Monday, April 19, 2010

The Mythical Days of Savings

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There have been a number of speakers and commenters who think the School Board overlooked an opportunity to save millions of dollars without impacting anyone by simply closing schools a week early next year. It is a key bit of misinformation spread by the local anti-education conspiracy theorists, and is approaching the point of urban legend among the many education supporters who have followed the budget debate closely.

It is true that there are some costs associated simply with having schools open... fuel for bus routes, electricity to turn the lights on. But LCPS doesn't spend millions or even hundreds of thousands of dollars a day on diesel fuel and electricity. The vast majority of the cost of running the school system is in the salaries of the people who work there, and that is no different on a day-to-day level than it is annually. The option to close school for five days and thereby save lots of money is the option to not pay any LCPS employees for those five days.
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15 comments:

  1. So no LCPS employee was paid for the days off due to the snow this past winter?
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  2. LCPS employees on salary, or contract, did not see a change in paychecks due to snow days. This is why the snow days did not magically create several million dollars in savings, as one would expect if the mythical days of savings concept were true.
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  3. Your original response is different than this one. Please repost the original response.

    Are teachers on salary or contract? How are the salaried employees paid, based on the calendar year, or based on the school calendar?
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  4. My original response didn't explain things very well and as soon as I posted it I thought "I can write more clearly than that." Teachers, and most employees, are under contract for a certain number of days per year. If you need more details they are available from the LCPS Public Information Office.
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  5. So it still doesn't sound like they would lose any money if we closed schools 5 days early. They got paid when schools were closed due to the snow - those days were built into the calendar, so just change the school calendar, update the contracts to reflect the number of days, keep the salaries the same and we are good. Whatever savings happen as a result of schools being closed earlier is money not spent.
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  6. It would not matter if the schools closed 5 days early or not- teachers are paid the same- hence there would be no measurable savings. Furlough days are different- WE LOSE MONEY!!! I believe that administration should be taking several furlough days and leave the teachers and staff alone. Why should I lose money just because Hatrick doesn't know how to budget money or how to correctly get rid of unnecessary programs. That furlough money lost is a car payment for me. Maybe 10 dollars here or there for some is ok but not for everyone.
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  7. John, just heard your wonderful speech on the importance of summer school for high school students... to bad you did not seem to care last week. Here is an idea- get rid of FLES and SAMS- as suggested by MR. Marshall, then guess what you would have the money to pay for something important. Can't have it both ways John...summer school is either important to you or it is not....
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  8. John, just heard your wonderful speech on the importance of summer school for high school students. Too bad you could not find money last week. Oh, wait, Mr. Marshall did find the money and you and the rest of the board could not be bothered to take away a program that has no bearing on the education of our children. So our kids get 1 hour of wasted time in elementary at the expense of a high school students education. SICK!
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  9. This was very poorly presented to the public and to parents. Employees may understand the terminology of a furlough, but I had to ask special ed supervisory staff during a break in an IEP meeting what it meant for the students. Luckily, I got a straight answer that students would not be at school on days that employees are furloughed.

    It is difficult to support furlough days for classroom positions as a parent as these are the staff that work most closely with our children. On the other hand, to have missed as many days as we did this winter due to snow and to not have any consequences makes me wonder why we are going to school until Father's Day every year.

    It would be nice to have more of this information on an ongoing basis and not keep learning new facts at budget time each year.
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  10. I don't believe that salaried federal or Loudoun government workers lost money during those snow days, nor did my child's daycare workers who did not have to report for the whole week (although I still had to pay tuition). You people are the reason that teachers are starting to rethink the after hours dedication they give to your children. You know, when AOL and other companies were struggling I don't remember teachers being excited about, or wanting people to lose pay. In fact, teachers rallied around some families that had been particularly hard hit including providing Thanksgiving and Christmas for some families. It disgusts me that people on this forum are advocating for teachers to lose pay.
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  11. I suggest you go back and re-read the posts. Nobody on here is saying teachers should lose money. All that is being discussed is the question of if the school calendar is changed/shortened by 5 days, then do teachers get paid the same amount? If teachers get paid the same amount whether the school year is 180 days or 175 days, then change the school calender to 175 days, we will obviously save money on energy costs for 60+ schools in the county. It may not be in the millions of dollars, but if you take this and add it with other ideas, maybe they all add up to millions - and then maybe we can get rid of the furlough days.
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  12. 1. for the person who says missed days of school have no consequences- I beg to differ. We have very specific information we HAVE to teach your child- missed days due to snow greatly impacted my lesson plans. I must get through information that is on the SOL test and I don't like to rush through it. The 5th grade writing test was in March. Due to the snow, I missed a week of instruction that would have been very beneficial for the kids to prepare for that SOL. Most can get by but some really needed that extra help. Taking 2 furlough days will decrease my pay and will cause some lessons to be rushed depending on which days are furloughed. AND to make matters worse, I will most likely be working at home on those furlough days- planning lessons or grading papers. These furlough days do impact the students.
    2. I did not lose pay during the snow, but I will due to furlough days. Cutting the year by 5 days does impact student performance- and forces teachers to again rush lessons. It also doesn't save that much money. I happen to teach up until the last day of school- that is my job, granted I try to make the lessons fun and much less stressful for my 5th graders but I AM teaching. And high school students have exams on the last day of school and as a parent, I want them well prepared for those exams. If I had it my way, I would end school at the beginning of June but BEGIN school prior to Labor Day as we have done in the past.
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  13. John, I really don't understand the SB's mindset to just pick BIG number items instead of looking around and cutting smaller areas where necessary. Little plus little plus little equals BIG instead of just taking the biggest thing away. 5 days at the end of the year, plus reduction in the admin bldg's lunch allowance (for committees and such), and principal's week-long conferences (right at de-staff time, how appropriate) would equal big. Instead, the SB adds kids to the classes, take away 2 days of pay, any tuition assistance, professional development money for teachers. What's next? You're expecting more of us and taking away any assistance. Where's the concern for the people who interact with the students on a minute by minute basis?!?!
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  14. Get over the snow days thing....for years teachers work BEYOND the number of days and hours in their CONTRACT and work well beyond their salaried amount. This year was a fluke of record snowfall. You cannot use this year as a measure for long term. The bottom line is teachers must be compensated for the extraordinary work they do, and if you are looking for savings by slashing teacher salary you are going to be sorely disappointed with the teacher who stands before your child. They will be minimally educated and lured into the classroom to fill a spot rather than lured because they are the best educator. Think about the implications that cutting teacher pay will have. I once read an article in Time or Newsweek written by a Princeton grad who became a teacher and was forced to defend her decision to do so as people asked, "You graduated from Princeton and became a teacher?!" Who do you want educating your child?
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  15. Did federal employees get paid for their snow days? Did you opt to "work from home" on those snow days? I know my son's teacher was working because on the day they returned she had graded the projects they handed in before the snowfall and wrote a short narrative to each kid on an extensive rubric. She also had created book logs for every kid and finished report card comments. I think she was working pretty gard during those snow days while digging herself out of her house like every other Loudoner in the interim. Cheers to our teachers! Cut the BOS pay and have teacher salary start at a minimum of $75,000. They deserve it.
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