Doubling the APS deficit a bad decision

Allowing high school teachers to teach just 5 out of 7 periods a day is fiscally irresponsible

I’d like to start by stating, in writing this letter, I anticipate there may be a negative response from Albuquerque Public Schools central office, the union and teachers. However, I feel quite strongly that, as an elementary principal, parent of four children in APS, and community member, the following needs to be said.

On Feb. 26, a couple of things happened where my frustration, which is already high from the continual increase in duties for principals and pressures from unions when trying to do what’s right for students, hit its limit.

One of the things that happened involves a decision by the Board of Education in support, with Superintendent Raquel Reedy also speaking in favor, of spending roughly $4.3 million dollars to allow high school teachers to teach five out of seven class periods per day.

In full disclosure, I am a member of the District Budget Committee and am speaking on my own behalf, not on their behalf or with their approval.

The idea of allowing high school teachers to teach only five out of seven periods came from a committee formed to work on the high school schedule. The committee, it seems, was given the charge of creating a dream schedule for high schools, but was not given any parameters in terms of also being fiscally responsible.

Over the past two months, this committee has met weekly to begin to plan for the 2016-17 school year budget, as well as long-term goals as the budget and enrollment is looking bleak (as stated in the Sunday Journal story on Feb. 28).

At the meeting held on Feb. 25, we were informed, based on this year’s state budget and the APS expected SEG (State Equalization Guarantee) contribution to the APS budget, that we conservatively would most likely have a $5.2 million deficit, based on many factors, including further decline in student enrollment.

Planning for how to make cuts to cover this deficit is going to hurt many employees and departments within the district, but could be manageable if projections came to fruition. It might have been possible to keep most, if not all, cuts away from our schools and students.

The board, whose main duties, as I understand them, are to hire/supervise the superintendent and to be fiduciary stewards for the district, voiced support for increasing our deficit from $5.2 million to $9.5 million to allow teachers to teach fewer periods at the high school level.

This is unconscionable in my mind. This decision has totally confounded me, especially since it was not the recommendation of the Budget Committee.

This new schedule, along with being fiscally irresponsible, also is not good for students.

By teaching only five out of seven periods, it is highly, if not certainly, likely that class sizes will need to increase as the students still need to be taught. Class sizes, many would argue, are already too high to effectively reach students’ academic and emotional needs.

Although the main function of APS is to educate, it is still an organization made up of people.

While this decision may help to increase the morale of the high school teachers, it almost certainly will decrease the morale of our elementary, middle school, central office and other support staff. Their morale will not only be affected because of the inequity of the situation, but also because all of us will feel the brunt of necessary cuts due to almost doubling our projected deficit to $9.3 million.

The Budget Committee must now find cuts that will reach our schools, directly affecting student learning. How is this demonstrating fiduciary responsibility for the good of the entire district? How is this decision good for students rather than adults who have been hired to teach?

How can the Board of Education and the Superintendent justify almost doubling our deficit for only 14 schools and really just so that high school teachers teach fewer classes?