By Bill Zeeble, KERA News
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kera/local-kera-974779.mp3
Dallas, TX – Tonight, the Dallas School Board is expected to approve a budget that is $63 million shy of what officials say they need. That's because state funding is expected to be short that amount, due to the down economy.
Anticipating the shortfall, Dallas has already reduced its workforce by more than 1,400 people, mostly through early retirements and layoffs. Freshman trustee Mike Morath says some district spending could be more efficient, but that's for a different, future budget.
Morath: This particular budget itself, I'm not all that happy with it, but it's the best budget we're going to get, given my month and a half tenure on the board.
Some trustees say additional changes are needed in the state funding formula to assure more education dollars in the future. Next year's DISD budget will be about $1.2 billion.