Schools will likely see sharp budget cuts due to the...

Schools will likely see sharp budget cuts due to the coronavirus pandemic, unless something is done to help. Credit: Getty Images/iStockphoto/Alex_Doubovitsky

With all the focus on distance learning as the new normal and cuts in state aid for the 2020-2021 school year, we hear little discussion about a coming disastrous confluence of circumstances for Long Island school districts. As districts finish budgets for the coming school year scheduled for votes in June, a stark question confronts us: Will residents vote YES on any budget that calls for a tax increase in a period of unprecedented fiscal uncertainty? With so many families finding it difficult to keep up with mortgages or rental payments — not to mention basic living expenses — the notion that they will support a budget that raises taxes seems almost absurd.

In a few months, our second property tax bills for the current year will be due. How many homeowners will default on these payments, which provide funding to local municipalities and school districts? When that happens, school districts will take a second “hit” on top of the reductions in state aid.

To complete this trifecta of financial catastrophe, the State Legislature approved a measure empowering the governor to further reduce state aid during the coming school year. If that happens, which seems more likely given a crippled state and national economy, districts may be forced to make cuts that will wreak havoc in those districts that rely most heavily on state aid — the ones whose students need services to a greater extent than those in districts with wealthy populations.

Given this impending sequence of disasters, one might expect a debate about how to minimize their impact on students and those who educate them. Maybe boards of education and district administrators are too consumed with the COVID-19 crisis to look beyond the day-to-day concerns of meeting the diverse needs of their students in a time of pandemic. If they do not take steps to relieve the pressure of the coming fiscal disaster, a bad situation could become catastrophic. Through shared sacrifice, our districts can emerge stronger and more united. If everyone sacrifices, everyone wins.

First, districts should reopen their retirement windows for senior teachers and administrators at — or close to — retirement age. Teachers at the upper end of district salary schedules typically earn salaries in excess of $100,000. Given a reasonable incentive, they might be willing to retire. If they are replaced by professionals at the bottom of the salary scale, districts can accrue significant savings to offset the projected losses from reduced state aid, lower budgets, and unpaid property taxes.

Second, boards of education and district administrators need to make difficult decisions to maintain current budgets and tax levies. Long Islanders believe in education, approving recent budgets at unparalleled levels. District officials cannot take anything for granted this year. They must demonstrate to the public that they feel their pain and act accordingly.

Third, we need shared financial sacrifice by those who work for our districts. In the private sector, chief executives and others high on the corporate ladder are taking pay cuts. We need to see a similar commitment from those earning top salaries in district offices. That will not improve the bottom line significantly, but it will set an example of commitment to shared sacrifice that unions can be encouraged to emulate to help maintain current staffing levels and avoid the necessity to eliminate positions and reduce programs.

Some will dismiss these suggestions as pipe dreams. To them I say: Better the pipe dreams of shared sacrifice that ennoble those who believe in education’s transformative power than a continuing nightmare that cripples our ability to support young people ... and each other.

Michael Cohen is a retired superintendent of the Brentwood school district.

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