Texas Trustees Want Flexibility To Cut Teacher Pay

AUSTIN (AP) - Texas school districts are seeking the flexibility to cut teacher pay or have furloughs in order to save money and avoid layoffs.

With districts facing massive budget cuts as a result of a state shortfall estimated to be at least $15 billion, district officials say they are hamstrung by state rules that generally prevent decreasing pay for teachers. A consultant for the districts recently estimated that budget cuts could force up to 100,000 teacher layoffs.

Karen Ellis of the Richardson school board and vice president of the Texas Association of School Boards told the Senate Education Committee on Tuesday that districts want to avoid layoffs that would be "bad for students, bad for the economy."

But she said districts may have no choice without budget relief. Ellis said Richardson Independent School District is facing a loss of $54 million in state money under budgets proposed in the House and Senate. Ellis said she didn't know how many cuts her district might make or how many it might avoid with a salary cut.

Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, chairwoman of the education committee, filed a bill Tuesday she said would give school districts more flexibility in their budgets, including the pay issue. But she acknowledged that so far it lacks specifics.

Shapiro sounded receptive to the idea of pay cuts or furloughs if it means avoiding firing teachers.

"I bet even teachers would agree they don't want to lose their jobs," Shapiro said.

Typical teacher contracts run for a minimum of 187 days with 180 days of instruction.

Clay Robison, spokesman for Texas State Teachers Association, said teachers understand the tough economic position facing the state and local districts. They want lawmakers to dip into the state's savings reserve, known as the Rainy Day Fund to avoid education cutbacks or find new revenue sources.

On pay cuts and furloughs, Robison said, "We don't like them."

On possible teacher firings: "We really, really don't like them," he said.

Republican Gov. Rick Perry and GOP lawmakers, who hold majorities in the House and Senate, have said they can balance the budget without raising taxes this session.

School districts also said they need relief from a 27-year-old law that restricts class size in kindergarten through fourth grade to 22 students. Keeping that ratio would mean most teacher layoffs would be in high school, they said.

Texas Comptroller Susan Combs has estimated that easing class size restrictions would save hundreds of millions of dollars. Teacher groups say larger classes would reverse academic gains and could eliminate up to 12,000 jobs.

Combs, a Republican, recommends scrapping the 22-student limit and replacing it with a 22-student "average" standard.

Sen. Wendy Davis, a Fort Worth Democrat, said any discussions about teacher pay cuts should be temporary. If approved, they should be readdressed when the economic picture is brighter, she said.

Budget cuts should not mean cutting the quality of public education, Davis said.

"I worry that a funding crisis will be used as a vehicle to make changes in the way we've done things, and believe are the right way to do things, for a long time," Davis said.

Teachers at least want to have a say in the discussions, Robison said.

"They really shouldn't give superintendents whatever they want carte blanche," Robison said.

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