Newtown Dodges Teacher Layoff Trend

By Hiring For Upper Grades

By John Voket

Newtown’s net loss of teachers on paper may amount to a single reduction at the local district’s staff from one full-timer being reduced to part-time status, but the reduction in six elementary teacher positions in favor of hiring six to offset needs at the high school reflects a recent trend throughout Connecticut.

The Associated Press reported last week that according to state education officials, public schools could open this fall having jettisoned a many as 1,200 teaching positions because of the state’s budget deficit and concerns over the economy. And much of the hiring that is being done, like in Newtown, is happening at the upper grade levels.

Sheila McKay, senior staff associate for government relations for the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education (CABE), said cuts and staffing adjustments are reaching both large and small school systems. New Haven eliminated 65 teaching jobs, while towns such as Ledyard and Ansonia have written off about a dozen jobs each.

“From the numbers I’ve seen, elementary level teachers are being more affected than teachers at the high school level,” she said.

Joseph Cirasuolo, executive director of the Connecticut Association of Public School Superintendents, said a recent survey by the organization found about 1,200 jobs eliminated because costs are increasing while state aid has remained flat since last year.

Municipal officials have generally been reluctant to raise municipal taxes to make up the difference, he said. In Newtown, the approved 2009-10 budget reflects a net reduction of 1.66 percent in spending from the current year, but anticipated revenue shortfalls required a 0.99 percent increase in the amount to be raised by taxation.

Newtown’s adopted budget proposal reflects $37,401,767 in spending on the town side: a 5.15 percent reduction over the previous year’s spending. The school district’s portion of the overall budget stands at $66,314,928, a 0.43 percent increase over the 2008-09 spending plan.

Enrollment Drives

Job Cuts

During budget deliberations, school officials accounted for the worst-case outcome and notified about 50 Newtown teachers that their jobs might be affected by budget reductions. But in the end, local teaching job losses resulted not from budget cuts but from changing student population trends from the elementary to high school levels.

In the face of protracted state budget deliberations that have forced Connecticut to operate without an endorsed budget since July 1, both state and local officials are keeping their fingers crossed for the next round of budget deliberations. In Newtown, those deliberations will include what some town officials have called the largest single labor agreement in town history — a new three-year teachers’ contract which is in the preliminary stage of negotiations now.

“There are a good number of districts that have been able to avoid eliminating jobs this year, but if we have another year like this, they may not be able to avoid it again,” Mr Cirasuolo said. “It’s been a tough time. It’s never easy to make decisions to cut back because everything and everyone is viewed as worthwhile.”

Mr Cirasuolo said that there are an estimated 50,000 certified teachers in Connecticut.

Kathy Frega, spokeswoman for Connecticut Education Association, said she is hopeful that the 1,200 lost teaching positions “could be restored at one point.”

“There’s anxiety and uncertainty [among teachers] right now,” she said. “After all, teaching jobs and mushrooming classroom sizes are at stake.”

Nick Caruso, senior staff associate for field services for CABE, said time is not on the side of schools as state budget talks continue.

Connecticut has been without a new two-year budget in place since the fiscal year ended on June 30 and Governor M. Jodi Rell has been running state government by executive order, paying what she considers essential state services.

Gov Rell and lawmakers have been at odds for months over how to cover a projected two-year $8.56 billion deficit. The governor’s office declined to comment last week.

“Districts are in a holding pattern right now until the budget is figured out, but in the meantime jobs are being lost,” Mr Caruso said. “The great unknown is a big concern for everyone right now. And because of the way contracts are set up, it seems the newest teachers are the ones that are getting hit the most.”

Mr Cirasuolo said it was only three years ago that state education aid increased, which enabled school districts to refine and add new educational programs as well as hire new teachers.

“I’m sure it’s a very discouraging time for them,” he said. “We have some very good up-and-coming teachers, but now there are 1,200 less positions for them.”

He said the teachers are not the only ones feeling disheartened.

“Overall I’ve found that superintendents are tired and some are a little discouraged,” Mr Cirasuolo said. “But I have also found that there is a determination to do the best with what is there to work with.”

Associated Press content was used in this report.