As the debate rages on about teacher layoffs and the sen iority rules that govern them, here’s one move that would let principals save some teachers’ jobs — at no added cost to the city.
Principals who smartly saved money in anticipation of budget cuts expected to use those funds to retain teachers who’ll otherwise be handed pink slips — but instead, Chancellor Cathie Black is telling them to go shopping.
Two weeks ago, all principals were warned that they must spend whatever money remains in their budget this year, or else they can only roll over half their savings, and must fork over the rest to the Department of Education.
This could tie a principal’s hands. For example, say she has saved $80,000 to keep one teacher: Forfeiting half that amount won’t allow her to do so, so she’ll instead spend the full $80,000 on lower-priority supplies. Between a teacher or new photocopiers, you can imagine which outlay has a greater effect on the classroom.
Penalizing school leaders who had the foresight to save for these difficult economic times is deeply counterproductive. Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council have won applause — and rightly so — for softening this budget crisis by rolling over billions in surpluses from previous years. Imagine how much worse things would be if we’d gone on a spending spree instead.
Yet now the DOE is discarding the wisdom of that approach and encouraging spending over saving.
The “use it or lose it” directive to principals is also at odds with one of the chancellor’s arguments for changing the “Last in, first out” policy. LIFO, she warns, leads to the layoffs of more teachers than would otherwise be necessary, which in turn drives up class sizes and harms some schools disproportionately.
By scrapping her clawback plan, Black could undo some of that damage in schools from Kips Bay to Corona — without spending an additional dime. And, for once, she wouldn’t have to rely on Albany.
At the least, she should allow principals to roll over their funds in full as long as they use them to retain staff and instructional services. We literally cannot afford for principals to lose any remaining incentive to save money.
Unfortunately, when I raised these points with the DOE, its only response was simply to give principals two extra weeks to decide what to do with their savings.
After the current budget storm passes, we can count on more rainy days to come. Principals know this, which is why so many have continued to save, even after eight rounds of budget cuts in the past few years. Changing the rules on them now would teach the wrong lesson about fiscal responsibility.
Black was recently quoted in New York magazine saying, “The smartest principals will figure out ‘How do I reallocate my resources for the things I think are most important in my own school?’ ”
Many principals have figured out how to do it. Now she needs to let them.
Dan Garodnick (D-Manhat tan) represents the 4th District in the City Council.