The Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board begins a brutal budget-cutting year today, when officials lay out the cost of programs that could come under scrutiny.

Decisions about cuts for 2011-12 remain months away. But with federal stimulus money slated to disappear and state leaders talking about tens of millions in likely rollbacks, CMS officials say they're starting early.

The cuts, they say, could reach $100 million, or 10 percent of the CMS budget.

Jo Ann Norris of the Raleigh-based Public School Forum of North Carolina will reinforce the gloomy forecast.

The forum, a nonprofit research and advocacy group, recently published a report titled "Race to the Bottom," contending that North Carolina is poised to land at or near the bottom of all states in per-pupil education spending.

It was 42nd in 2008-09, the last time states were ranked, and could lose $738 million in federal stimulus money and $1.3 billion in temporary taxes next year.

"(U)nless something unexpected happens in the months between now and the closing days of the 2011 Session of the General Assembly, it appears educational cuts unlike any the state has ever seen are virtually inevitable," the report says. "...North Carolina is poised to be a legitimate contender for the dubious distinction of winning the race to the educational investing bottom."

This week Gov. Bev Perdue warned the N.C. School Boards Association the state could face a $3 billion budget gap, and said school districts and other agencies should be prepared to cut programs that fall outside their core mission.

In a work session similar to the one planned in Charlotte today, Wake County administrators warned their school board Tuesday to brace for layoffs and other drastic cuts.

Less than two weeks after a bruising public debate ended with a controversial vote to close 10 schools in 2011, CMS board leaders say they're seeking a way to help the public buy into more budget cuts that protect academics.

Board Chair Eric Davis said he's trying to avoid the impression that the program costs that will be presented today are a menu for program-slashing.

"We don't do our best work as a community under a threatened state," he said.

But member Rhonda Lennon said it's inevitable that board and community members will start thinking about what to sacrifice and what to protect.

"I'm quite sure we'll be raising some eyebrows," she said.

Teachers are worried about what the looming cuts will mean for CMS's push to base teacher pay partly on student test scores and other measures of effectiveness. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Association of Educators held a news conference Thursday to raise cautions about the performance-pay quest.

President Mary McCray said it will be counterproductive if many teachers take pay cuts to provide rewards for a few. She said if CMS gets no new money, performance-pay rewards could be taken from money now used to pay teachers for master's degrees and National Board Certification, or from county money used to boost the state's teacher pay scale in Mecklenburg.

Gorman said CMS has made no decisions about where the money will come from. It won't be an issue in this round of budget talks because CMS plans to start performance pay in 2013.

One thing Gorman and McCray agree on: They'll be watching to see what the new state legislature does on teacher pay and evaluations. Changes from Raleigh could revise or override CMS's plans.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/11/19/1849459/schools-bracing-for-more-cutbacks.html#ixzz15kbkOWAd