Dearborn Public Schools

Scores of Michigan school districts will have fewer teachers and larger classes in the fall with athletics and the arts facing severe cutbacks or elimination as officials race to balance tight budgets as required by state law. Nearly all school districts have trimmed excess in their budgets, and they're making critical cuts, according to an associate executive director of the Michigan School Business Officials, which represents school finance managers. Dearborn Public Schools will eliminate roughly 60 teaching positions on top of shortening most sports seasons by two weeks, making parents buy band instruments and reducing funding for a reading program for early elementary students. The 7,821-student district expects about 200 fewer students next fall, which means less state aid on top of rising costs. They had to slash $6.3 million in spending to balance next year's $178 million budget, one million less than last year's.