Aug 29, 2008 9:18 pm US/Eastern
School Board Bickering Makes Headlines
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
Judging from the performance of Miami-Dade School Board members this week, playing nice took an unexcused absence, and public perception of Superintendent Rudy Crew is not getting any better.
"We don't accept that from our kids," said Dr. Larry Feldman. "Why should we accept it from anyone else?"
Feldman is the retired school principal who has now been elected as the newest member of the school board. After he offered to go back and help our embattled school system, asking for $1 of pay, the school board rejected his offer. He's become the voice of those who feel they don't have a voice, and the voice of many who feel that Superintendent Rudy Crew is not doing a good job.
Tempers flared Thursday as the Miami Dade School Board met in a budget workshop to discuss future cut backs, resulting in a screaming match. The first bombshell to be dropped was by school district's budget officials who told the board they had underestimated how much the district was over budget last year.
Chief Budget Officer Judy Marte said instead of overspending $66.5 million in the 2007-2008 school year, the district actually overspent closer to $88.5 million. In order to close the books on last year, for the second year in a row, the district will have to dip into its 'rainy day' fund, leaving it virtually depleted with only $4.8 million.
Perhaps the $22 million budget surprise from last year's budget was too much for the board to handle.
"Mr. Chair this is outrageous," Perez blurted out.
"Don't talk to me like a dog," Rudy Crew yelled out to told school board member Marta Perez, all while she continued talking over him.
"Mr. Chair I have the floor," she said.
"Do not get in the habit," he continued.
''This is shocking,'' exclaimed Board Vice Chairwoman Marta Pérez, ``I cannot believe that this is the news. If we sneeze, we'll lose those $4 million.''
Marte said the district ended deeper in the red because they hired more teachers than had been budgeted and made an error concerning state funds for students with disabilities. Also revenue from tax collections was below the planned amount. In effort to bolster the reserve fund, budget officials planned to transfer about $12 million in capital funds and additional revenue from WLRN to bring it up to around $32 million.
School districts usually keep a 5 percent reserve; for Miami Dade this amount should be around $150 million.
As the tension in the room mounted, board member Renier Diaz de la Portilla stormed out, saying he was not going to stand for this.
During the workshop, district officials proposed the elimination of 489 to the board in an effort to save $27 million. Among them, 111 Trust counselors, 88 career specialists and the elimination of the districts 24 audio/video specialists.
District officials also called for the elimination of more than 250 teachers of bilingual programs which are not funded at elementary and K-8 centers.
In addition to personnel, the district also calls for better conservation of resources. They say costs could be reduced by raising thermostats in all schools and districts facilities, and turning off the computers, when not in use. The also call for a reduction in paper reports and printed forms.
Feldman had told
CBS4 News in a previous
that he would not form any opinion of Crew until he started work on the board, but after the episode this week, his opinion of Crew has become less than pristine. He said the superintendent's behavior is not becoming of someone leading an entire school district.
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