Schools
Neil Rossen
facilities (e.g. Close Neary).
When you have to listen to the pleas for school funding below from the
WSJ may apply:
Fewer Students, More Teachers
Even as enrollment falls, school districts keep hiring..Governor David
Paterson wants to reduce state aid to local school districts next year
by 5% to address the state’s $9.2 billion budget deficit, and state
educators are complaining that the cuts could result in teacher
layoffs. Maybe so, but the reality in New York and other states is
that teacher hires in recent years have far outpaced student
enrollment.
A new report from the Empire Center for New York State Policy found
that New York public schools added 15,000 teachers between 2000 and
2009, even though enrollment fell by 121,000 students over the same
period. New York City, home to the nation’s largest school system,
added 7,000 teachers and 4,000 nonteaching professionals (guidance
counselors, administrators, nurses) even as its enrollment was
decreasing by 63,000 kids, according to state data.
Teachers unions prefer fewer students per class because it means more
dues-paying jobs, but the evidence that it improves academic outcomes
is thin. In any case, the Empire Center report found that “by national
standards, class sizes in New York were small even before the further
staff expansion of the past nine years.” In 2008 New York’s pupil-
teacher ratio was 13.1, the eighth lowest among the 50 states, and its
per-pupil spending ($16,000) leads the nation.
This disconnect between student enrollment and the number of teachers
hired is growing nationwide. Between 2001 and 2007, 12 states saw
student enrollment fall while teaching staffs grew, according to data
from the Census Bureau and the National Center for Education
Statistics. And in another half-dozen states, teachers were hired out
of all proportion to increased enrollment.
For example, Virginia’s student enrollment grew by 5% and the number
of teachers grew by 21%. In Florida, student enrollment rose by 6% and
the number of teachers rose by 20%. Student enrollment was up by 9% in
North Carolina, where the number of teachers was up by 22%.
“There ought to be some relationship between hiring personnel and the
needs of students,” says Mike Antonucci of the Education Intelligence
Agency, a research organization. “At what point do we say that we’re
hiring too many teachers for the number of students that we have?”
When hires are determined by the money available instead of the staff
needed, school districts become bloated in the good times. Yet when
tax revenue falls in a recession, union pressure makes it next to
impossible to cut teacher rolls. States raise taxes instead of re-
examining enrollment and student needs, which creates a hiring ratchet
that leaves states with an ever higher number of teachers, regardless
of enrollment.
The good news is that a few state officials are starting to push back.
In addition to New York’s Governor Paterson, New Jersey Governor Chris
Christie is trying to reduce state aid to local school districts. In
the past decade, student enrollment in the Garden State has grown by
3%, while total school hiring is up 14%. Instead of addressing this
reality, a local chapter of the New Jersey Education Association
responded to Mr. Christie’s proposals by circulating a memo joking
that it wishes the Governor were dead. Mr. Christie must be doing
something right.
Al Hamilton
the 2004 peak. The budget projects laying off 5-6 teachers which would bring
us in line with the Student Teacher ratio from 2004 for better and worse.
Neil is right, there was no serious consideration given to closing Neary
next year. It is a big decision and needs careful analysis which was not
done. For example, we are currently limited in the number of students we can
have in Trottier because of septic limitations. No real consideration was
undertaken to outline options for resolution of that problem that would
allow up to operate that nearly new building at capacity.
Al Hamilton
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