‘Slap in the face’: Boston School Committee unanimously approves budget that would cut hundreds of jobs
The budget, approved in a 7-0 vote ,represents a 4.5 percent boost, or $74 million, over the current year. However, the increase is not enough to maintain the current level of staffing, Superintendent Mary Skipper said.
School officials said the staff cuts were inevitable because of rising costs.
“Outside pressures many of which are beyond the districts and the city’s control have made it necessary for us to make tough financial decisions,” Skipper said at the meeting.
City schools face a $53 million deficit brought on by a series of economic woes. That includes escalating health insurance rates, raises for staff, and the rising costs in transportation and special education, Skipper noted during the vote.
In addition, city schools are anticipating less money from the state because the number of students has declined sharply. Boston has 46,842 students currently enrolled, a drop from the 46,593 last year and 56,444 a decade ago, according to the district.
“The challenge is that when the deficit gets bigger and bigger, school officials have no choice but to look at their biggest expenses, like staff, and make cuts there,” said Will Austin, head of the Boston Schools Fund, a non-profit that pushes for equity in Boston Public schools.
But parents and educators argue the reductions will hurt students.
Those opposing the budget did not show up in large numbers to the vote, saying they expected Mayor Wu’s appointed school committee to approve the budget without pushback. Instead, they have turned to City Council for help as the spending plan must still be approved by the City Council and the mayor.
Tuesday dozens of them showed up to City Hall to protest the cuts and asked City Council to invest an additional 1 percent of the city’s operating budget, approximately $48 million, to keep the current staff.
The spending plan would cut 200 teaching positions, 100 classroom aides, and other support staff and administrative jobs. This would mark the second time in three years that the district cuts to its workforce.
“Cutting student services is not the answer,” said Erik Berg, President of the Boston Teachers Union.
Berg fears that the cuts would undercut the progress made by city schools, which recently announced its high school graduation rates had reached an all-time high this year.
“Right now is not the time to stop investing in the educators and other support staff that make that progress possible,” Berg said.
Mariana Simões can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on X @MariRebuaSimoes.
