I’ve written a couple of times about teacher layoffs in many school districts, and asked why the state didn’t prevent this from happening. Now the governor’s office is saying the fault isn’t with the state, but with the districts that are making cuts.
Last week, the Moriarty school board approved its 2006-2007 budget, which includes the cutting of 17 teacher positions and eight other positions. The Santa Fe Public Schools laid off 37 teachers, and the Gadsden Independent School District cut 27 teacher positions. The Las Cruces Public Schools cut travel vehicle and other funds because of a $7 million shortfall, but avoided teacher cuts.
I wrote previously that contributing factors were rising utility costs and a mandated 5 percent pay increase. But the governor’s office says cuts could have been avoided through better management.
“When we consider Moriarty, remember that they’ve had a decline of 900 students over the last several years that went unaddressed,” spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said. “We must also consider school districts like Santa Fe that have decided to keep small schools open and use non-recurring revenue for recurring expenditures and given raises that exceeded legislative funding mandates.”
“Those districts that didn’t make adjustments to their budgets are the ones that are having the most difficulty in balancing their budgets,” Gallegos said. “There are many examples of school districts that have been prudent and have balanced budgets without making sweeping cuts in personnel.”
Earlier this year, House Bill 2 included a Republican-sponsored $6.3 million appropriation that would have helped with the mandated salary increases, but Richardson vetoed it. In addition to saying the money was not needed because better planning could have prevented layoffs, Gallegos said small districts have “come to rely on emergency supplemental funding.”