The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools Board of Education is anticipating some headwinds on next school year’s budget, including uncertainty around the state of federal funding for schools.
CMS officials said Tuesday that at least three of the district's federal grants have been terminated by the Trump administration, effective immediately.
That includes nearly $5 million for two years of funding supporting the district’s efforts to provide advanced career tracks for teachers through its Teacher-Leader Pathway. It also included a $175,000 National Board Certification SEED grant, and a third $1.8 million joint grant with UNC Charlotte to improve teacher recruitment at hard-to-staff schools.
WFAE contacted the Department of Education to ask about the cuts but did not hear back as of Wednesday evening.
Those grants were all competitive awards, not part of the federal allotments guaranteed through entitlement programs like Title I, which allots funding to schools for children from low-income families. But CMS Chief Financial Officer Kelly Kluttz said the district doesn’t assume those funds are safe, either.
“So they’ve already started cutting the discretionary. So that’s a definite. We believe Title I, II and III are certainly at risk at this point,” Kluttz said.
Federal funds only account for 8.4% of the district’s overall operating budget – but support more than 10% of the district’s staff.
Uncertainty at the federal level isn’t the only challenge CMS is anticipating this budget season. The state, which accounts for more than half of the district’s funding, has projected flat revenues for next year and shortfalls for the year after due to a series of tax cuts over the last few years. And the county, which provides the district’s local funding, is also expecting a revenue shortfall.
“I think the writing is on the wall, we’re looking at a very difficult budget session,” Kluttz said.
A debate about teacher supplements
The district has identified roughly $37 million in identified needs though its still hammering out the exact funding sources for those.
Among the needs is $4 million for student device refresh and $8 million for increases in the district’s supplement to teacher pay.
Hill told the school board that the latter number reflects a roughly 5% increase in the district’s supplement to teacher pay — which is what Hill says she intends to recommend to the board when it comes time to present her budget recommendation in March.
School board member Summer Nunn expressed frustration the district wasn’t seeking higher raises. Since base teacher pay is set by the state, she argued the district needs to be more aggressive to attract quality teachers.
“Our teachers can’t afford to live in this county and we don’t get the additional supplements that other counties do, either,” Nunn said.
Nunn had suggested an 8% increase, which would amount to an extra $4 million. The district would ultimately have to make the ask of the already cash-strapped Mecklenburg County.
The district is exploring a supplement that would increase on average by 5%, with higher increases for teachers with more than 15 years of experience.
Retaining teachers remains a concern
The district has made headway in filling teacher vacancies – particularly in areas related to its core goals of boosting math and reading scores. Those scores are improving by the district’s metrics – but not at the rate needed to meet its goals.
There's currently a 99% fill rate among English Language Arts teachers in grades 3-8. But 49% of those teachers are beginning-of-career teachers. State data suggests more experienced teachers are more effective at promoting student growth, said Beth Thompson, the district’s chief strategy and innovation officer.
“So while we celebrate a 99% fill rate, we have to equally acknowledge that half of those teachers are in years one, two and three of their teaching career, and we need elevated rates of improvement for students with those teachers,” Thompson said.
There's a 99% fill rate for Math I teachers, but 27% of those teachers are beginning-of-career teachers.
The district says there are 15 K-6 teacher vacancies, two secondary ELA vacancies and nine vacancies in secondary math.
Thompson said this shows the need to support teachers as early in their careers as possible to promote retention.
This story has been corrected to show 49% of ELA teachers in grades 3-8 are beginning-of-career teachers, not secondary ELA and math.
