bracing for a tough reality. Even in a best-case scenario that assumes strong economic growth next year, it won't be until 2013 or later when districts see budget levels return to pre-recession levels, said Daniel Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators in Arlington, Va. That means more cuts and layoffs are likely ahead. "The worst part is that it's not over," Domenech said. Already, an estimated 294,000 jobs in the education sector have been lost since 2008, including those in higher education. The cuts are felt from Keller, Texas, where the district moved to a pay-for-ride transportation system rather than cut busing altogether, to Georgia, where 20 days were shaved off the calendar for pre-kindergarten classes. In California, a survey found that nearly half of all districts last year cut or reduced art, drama and music programs. Nationally, 120 districts primarily in rural areas have gone to a four-day school week to save on transportation and utility costs, according to the National Conference of State Legislators. Others are implementing fees to play sports, cutting field trips and ending after-school programs. Districts have little choice but to put off buying textbooks and technology and training teachers, said Rob Monson, a principal in Parkston, S.D., who is president of the National Association of Elementary School Principals. Recognizing the reality districts face, President Barack Obama included $30 billion in his $447 billion jobs creation package to save teachers' jobs. The Senate rejected the jobs package as well as a separate measure focused on saving the jobs of teachers and first responders. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has said the plan resembles "bailouts" that haven't proven to work and only perpetuate economic problems. Not everyone sees all doom and gloom in schools' budget woes. Some say many districts haven't wisely spent tax dollars or didn't adequately prepare for the end of the $100 billion in federal stimulus dollars for schools. And that while the number of students per teacher in America dropped from 22.3 in 1970 to 15.3 in 2008, according to the National Center For Education Statistics, they say the reduction hasn't made a noticeable difference. In Pennsylvania, at the urging of Gov. Tom Corbett, the Legislature slashed public-education spending by roughly $900 million, or more than 10 percent, to avoid a state budget deficit for the year that began July 1 without raising taxes. Seemingly overnight, thousands of education jobs in the state were lost. A survey of school districts by the Pennsylvania Association of School Administrators and the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials found that leading into this school year, 44 percent reduced elective course offerings and 70 percent increased class sizes. More than 30 districts said they either reduced or eliminated full-day kindergarten or pre-K programs. The cuts hit many of the poorer districts harder because they are more reliant on state dollars. In York, Pa., about a 30-minute drive from Lancaster, full-day kindergarten was saved when administrators and teachers agreed to a pay freeze. But art, music, and physical education teachers in elementary schools were eliminated, forcing classroom teachers to incorporate the electives in their classroom teaching, said Kim Schwarz, 45, a teacher and president of the York City Education Association. High school class sizes now are in the upper 30s, she said. Published: Thu, Nov 10, 2011