Punching more holes in a fairy tale

Anyone with half a load of common sense, which doesn’t necessarily include all of our legislators, knew the antigovernment ideologues were lying last spring when they insisted the Legislature could make deep cuts in public education without harming the classroom.

To be sure, make the effort, as many school districts have, and you can find ways to trim administrative costs. But the central office Taj Mahals on which school boards and superintendents supposedly squandered the taxpayers’ money, if you buy the Tea Party line, simply didn’t exist.

The damage that Gov. Rick Perry and the legislative majority inflicted on the classrooms will continue to be toted up over the next two years – the duration of the current budget – and well into the future.

As I noted in yesterday’s post, Austin ISD will resurrect a debate over whether to close some neighborhood schools, and other districts may follow suit. If campuses are closed, more teachers and classroom support staff will lose their jobs.

Earlier this week, officials from three Houstonarea school districts got together to compare notes on “the new reality” of education funding in Texas and to punch more holes in the Tea Party fairy tale.

Houston, CyFair and Spring Branch ISDs were represented at the meeting, according to Quorum Report, and here are some of their specific costcutting steps. Many obviously center on the classroom.

Spring Branch – cut 350 positions, about 7 percent of the district’s staff; increased class size ratios in the early grades from 221 to 241 (using the waiver process); slashed the curriculum and instruction staff, which primarily supported math and language arts instruction, from 35 to seven; reduced the number of classroom assistants and increased class sizes at its early childhood campuses.

CyFair – increased student teacher ratios in the early grades to 251 and axed curriculum coaches. These steps were in addition to earlier costcutting measures, including an increase in class sizes in secondary schools.

Houston – Some of HISD’s most endangered programs are services for special needs students, those who need extra help to keep up with their peers. And, for HISD, the worst is yet to come because the district will suffer even deeper cuts in state funding during the 201213 school year.