D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s proposed school budget for next fiscal year is bigger than last year, but the school system says it’s losing tens of millions of dollars in federal pandemic funds and facing rising costs and rising teacher salaries.
D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Lewis Ferebee has estimated as many as 450 positions could be eliminated. DCPS officials have since revised that to as low as 200 staff members who could lose their jobs.
At a D.C. Council oversight hearing Friday, Chairman Phil Mendelson questioned Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn about staff cuts.
“But over 80 schools, maybe 90 schools, are actually having to lay off teachers or other personnel,” Mendelson said.
“I've talked to many school communities. We feel the tough decisions incredibly deeply and we've got a really hard circumstance this year,” Kihn said.
Bowser said each individual school will decide which positions, if any, would be cut.
“We’ve added since the pandemic 1,700 positions across schools, and most of those positions tied to federal funds,” she said. “So, as those federal funds are waning, we are going to do our level best to maintain key, critical, education-focused positions in our buildings.”
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Anacostia High School teacher Ronald Edmonds worries that even if teachers aren’t laid off, any staff cuts would impact teachers’ workloads.
“Without those support positions, it will fall on the teacher, and the teachers will be again expected to pick up loads,” he said. “That is just going to be. Sometimes I'm afraid that people are going to continue to run away from the field of education."
Bowser acknowledged all D.C. agencies will be making tough budget decisions next fiscal year. When asked Friday, she would not rule out the possibility of a tax increase to fill the gap in lost revenue.
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