If you are in the Columbia Public School district, you can not miss the press the tax levy vote is receiving. The CPS Board is urging voters to approve a tax levy and threatening budget cuts if it is not approved. First off, they should have been more fiscally responsible and not put us in this place to being with. They have had surpluses from year to year and now they are saying they need more money? Did they think about that when they were using money to sue the state in the adequacy case? Nope! Although now they have pulled out, thank goodness. I find this interesting too. This is from the Columbia Missourian...They are threatening to cut special education programs.
Currently, special education is set up in a team model that includes 19 teams of 120 to 125 students and 19 paraprofessionals, each one assigned to a team. There are also professionals assigned to the individual students. This model is unique to the middle school level, DeSpain said. After the restructuring, the remaining paraprofessionals will be assigned to students.
“We’ll assign a paraprofessional when a student’s IEP, the individual education plan, calls for it,” Barnett said.
Another cut to special education in the district would be a 50 percent reduction in the budget of the special education summer program at Newton Middle School. That cut would save an additional $118,000.
I would like to add, I think many of their budget cut threats are scare tactics into voting for the tax levy. What Hank Waters, of the Columbia Tribune, thinks...
Recently the district released hundreds of detailed steps it could take to cut millions in spending. The list for a first round of cuts appeared in this newspaper Friday, and the district has made all its proposals available for public review.
Bureaucracies rarely do any such thing unless seriously threatened with loss of revenue. Such a threat now faces the school district, whose proposed 54-cent tax levy increase probably will fail in the April 8 election, leaving the district with a need to find cuts even beyond the initial list.
In a perverse way, the improper budget management the district did back in June is a blessing. The reckless use of reserve funds for projected ongoing operations costs put district managers in a budgetary tight spot forcing an unscheduled need to cut other costs.
A sad but true fact of public bureaucratic life is that periodic revenue squeezes are needed to bring serious cost control. You can understand why. As long as funding increases, bureau managers will look to expand operations. They believe they are doing a good job and steadily expanding budgets are needed to keep the valuable momentum going.
Trouble is, in such happy surroundings, restraint and accountability are lacking. No marketplace full of choice-making customers is on hand to tailor their activities. The most reliable restraint comes in the form of an unusual revenue challenge, something beyond the perennial revenue shortages officials habitually bemoan.
One of those rare cyclical moments is at hand for the Columbia school district. Many or most voters will want to send a message of disapproval for the district’s lack of openness, but the ancillary benefit of spending control is just as important.
The district will be able to trim millions from operations without damaging the quality of education. It never would have happened but for the rush of public disdain that threatens its cash flow.
While they are threatening to cut special education programs, I think it is even more crucial to Columbia special needs students that Bryce's Law passes. This would give those children a shot at a decent education when their schools cannot provide it. And if, the CPS do in fact, cut those programs, the children here will be even more lost in the system. Please, urge your representative to vote yes!
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