Lottery Money May Arrive Too Late To Help CMS This Year

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools got enough state money on Thursday to restore 141 teachers. The district said it will be able to restore the positions before the school year begins because the state didn’t cut as much funding as the district expected.

More funds are on the way in the form of state lottery money, which was designated to help save teachers' jobs. However, the money will not arrive until November, long after the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

Lawmakers approved the lottery money for teachers' salaries when they passed the state budget in June.

Eyewitness News requested and received a county-by-county breakdown of lottery money for the 2010-11 fiscal year. The N.C. Department of Public Instruction estimates CMS could receive $10.7 million.

CMS Superintendent Peter Gorman said Thursday evening he's not sure whether that estimate is included in the district's budget. Eyewitness News asked lawmakers why they didn't mandate that the first check of lottery money arrive sooner than November.

State Sen. Malcolm Graham, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, said that's not possible because the amount of lottery money cannot be guaranteed.

"But millions of dollars are coming and, hopefully, the superintendents will be able to manage their budgets and do some forward thinking," Graham said.

The CMS budget office is crunching the numbers, officials said. Gorman said the frustrating thing is that the exact dollar amount won't be available for months.

"It's very frustrating for us, but it's not nearly as frustrating as it is for the teachers we've had to lay off, or for the families who don't know how many people will be teaching at their schools," Gorman said.

He said he had no choice but to lay off teachers, because CMS is required to set its budget long before the state sets its budget.

He says the process is "way out of alignment," and that it's unfair to teachers whose jobs hang in the balance.

Previous Stories: July 29, 2010: CMS Restoring 141 Teaching Positions June 9, 2010: CMS Cutting 500+ Teaching Jobs, Launching Review June 8, 2010: CMS To Discuss Budget, Job Cuts At Meeting May 26, 2010: Support Builds For Using Lottery Money To Save Teachers' Jobs May 24, 2010: CMS Students Walk Out To Protest Teacher Layoffs May 13, 2010: Hundreds Of CMS Teachers Receive Layoff Notices