Charter schools are being hit harder by cutbacks in state school funding than their traditional public school counterparts, according to some charter school administrators. With state revenues projected to plummet next year, charter school operators are preparing for even leaner times to come.
Both former Gov. Mike Easley and the new governor, Beverly Perdue, ordered cuts to all state agencies in recent months. But each has shielded public education from the full effects of the cuts, relative to other agencies. Easley’s cuts, or “reversions,” as they are known in government circles, required all school districts and charter schools to trim their budgets by 0.75 percent.
Most school districts were able to cope with the reversions by holding down spending at the central office level, leaving individual schools largely unaffected. Charter schools do not report to district central offices and had to absorb the cuts on their own.
Soon after taking office in January, Perdue announced a new, deeper round of cuts. The Department of Public Instruction, which manages distribution of funds to public schools, was ordered to revert 2 percent of its budget to the state treasury. However, DPI officials decided to make all the cuts in their own budget rather than pass them down to schools and school districts.
With DPI absorbing the latest reversions, public schools should have been able to complete the year without having to make dramatic changes to their budgets, but there was another factor at work. County governments also are experiencing revenue shortfalls, and most have responded to the shortages by cutting the funding they provide to their local schools. These county reversions are supposed to be spread among traditional and charter schools alike in proportion to the number of students attending each.
To cope with the cutbacks, charter school administrators have been forced to think hard and act fast. Most have frozen hiring, stopped buying supplies, and deferred all nonessential maintenance. Denise Kent, administrator for grades K-8 at The Franklin Academy in Wake Forest, credits “forethought and good spending practices” with her school’s ability to manage despite having to revert about $42,000.
“We budget very closely and cut corners where needed. We are always looking for the most cost-effective means of providing a solid education for our students,” Kent said. “We do not jump on every educational bandwagon that goes by.”
Joe Maimone, headmaster of Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in Mooresboro, said he feels fortunate that his budget has been cut only 2 percent, since state revenues have been running about 7 percent below forecast. His school has managed to absorb the $100,000 hit to the budget by postponing some capital upgrades to its historic facility and leaving an administrative position vacant.
But each charter school is different, and some have had it tougher than others. Carter Community School in Durham was forced temporarily to lay off three “very critical tutors who provided support to children in critical need of one-on-one support,” according to Executive Director Gail Scott Taylor. Taylor said that since the school didn’t have the funds to hire full-time staff to help at-risk students close the achievement gap, the school had hired tutors on an hourly basis.
She worries that the cuts will put her school, which already has a high at-risk population, even further behind. But she said, “In times like these, the true spirit of a charter school’s staff shines through as members assume extra duties and responsibilities to ensure that all students are provided the enrichment they need to flourish academically, socially, and emotionally.”
Some charter schools, such as Bethel Hill Charter in Roxboro, have strong PTAs that have raised enough money to allow the school to avoid personnel cuts. Union Academy in Monroe has had great success generating financial support from the community through its annual black-tie silent auction.
The stakes for charter schools are far higher than for traditional public schools. Individual administrators at traditional public schools might get in trouble for poor financial management or faulty budget execution, but the schools themselves are never closed for these failures. Charter schools that fail to meet their financial obligations stand to lose their charters.
Jim Stegall is a contributor to Carolina Journal.