This budget does not provide for any new schools to be built with DCPS budgeted resources in the foreseeable future. Special-Needs Programs continue to consume a large share of the budget. Reallocations in this budget show no promise of limiting future growth of the special needs programs. We will have aggressive new programs to hire special education teachers and aides and to increase the numbers of special-needs students accommodated in mainstream classrooms. Central Procurement is presented as a cost-saving measure, which depends on principals to improve central administration.
Principals are to play an integral part of any changes in central administration.
In fact, this is very upsetting to principals because it means the local school management teams have less and less discretion over their expenditures such as textbooks and that most staffing will now be done by formula. If we lose these bets, charter schools might be badly under-funded. If charter school attract more students than expected or if unanticipated costs must be met, this budget is busted. There is no provision for increases and there is no way to reallocate funds currently budgeted for charter schools if the enrollment is less than projected. There are three key assumptions as to how the Charter Schools will affect future budgets.