Commentary

General Assembly’s class-size “fix” a mixed bag

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February 8, 2018
1 Comment
In Commentary

This afternoon, the General Assembly has finally revealed its plan for addressing the unfunded class-size mandate. As a reminder, under current law, General Assembly members are requiring school districts dramatically reduce class sizes in grades K-3 in the next school year, but have failed to provide the necessary funding. To meet the unfunded mandate, districts would have to expand class sizes in higher grades or reduce offerings of “enhancement” courses such as art, physical education, music, and technology.

The General Assembly’s proposed solution is a significant improvement over the status quo, but doesn’t appear to fully address the concerns of public school districts. Additionally, the bill has been paired with several non-education provisions related to the use of Atlantic Coast Pipeline (ACP) mitigation funds and the composition of the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement.

For public schools, the bill does the following: Read more

Commentary

Class-size “fixes” likely to come up short

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February 2, 2018
In Commentary

According to a recent report, members of the General Assembly are “in serious negotiations to work out a deal” to address the self-inflicted class-size fiasco. As a refresher, under current law, General Assembly members are requiring school districts dramatically reduce class sizes in grades K-3, but have failed to provide the necessary funding. To meet the unfunded mandate, districts are having to expand class sizes in higher grades, and reduce offerings of “enhancement” courses such as art, physical education, music, and technology. Supposedly, the lawmakers will soon be presenting a plan to address the problems they have created.

Fixing this problem is incredibly easy and can be done with no additional state funds. Lawmakers simply need to repeal the unfunded mandate and re-align class-size requirements with actual funding levels. Such a bill would preserve funding for enhancement courses. Districts like New Hanover could continue their practice of using class-size flexibility to direct smaller classes to its most at-risk students, and districts like Warren County could continue to offer incredibly effective Pre-K courses in its school building.

Luckily, such a bill exists. SB 703 aligns class-size requirements with current funding levels, preserves funding for enhancement classes, and costs nothing. Around this time last year, the effectively same bill passed the House unanimously.

Unfortunately, Senate leadership opposes this plan. As a result, General Assembly members are negotiating to “work out a deal.” What they won’t say is whether they will actually fix the problem they created.

As a result, speculation abounds as to what legislation might emerge from these negotiations. Rumors around Raleigh have largely centered on three general approaches: Read more

Commentary

More “Unraveling”: The General Assembly’s inability to craft performance pay plans for educators

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January 29, 2018
In Commentary

Tomorrow, January 30, NC Policy Watch is presenting a Crucial Conversation with myself, Kris Nordstrom, and State Senator Jay Chaudhuri. We will be discussing the current class-size crisis, and how North Carolina has lost its way when it comes to public school policymaking. Tickets for the event, which is co-sponsored by Public Schools First NC and Save our Schools NC, can be found here.

Last month, the Justice Center published The Unraveling, a report detailing how seven years of inept policymaking has hurt North Carolina’s public schools. The report takes a detailed look at the General Assembly’s major education initiatives in each of the past seven years. As the report shows, this period has been dominated by a series of not just bad policies, but bad policies that are incredibly poorly crafted. In nearly every case, the major education initiatives of the past seven years have been both:

  1. Based on very questionable evidence; and
  2. Crafted haphazardly, ignoring best practices or lessons learned from other states.

These problems stem from the General Assembly’s approach to policymaking. Over the past seven years, almost all major education initiatives were moved through the legislature in a way to avoid debate and outside input. At the same time, the General Assembly has abandoned its oversight responsibilities and avoided public input from education stakeholders. The net result has been stagnant student performance and increased achievement gaps for students of color and low-income students.

One topic not included in The Unraveling was the General Assembly’s shambolic efforts to create performance pay plans that link educator pay to how their students perform on state tests. These efforts – while not confined to a given budget year – reinforce the findings of the report. In other words, the General Assembly’s efforts on performance pay have been based on questionable evidence and further hampered by an inability or unwillingness to govern effectively. Below, please read about the history of these efforts, which further highlight the General Assembly’s seven years of failed education policy. Read more

Commentary

Rest assured, Senator, we know where our teachers are

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January 15, 2018
3 Comments
In Commentary

General Assembly members are inventing increasingly desperate stories to avoid facing the basic facts of the state’s ongoing class-size chaos. Rather than acknowledging the fact that next year’s class-size requirements remain a $300-million-plus-untold-capital-costs unfunded mandate, and that districts continue to spend all of their classroom teacher money on teachers, General Assembly members are pretending the mandate is fully funded, and sending out inaccuracy-filled emails to constituents.

The newest class size fable comes courtesy of Senator Joyce Krawiec (pictured at left), who is claiming in an email passed to me by one of her constituents that North Carolina is “missing” 600 teachers – which would be big, if true.

This is from Krawiec’s email:

“So what’s the big deal with the Senate?  Why all this confusion?  The General Assembly believes reducing class size in K-3 will increase positive outcomes for our young people.  We have dedicated approximately $70 million of your tax dollars annually for this goal.  Any good steward of other people’s money should be expected to ask, ‘How it was spent?’

How many K-3 teachers should $70 million buy?   The average state cost of a classroom teacher, including benefits, is about $63,000, (salary x 1.26).  That works out to approximately 1,100 new K-3 teachers for our children.  Simple enough.

What does DPI report in their Highlights of the NC Public School Budget? (Summary attached)  Before additional funding began in 2013 there were 26,158 allotted K-3 teachers.  This year 2017-18 DPI reports funding 26,671.5 positions.  A net change of 513.5 new K-3 teachers and this includes any funded through growth in ADM (Average Dailey Membership).   Our children are missing about 600 K-3 teachers for which you payed.   That is a problem.”

Krawiec is confused along multiple fronts. But the main issue is that Krawiec is comparing the change in allotted teaching positions since FY 2012-13, while comparing the change in teacher dollars since FY 2013-14. This mistake apparently has her convinced that 600 teachers have gone missing. Read more

Commentary

New study calculates charter schools’ negative financial impact on North Carolina school districts

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January 12, 2018
In Commentary

A new report from Duke University’s Helen “Sunny” Ladd and University of Rochester’s John D. Singleton uses North Carolina data to conclusively show the negative impact charter schools have on the finances of traditional, inclusive public schools.

The report confirms what traditional, inclusive public school advocates have been saying for years: charter schools drain resources from our public school system. School districts face a number of fixed costs such as utility costs and central office administration. When a student leaves the traditional public school system for a charter school, the school district loses the average funding for a student. But the district still incurs these fixed costs.

For schools, even many variable costs are rather fixed in the short term. A district losing funding on account of a student’s departure can’t fire 1/20th of a teacher; the school bus may still have to run the same bus route.

Importantly, the researchers are able to use detailed balance sheet data to put a dollar figure on that drain. The report estimates that increasing charter enrollment in Durham has reduced per-student funding by $500 to $700. These costs have become more pronounced as the share of charter students in Durham now approaches 16 percent.

The report also looks at the fiscal impact of charter schools on five rural districts where the charter enrollment figures range from 3 percent to 14 percent. For Iredell and Orange Counties, the report estimates a negative impact of between $200 and $500 per student. Estimates are slightly smaller for Buncombe, Cabarrus, and Union Counties.

The research is particularly important given the rapid growth of the charter sector since the state lifted the charter school cap in 2011. Since then, the number of charter schools has increased from 99 to 173, and the number of students attending charter schools has risen about 150 percent. This new report indicates that traditional, inclusive schools will continue to face added budget pressures if the charter sector grows further.

The report highlights the need for additional state funding to ease the fiscal burden charters place on inclusive public schools. One recommendation is for the state to provide “transitional aid” to mitigate the fiscal impact of charter school openings or expansions.

Of course, charter schools aren’t the only school choice policy creating fiscal pressures for public schools. Vouchers and voucher-like “education savings accounts” similarly reduce per-student funding for public school systems without providing relief on fixed costs.

Hopefully, this report, data on the weak performance of recently-opened charter schools, and further evidence that North Carolina’s charter schools are increasingly contributing to racial segregation will cause General Assembly leaders to reconsider their current appetite for additional charter school expansion.

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