The downturn in the economy that has ravaged the nation is hitting New Mexico full force — and our public schools are going to be more strapped than usual.

In Santa Fe, public schools are expecting a $7.3 million shortfall for the 2010-2011 budget year. And any easy cuts — if there ever are easy cuts when it comes to educating our children — have been made.

The coming cuts will hit the bone and tear into muscle.

Here are some of the decisions Santa Fe's school board is weighing:

One (sort of) popular idea is to increase class size from 20 to 22 students in kindergarten and from 19 to 27 students in grades 9-12. That could save the lion's share of the shortfall — perhaps as much as $6 million — and spread the pain around. How great it will be for education is another matter. Imagine the poor high-school or middle-school teacher grading eight extra papers a night, and controlling a bigger classroom each day.

Other cuts could come in athletics and extracurricular activities, those wonderful extras that keep kids engaged and interested in school. There could be widespread layoffs — the letting go of administrators, staff, teachers.

Always on the table in Santa Fe and seldom, if ever, acted upon, is the consolidation of schools where enrollment is declining in zone. Such consolidations could save tens of thousands of dollars on a recurring basis year after year. They are unpopular and perhaps not politically feasible, even in our current crisis. Still, it's important to keep in mind that it's easier to stretch dollars with fewer schools to operate. That truth never changes.

Looming over every action taken now is the realization that federal stimulus dollars, which helped shore up this year's budget, are going away, and revenue promises to be tight for years to come. Barring an unexpected increase in state tax revenues, more cuts will be coming.

Of course, public schools aren't the only programs hurting statewide as a result of New Mexico's budget shortfalls. And we have to be thankful that we are not as bad off as California, where cuts are draconian and teachers are losing their jobs. In Michigan, a parent has started a statwide bake sale called Cookies for Michigan Kids to draw attention to the schools' dire situation.

We, as a nation, are eating our seed corn by not funding education properly — and by that, I don't necessarily even mean more dollars, although we need more in New Mexico. I mean dollars spent smartly and in the best possible manner so that education spending stays in the classroom.

What we are doing now is not working. The children who will grow up to work, pay taxes and lead this country are not going to learn what they need to succeed. It's that simple.

We've reached a situation where our choices are bad and worse, where whatever we do as a community will cause pain and where educating kids is taking a back seat to balancing a too-lean budget.

If you're not involved, try attending a budget session or a school-board meeting. You can see what's coming up by visiting http://www.sfps.info/. If you have a few extra dollars, make a contribution to Partners in Education, the nonprofit foundation that helps our public schools improve education, at http://www.sfpartnersineducation.org/.

Unless we pull together, this crisis could turn into a catastrophe. As always, the children are the first to suffer.

Reach Inez Russell at inezrussell@msn.com.