Broward Superintendent On Budget: $2B "A Start"

FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) — According to Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, $2 billion "is a start" to fixing the school district's problems.

The school system has been plagued by budget cutbacks, teacher layoffs and scandal.

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports that Runcie, who last week presented his first budget since being named in October to lead the nation's sixth-largest school system, said that a slight increase in property taxes would allow the district to hire 650 more teachers and address class-size mandates.

That increase would cost homeowners $3.80 for a $125,000 home that claims a standard homestead exemption.

Coming in at $69 million higher than last year, the budget includes a $22 million boost in state funding and proposes an organizational restructuring that would save $28 million.

Another $14 million would be saved through a shakeup of the system's troubled transportation system.

Read the full article in the Sun-Sentinel to learn what Runcie said is the district's biggest challenge.