Superintendent's March 2009 Budget Message

March 20, 2009

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

In more normal years, the budget picture out of the legislature would be coming into greater focus by this time. Unfortunately, we are in anything but normal times. With well over half of the legislative session concluded, every passing day brings greater uncertainty and less clarity. 

An updated revenue forecast was released [March 19] which shows that the budget deficit for the next two years has now grown to $9 billion, over 25% of the entire state budget. 

For K-12 education, the legislature must fund those items defined as "basic education", but can choose to cut funding for items that fall outside that definition. For Northshore, over $12 million of current revenue could be cut by the legislature as "non-basic education" items. The largest piece of that $12 million is I-728 funding at $8.7 million annually. 

I-728 is a citizens' initiative overwhelmingly passed by voters in 2000 to reduce class size, support struggling learners, and provide professional development for teachers. It is the only significant additional resource provided to public education this decade. Most districts, Northshore included, have heavily relied upon I-728 to remain solvent in the face of an inadequate, outdated, and dysfunctional K-12 funding structure. 

I-728 funds over 70 teachers - an average of more than two per school - in addition to a range of programs for struggling learners and much of our ongoing teacher training. If the legislature cuts all I-728 funding, the impacts to our district will be dramatic and unavoidable. Class sizes will grow. Support for struggling learners and professional development will dry up. Other programs and services not funding through I-728 will be reduced or eliminated to "backfill" as many classroom teaching positions as possible. Staff layoffs will be unavoidable. In our recent budget workshops, we have been processing close to $12 million of reductions that could be implemented over the next three or more years. The elimination of I-728 may require all of those reductions, and more, much sooner. 

I have communicated to our local legislators the ramifications of eliminating I-728. Legislators face an unenviable challenge in balancing the 2009-11 state budget.  But I hope that K-12 education's constitutional place as the "paramount duty" of government will be honored in the budget development process. 

Next week we should begin to see specific budget proposals out of the legislature. We will update our staff and community on the impacts of these budget proposals to our district. I want to thank all of you who have participated in our budget workshops and on-line surveys (as a reminder, the on-line survey remains open on our website - www.nsd.org - through March 27). Your advice and input as we prepare to respond to the actions of the legislature are invaluable.  As we all struggle with the circumstances in which we find ourselves, our ability to work together cooperatively to address the challenges we face becomes ever more important. 

Sincerely,

Larry Francois, Superintendent