Cincinnati Public Schools balanced its budget, and our students improved academically.
I understand why someone would read that and wonder why we need a levy. I wish balancing this year’s budget had solved
our financial problems. It did not. We made cuts that people across this district felt, used money we cannot count on again, and still face a funding gap in the years ahead.
That gap puts our students’ progress at risk. CPS earned three stars overall on Ohio’s school report card for the first time, four stars in progress and 4.5 stars in career-technical education. The two-star jump in progress reflects students learning more than expected based on their past performance. Students, educators, staff and families worked hard for those gains, and I am proud of them.
My responsibility now is to help more students achieve that success and be honest about what could stand in their way.
More cuts could reach classrooms and students
Closing a projected $58 million budget gap required staffing reductions, hiring and spending restrictions, a reorganization and furlough days. Limited one-time funds helped balance the budget. Those funds cannot be spent twice, and fewer people can only absorb so much work.
Our treasurer projects revenue to increase just 0.26% a year through 2031, while expenses grow 1.78%. Even modest spending increases will outpace barely growing revenue. We will keep looking for savings. But I will not suggest that repeating this year’s cuts is a sustainable way to run our schools.
You should expect me to control costs. You should also expect me to tell you when further cuts will hurt students.
If the levy fails, we may have to reduce the very services and opportunities students need to keep making gains. That could mean fewer teachers and larger classes, less access to counselors, or fewer opportunities in arts and enrichment. We could have less help available for students who fall behind or stop coming to school. Families could face changes in transportation services, and some schools could consolidate or close.
The Board of Education has not made those decisions. But voters deserve to know what the district may have to consider. When a class gets larger, a teacher has less time for the child who needs another explanation or extra practice. When a counselor or a program goes away, a student can lose the person or place that helped them stay connected to school.
Those consequences are very real and must be part of this conversation.
CPS must be accountable for the results
Cincinnati should also know what we intend to accomplish with the funding. Our board’s new strategic plan commits us to improving reading, attendance, instruction and graduation readiness. Students will leave CPS prepared for college, a career, military service, or entrepreneurship, with the same chance to succeed in every CPS school.
We have to show you whether we are delivering on our promises. Are more children reading at grade level? Is attendance improving? Are graduates ready for their next step? Hold me to those goals and expect a clear account of how we spend the money.
The five-year, 7-mill levy would add about $245 a year to the property-tax bill for a home with a market value of $100,000. I know that amount matters. Families have bills to pay and their own difficult choices to make. I ask you to weigh that cost against what further reductions could mean for our schools and the more than 34,000 students we educate today.
On Nov. 3, Cincinnati will decide what resources CPS has for the years ahead. But you deserve to know the truth before you vote: Our students are gaining ground.
But we cannot keep taking away the people and opportunities that support them and assume their progress will continue.
Shauna Murphy is the superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: CPS students made gains. Here is what it will take to keep going | Opinion
