Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Pittsburgh Schools Comes to Fiscal Crossroads
Though they have shuttered a considerable number of schools, costs for the Pittsburgh Public Schools are troublesome to the point that the chief finance officer for the district is recommending cuts to spending and a rightsizing of faculty numbers to align with dwindling enrollment. The board would be wise to go beyond the initial recommendations of subsequent 10 percent cuts in 2009 and 2010 and try to bring per pupil spending numbers in line with other districts around the county.
This school year the district’s general fund budget is $526 million. With enrollment around 29,000, per student spending translates to $18,159. Back to back cuts of 10 percent in the next two years would bring the budget to $426 million in 2010. With enrollment declining as it has over the past few years (about 5% annually), per student spending would fall to $17,727. Not the stuff of legends or districts trying to radically change their fortunes. For certain, in order to get per pupil spending to $12,500 or so the district would be looking at a general fund budget of around $370 million (a 30% drop from the 2008 level) or would have to grow enrollment to its early 1990s level of 40,000 students.
The recommendation for 10 percent annual drops should have started years ago, and one would think that the 2006 audit by the Council of Great Schools would have prodded officials on. That study had the data, but did not capitalize on the fact that Pittsburgh was spending about 60 percent more than the comparison districts, and we recommended 10 percent cuts until spending reached $12,500. Obviously the day of reckoning was just pushed further into the future, which is here.
This school year the district’s general fund budget is $526 million. With enrollment around 29,000, per student spending translates to $18,159. Back to back cuts of 10 percent in the next two years would bring the budget to $426 million in 2010. With enrollment declining as it has over the past few years (about 5% annually), per student spending would fall to $17,727. Not the stuff of legends or districts trying to radically change their fortunes. For certain, in order to get per pupil spending to $12,500 or so the district would be looking at a general fund budget of around $370 million (a 30% drop from the 2008 level) or would have to grow enrollment to its early 1990s level of 40,000 students.
The recommendation for 10 percent annual drops should have started years ago, and one would think that the 2006 audit by the Council of Great Schools would have prodded officials on. That study had the data, but did not capitalize on the fact that Pittsburgh was spending about 60 percent more than the comparison districts, and we recommended 10 percent cuts until spending reached $12,500. Obviously the day of reckoning was just pushed further into the future, which is here.
