We break our recent radio silence for this important message.
New state cuts hit education, social services hardest
Gov. John Baldacci ordered more than $63 million in midyear budget cuts Friday in a curtailment order that heavily targets state funding for education and social services programs.
Faced with a two-year revenue shortfall approaching $400 million, Baldacci took a first step toward balancing the budget by ordering immediate spending reductions even as administration officials and lawmakers prepare to grapple with even larger cuts.
(Bangor Daily News, 11/21/09)
The whole article is important reading, but let’s highlight these salient paragraphs:
While unwelcome news, the $38 million in cuts to education came as no surprise to school officials. At the urging of Education Commissioner Susan Gendron, superintendents began preparing for cuts of that magnitude several months ago.
“We’ve actually been preparing for this since midsummer,” said Jim Boothby, superintendent for RSU 25 in the Bucksport area. “We anticipated this curtailment and made a concerted effort not to fill positions if we could find ways to cover those positions. We tried to address this earlier than later.”
[Roger] Shaw [Superintendent of SAD 42], who oversees schools in Mars Hill and Blaine, said the advanced warning has helped him and other superintendents prepare. But that doesn’t make the task of cutting any easier, he said.
“When cuts come in the middle of the year, you don’t have many places to go other than personnel,” Shaw said.
Betsy Webb, superintendent of schools in Bangor, said she is hoping to avoid any layoffs, but it all depends on how much is cut in the supplemental budget. The curtailment ordered $754,000 in cuts to Bangor schools.
Let’s hope, indeed, that all districts have planned for this.