Decatur fights to save public schools

For years Georgia hasn’t followed its own school funding mandate. Well, one of the state’s top school systems has had it.

This week, Decatur City Schools officials will launch a “Save Our Public Schools” campaign to lay out for the public just how tight their dollars are. No surprise that they’ll also provide contact information for lawmakers and state offices.

You know, in case parents want to, uh, reach out and give someone an earful.

“I believe the people of Decatur can do anything they set their minds to,” school board Chairwoman Valarie Wilson said recently, as Superintendent Phyllis Edwards filled board members in on the plans.

The campaign stems from long-standing frustration among Decatur and other school systems about the state’s penchant for so-called “austerity reductions” — which for the past six years have superseded full funding for regular public schools.

Gov. Sonny Perdue implemented the cuts in response to the massive budget shortfall he faced after he won office in 2002. State revenue rebounded by early 2006. Yet, the cuts remained and have continued despite the funding of some lawmakers’ favored projects, such as the state’s 2007 private school voucher program for students with disabilities.

The problem will be exacerbated by additional cuts begun this year because of the recession.

Decatur — which has a general fund budget of $37 million — since 2002 has lost $2.7 million in state funds because of austerity cuts. With the recession, officials expect those cuts to continue. The cuts, coupled with uncertainty about things like local tax collections, has Decatur officials eyeing a plan to trim next school year’s budget by $2 million. Among proposals they are wrestling with — teacher layoffs.

Decatur’s “Save Our Public Schools” public information campaign will include a packet for parents and others that explains their budget and expenses.

It is no coincidence that the campaign’s launch comes just weeks before lawmakers reconvene at the Statehouse. And although Decatur so far is on its own, Edwards said her staff has talked with both DeKalb County and Atlanta school officials in hopes they will soon get on board.