Naked City

On Monday, Superintendent Pat Forgione presented to the Austin ISD board of trustees the latest draft of his proposed budget for 2003-2004. The most dramatic change from earlier versions is a $7.5 million increase to provide 2% pay hikes for all teachers and staff. The raises were made possible by AISD's portion of the $1.2 billion in public-education funds budgeted by the Legislature as a first step in the effort to abolish the "Robin Hood" school-finance equity system, under which property-wealthy districts like AISD must share tax revenues with poorer districts. AISD got an additional $10.2 million, based on its weighted average daily attendance, the student-count formula that adjusts for factors like special education, poverty, bilingual education, etc. (AISD's 78,000 students translate to a WADA of 93,000.)

But what the Lege giveth, it also taketh away -- districts are now required to kick in more to the Teacher Retirement System, in AISD's case for next year a total of $1.6 million. That and other new costs reduced the Lege bonus to $7.5 million, which will go to both salaries and to cover the increased cost of employee health insurance. Forgione is also recommending a 1.96-cent increase in the tax rate for debt service, to bring the total AISD rate to $1.62. (The tax rate for operations funding is already at the statutory cap of $1.50 per $100 of assessed property value.)

But as a result of the district's budget savings this year -- Forgione pointed specifically to a hiring freeze instituted in January, which eventually opened 150 positions -- the administration also proposes to spend $2.7 million next year to reduce class sizes in the 10th and 11th grades. This spring, high school sophomores and juniors had the poorest performance on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, and Forgione said, "We want to put those resources where they are most needed." The money will go to hire 60 additional high school teachers in core subjects, allowing target class sizes to move from 32 students to 28. "These smaller class sizes," said Forgione, "will enable teachers to provide more individualized attention to students in 10th and 11th grades -- years critical to TAKS success."

Forgione said he hopes to get approval from the board to begin filling the 60 high school positions this week. "We've got 300 resumes to review," he said, "and we want to hire the best teachers before they have to decide to take jobs elsewhere." He described the 2% raise as comparable to those being offered in neighboring districts, adding, "It's a modest amount, but we believe it's a signal to our teachers and staff that this district cares about them."

The proposed budget was presented to the board Monday night and reviewed by the 28-member citizen budget task force on Wednesday, with a public hearing to follow tonight (Thursday). Precise property values are not reported to the district until late July, and the board will vote on the consequent final budget proposal in August.