“’It’s a mess. We’re in a perpetual budget crisis. It’s not a rosy picture long term,’ [USD 372 Superintendent Tim] Hallacy said. ‘There are no secrets. Revenues continue to decline and we’re spending into our reserves.’
“With cuts to the budget that have been made over the past several years because of state funding issues, Hallacy said all the easy decisions have been made.
“’Most expenses are tied up in personnel, but those are your instructional assets,’ he said. ‘How do you squeeze costs without affecting classrooms? We’re going to have to make some tough decisions going forward.’
“Those are just the short-term decisions. Hallacy sees trouble down the road for the entire state educational infrastructure. It starts with teachers in the classrooms who see a continual stream of bad news, he said, and also affects those who may not choose a career in education because of current problems.
“’I worry about morale. How do you encourage teachers to be passionate and keep up that level when I have no positive news for them?’ he asked.
“On top of that, he said he can envision a teacher shortage coming quickly for the state.
“’New teachers are going to other places that aren’t cutting teachers’ due process rights, that aren’t underfunding pensions, that aren’t facing cut after cut,’ he said. ‘I’m not optimistic.’”
Read more here: http://cjonline.com/news/education/2015-07-08/silver-lake-school-superintendent-muddled-state-financial-picture-affect