5 school cutbacks students will feel

By SmartMoney

As students return to schools across the country, school boards are wrestling with mammoth budget shortfalls -- and making some painful cuts.

Their own budgets in shambles, many states are inflicting deep reductions in K-12 funding. At the same time, local property tax revenue has waned because the housing market's collapse slashed residential property values.

The losses were particularly heavy in big-bubble states, including California, Arizona and Florida. Economists estimate the broader housing market won't fully recover for years, which could put a dent in school districts' coffers for the foreseeable future. That deficit is forcing many of the nation's 14,300 school districts to make harsh cuts. School officials are telling parents that programs and resources they have come to expect will be pared down or eliminated.

Of course, small fluctuations in municipal budgets can always leave a field trip canceled or a playground scrubbed, but this recession has exacted a far greater toll on public education. Many schools are scaling back academic programs or closing altogether because of financial hardship, according to a survey by the American Association of School Administrators. For instance, 44% of schools surveyed are increasing class size for the 2009-10 academic year, up from 13% the year before.

The percentage of schools eliminating enrichment programs and other nonacademic courses will rise to 27%, up threefold from last year. And more schools are doing away with field trips, deferring textbook purchases and reducing elective classes.

Some budget shortfalls are being filled by federal aid. The federal stimulus package has funneled about $100 billion to states for education funding -- the largest single federal outlay for education in U.S. history, says Jack Jennings, the president of the Center on Education Policy, a nonprofit advocacy organization that studies school funding. "If it weren't for the stimulus money, these would be the worst cutbacks in education since the Depression," he says. "It's what's saving the schools from disaster."

The cutbacks are not necessarily permanent and in fact may save some schools and services in the long run. Making cuts earlier rather than later can mitigate future financial trouble, says Arturo Pérez, a fiscal analyst at the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver. "By making reductions, you are essentially providing a future savings to the program." If school districts were to face another year of weak tax revenues and leave their budgets untouched, then "the problem compounds itself," he says.

Here's a look at some of the things that public school students could miss out on in the coming year:

Bands and music programs silenced

At many schools, library services, counselors and extracurricular activities like sports, band and art clubs may be curtailed or eliminated. Even curricula are being stripped to the bare minimum because schools typically cut enrichment courses first to avoid laying off teachers, Jennings says.

For example, all three elementary schools in the Phoenix-Talent district in southern Oregon have lost their music teachers, a move that will affect 1,200 students, says Dori Brattain, deputy executive director of the Oregon School Board Association. As of now, no concerts are budgeted for the next school year, but the PTA is trying to raise funds to resurrect the music program, she says. In Arizona, Higley Unified School District is scaling back its sports program back by 60% because of budget cuts, says Janice Palmer, the director of government relations at the Arizona School Boards Association. That means the football, baseball and girls soccer teams will be playing with old uniforms and equipment, and ball fields won't be maintained.

Continued: Crowded classrooms

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