State lawmakers question impact of proposed school cuts

Questions have emerged over what some proposed cuts to education spending may mean for the state’s low-performing schools and for state schools for the deaf and blind.

State lawmakers quizzed state education officials about the proposed budget reductions during the Department of Education’s presentation on Wednesday. School leaders say the department will remain flexible, but they tried to reassure lawmakers that the cuts under consideration won’t hurt students.

Last fall, Gov. Brian Kemp mandated state agencies and departments trim 4% this year and another 6% in next year’s budget as the state dealt with sluggish revenues and braced for a potential recession.

Most of K-12 education was spared from any budget cuts. Kemp’s proposed budget also fully funds Georgia’s K-12 education formula for the third consecutive year and includes $360 million for teacher pay raises, fulfilling a promise the governor made on the campaign trail to boost teacher pay by $5,000.

But in some cases, programs directly tied to students are facing some reductions, including a recommended $1.4 million reduction this year and another $890,000 in next year’s budgets for state schools for the deaf and blind in Macon, Clarkston and Cave Springs.

House Appropriations Chairman Terry England said he has concerns about what that means for the services those students receive.

“This General Assembly has invested bond funds and cash funds to make improvements to those facilities,” the Auburn Republican said. “The idea has been to open more services to students that they’re not able to get locally.”

Ted Beck, chief financial officer for the DOE, said some of reductions are unfilled vacant positions.

“This (budget) gives (staff) enough flexibility to adapt over the course of the academic year to meet the needs that arise,” Beck said. “It’s not going to be easy but they don’t feel like it’s going to be a tremendous change in the academic or residential services they provide.”

There’s also a proposed $2-plus million reduction next year to the Georgia Network for Educational and Therapeutic Support that provides services to students with severe emotional or behavioral disorders.

A significant portion of the cut is based on numbers that show fewer students are at the residential treatment facilities where the DOE covers education services, Beck said.

The education budget also includes changes to programs assisting under-performing schools, including a plan to move the chief turnaround office under the control of the school improvement office.

Last week, the state school board accepted the resignation of the chief turnaround officer Eric Thomas in the wake of a Department of Education investigation into allegations of discrimination and misuse of funds, the AJC reported.

Rep. Valencia Stovall, a Forest Park Democrat, said she is worried about how much support those struggling schools would receive if the changes take place in addition to a proposed $713,000 reduction to regional educational service agencies that provide support to school districts.

“I know when it came to the education committee meetings, (school officials) expressed that they were getting that individual care to find out what was going on in these schools,” Stovall said.

State Schools Superintendent Richard Woods said that he is confident that combining the turnaround office with the agency’s school improvement office won’t hurt those programs. Still, he said he will continue to evaluate whether any areas should get more resources, he said.

“What we have done in school improvement has been very effective,” Woods said. “We’re making sure… that we’ll be able to slide things around to really prioritize.”