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Quinn's Proposed Budget Cuts Affect Local School Districts Differently

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Reported by: Joelle Parks
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Central Middle School teacher Julie Drouare has seen her share of ups and downs in her 13 years as a teacher in Belvidere’s school district.“This is the worst I’ve ever seen it.  There were two other times that I can remember where the word rift was even mentioned and neither of those times ever came to fruition,” says Drouare.            A rift is a layoff - with hopes of hiring back.  The school board will vote to do just that on Monday, possibly letting go of 100 teachers.  But, it's something the district had been planning before Governor Quinn’s budget speech.“The 17 percent decrease in funding towards our system has the potential to be more devastating that the cuts that are forthcoming,” says Belvidere Superintendent of Schools Michael Houselog.            Houselog talked with teachers about the situation this afternoon.  And many feel it's slamming the door on kids who need it most.  The budget crunch is forcing schools to make some difficult decisions. Obviously they cant cut required courses like reading but they can cut electives like electrical engineering and keyboarding.“Those are the programs that really make a difference for our young people,” says Houselog.            While Belvidere is already taking action, Rockford Public Schools are standing strong.“What it means for Rockford Public Schools in the short term is nothing really changes,” says Rockford Chief Academic Officer Cedric Lewis.            District 205 will have to dip into $30 million of reserves, but for now, no cuts will be made“If the economy does not recover we're going to have to make the same tough decisions that no school system wants to make but we're going to have to so we don't eat into the reserves until we're completely broke,” says Lewis.            For Rockford those decisions could be less than a year away.  Houselog and Lewis say Quinn’s proposed one percent income tax hike would help fill the education deficit and save jobs, but they're not very optimistic that will be passed.

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