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Yesterday the American Association of School Administrators released Surviving a Thousand Cuts: America's Public Schools and the Recession. It is the tenth in a series of surveys on the impact of the economic downturn on public schools.

Not surprisingly, districts are continuing to report the erosion of fiscal resources. While economists say that the recession ended in July 2009, state and local budgets still face declining revenues. As a result, school districts must continue to make cuts.

Of course, this is not the first round of cuts. A couple years ago, districts were limiting field trips and changing the setting on the thermostat. But today no such "easy" cuts remain. Instead, districts are resorting to drastic personnel reductions. In some places, these cuts were avoided or minimized for this year and next thanks to the federal Education Jobs Fund, an infusion of $10 billion for the express purpose of saving educator jobs. But it is unlikely that there will be another such fund created in coming years. 

Keeping that in mind, the survey found:

• 16% of respondents furloughed personnel during the 2010 school year - 34% anticipate doing so in 2011. Potential outcome: Students will have fewer days in class.
• 48% laid off personnel during the 2010 school year - 66% anticipate doing so in 2011. Potential outcomes: Class sizes will increase, additional support for students (tutoring, counseling, school nursing, etc) will decrease.

The true impact of these cuts will not be known for years or even decades. But considering how often we hear that American students are not in school as long as the international peers who outscore them on tests like PISA, and what we are learning about the impact of small classes on our most disadvantaged students in particular and the role of attendance (and relatedly, student health) on not just test scores but other academic outcomes, these cuts are not the steps that seem likely to move our educational system forward.

It is clear that we as a nation can no longer afford to live above our means...but is education really the best place to cut?

Stay tuned for more information from this report next week.

Image from Lisa Cyr