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America, as all other nations across the world is just limping back from the huge impact of the Great Recession that practically shredded the confidence along with the local and state budgets. In schools across the nation, the situation still remains bleak with school district and state tax base withering over the last couple of years.

There was a massive struggle to close shortfalls in budget among at least 46 states in our country says a Washington research organization the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Severity of the economic downturn’s impact has forced the local and state officials to make drastic reductions in programs, jobs and services while there has been a constant hesitation in trimming educational programs.

In Washington State, officials provided professional development for teachers and reduced size of class by suspending programs. This in turn helped them save up to $15 million and $78 million.
K-12 funding was cut into half in Missouri while schools in Nevada transgressed to four day weeks. This helped to save on personnel, transportation and other administrative costs. In Virginia, state funding to the tune of $341 million was cut for the support staffs including the psychologists and janitors.

At the school level, the impact of these cuts can be severely felt. This year, in Columbia SC’s Richland School District Two, at least 45 jobs were cut in the 25,000 student system and this included at least twenty teaching positions.

According the chief financial officer Bob Davis, the situation is heart rending. Bob Davis has been a private and public budget official for more than 30 years. He went on to say that educators who were laid off will definitely not come back even though they loved their jobs.

The picture looks grim as Arne Duncan our education secretary points out that for states and schools, poor economy will be the norm for the next few years. There is increased pressure by districts and states on the administration to devise innovative ways that can cut costs and many policy potentials are cut off due to the ongoing fiscal emergency.

It is indeed a hugely challenging situation for the district and state leaders who will have to over the next few years address urgent concerns over budget faced by schools. This they must do even while meeting long term financial and academic priorities says Education Resource Strategies’ executive director and President Karen Hawley Miles.

Her organization is engaged in analysis of budgets in districts that includes funds spent on staffing and academic courses. Her job is to find out how far the school improvement goals are aligned with the spending.

The financial emergency situation would certainly have been much worse if our President did not urge forward the $787 billion economic stimulus package. This was passed in the year 2009 by the Congress. Apart from this at least $100 billion was infused as emergency financial educational funding by way of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

No amount of infusion has so far however made any difference in balancing the severe loss in state revenue even as tax bases have shrunk. Continued pressure is being faced by the districts that are financially strapped to reduce class sizes and this will become mandatory if the current economic situation continues.