M-DCPS' budget future

M-DCPS PEERS INTO ITS BUDGET FUTURE TO FORECAST
EDUCATIONAL IMPROVEMENTS AND REVENUES TO FUND THEM

MIAMI – Miami-Dade County Public Schools students will attend successful schools that will prepare them academically for college and careers during the normal school year and over the summer, will have plenty of classroom space, will learn from high-quality teachers who receive regular raises and can earn performance-based pay, and will study the arts and music. These are important elements of the vision described in a five-year budget analysis delivered to the School Board today.

In September, the School Board at the urging of Board Member Evelyn Langlieb Greer requested the forward look at the District’s spending and revenue projections. When examined in concert, these forecasts inform the Board of the resources that will be needed to reach the District's ambitious, much-needed goals laid out in its strategic plan as well as the conditions required to realize these resources. The bottom line, then, is whether Miami-Dade County Public Schools will be positioned to deliver an education that goes far beyond simply passing FCAT and prepares students fully for college, careers and citizenship.

The analysis shows that the District’s spending will target critical initiatives to raise student performance. Key expenditures projected over the next five years include:

Providing high quality secondary school opportunities based on theme-based academies in all parts of the county, including offering career internships, apprenticeships and college dual enrollment ($12 million in 2006-06)
Meeting voter-approved Class Size Reduction requirements ($47 million in 2006-07)
Building capacity to improve literacy instruction ($11 million in 2006-07)
Continuing the School Improvement Zone, which led to unprecedented improvements in low-performing schools ($40 million in 2006-07)
Enhancing wellness curriculum, programs and health care services for students to address childhood obesity and other health issues($11 million in 2006-07)
Providing salary increases for all employees ($64 million in 2006-07)

Expanding summer school, including “transition academies” to help students make the move into middle schools and high schools ($30 million in 2006-07
Implementing performance pay to reward employees ($11 million in 2006-07)

Ensuring that Exceptional Education Students are served close to home and that more of them are spending time with non-disabled peers ($5 million in 2006-07)

The District based its spending projection entirely on the needs established by Board-adopted strategic priorities, rather than on historic trends in revenues. Over the next five years, the District will need about $160 million more per year for full implementation of its key initiatives, with significant adjustments possible given enrollment fluctuations.

The revenue projection in the analysis assumed that the District would experience flat enrollment of 358,000 students for at least two years of the five-year period studied. That mirrors enrollment in the current school year, which is about 4,000 students lower than projected for this year’s budget.

The analysis described the gap between the District’s educational needs and projected funding both with and without intervention by the state Legislature to raise state education spending. The report assumed no growth in federal education aid given the level-funding appropriations from Washington this year.

The budget analysis did not attempt to balance spending and revenues. The District begins its formal budget process for the 2006-07 school year next month and will present a budget proposal this summer.