Wake County teachers and parents are hoping that when Governor Perdue reveals her budget proposal this Tuesday, the cuts will not go any deeper than the proposed 3 percent cut in state funding for education. WCPS officials said earlier this week previous cuts, larger class sizes and fewer supplies will likely help the district to stave off teacher layoffs.
According to David Neter, WCPS budget chief, larger cuts would have to come from the schools because they have already cut heavily from other areas (See article).
Really? A May 2010 spreadsheet of WCPS employees, showed 777 employees with budget codes in the 900s (Central Services). Earlier budget projections include the elimination of 83 Central Services positions and not-filling 23 currently-unfilled positions.
Even after those actions, Central Services still has a staff of 694. A breakdown of Central Services office and staff numbers as of last May includes:
Central Services Staff (Budget Codes 900s)
Superintendent Chief of Staff – 40
Area Superintendents – 16
Communications Division -37
Technology Services– 53
Students Services – 73
Instructional Services – 84
Maintenance and Operations – 36
Human Resources – 77
Facilities Planning – 64
Administrative Services – 113
Evaluation and Research – 30
Auxiliary Services -134
Growth & Planning – 20
Total – 777
Eliminating 83 current Central Services positions is equivalent to a cut of 10.6 percent. Can anyone honestly say teaching staff should be cut before additional layoffs to Facilities Planning, Auxiliary Services or Growth and Planning? If the purpose of Wake County Schools is to educate students, shouldn’t the budget reflect those priorities?
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