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May 27, 2008 7:22 pm US/Central
DISD Facing Budget Crunch
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
The Dallas School Board may be building new schools, but does it have enough money to run them?
The second largest school district in the state uses $1 billion to operate its' 200-plus schools. But DISD will not have enough funds to continue operations at its current rate.
"What the Dallas Independent School District is facing is a lot like other municipalities and counties and school districts throughout the region are facing," said Jon Dahlander, DISD spokesperson.
The school is dealing with rising utility costs and a drop in financing because about 1,000 fewer students attend Dallas schools. In total, DISD needs about $17 million to continue operations.
Pay raises or cash bonuses known as "longevity pay" for veteran teachers could be on the chopping block.
Educator Rena Honea says pay incentives shouldn't be touched. "Without effective teachers and support staff, the students will not achieve in the way that they're asking them to do."
When the money can potentially come out of a teacher's pocket, $17 million means something for the school system.
"Obviously the goal is always to increase teacher salary, so we're going to try to do that," says Dahlander. "We may have to look at reducing supplemental earnings that are made by various employees. We'll take a look at that."
Those supplemental earnings are stipends that some teachers receive based on what they teach, such as bilingual education, science and math.
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