I’m still on our county’s school district mailing list. Just a few minutes ago, I received an email letting me know what will be cut from the budget for the 2010-2011 school year in order to make up the $126.7 million budget shortfall. Please let it be noted that property taxes have not only NOT been increased (our schools here are funded through property tax and SPLOST), but were decreased by approximately 10%.
Instead of additional (or maintained) property tax, our county’s school district budget cuts will include, among other things, increasing classroom size, decreasing the instructional supply allotment, “restructuring” the alternative education program, and cutting the number of teachers (by over 600) and guidance counselors/graduation coaches (by 55).
The email had this to say about classroom size:
Increasing class sizes creates the greatest budget cost-savings – as class sizes increase the district needs fewer teachers. Earlier this month, the Georgia Department of Education waived all restrictions on class size to help school districts across the state contend with the economic crisis. In [our county], where class sizes already were well below the state maximum at every grade level, schools can expect to see classes increase on average by approximately three students. That number is averaged, so some classes may be higher and others lower.
Yup. Our state no longer has ANY class size restrictions. While our county’s schools were under the maximum classroom size, many schools in less economically affluent counties are already at the maximum. Can you imagine what this will do to classroom size in rural schools? Is schools that have mostly low income and/or renting (non property tax paying) families? Schools with high seasonal migrant worker populations (such as in Vidalia onion-growing country)? How large will classrooms become in this “economic crisis?”
As for reducing instructional supply allotment, well, that means the teachers are either going to have to greatly increase the amount of money they spend on classroom supplies (everything from printing paper to crayons to maps and other supplemental materials to Kleenex and hand sanitizer) OR that will be passed along to the parents, whose list of required supplies for each new school year gets longer and longer. The last year Captain Science was in public school, we provided two packs of computer paper, crayons, glue sticks, scissors, tape, folders, tissues, hand sanitizer, soap, and quite a few other sundry items I don’t recall right off the top of my head. These items were all for general, not personal use.
Guidance counselors are often portrayed as being superfluous or even goofy (even if they’re adorably goofy, like Emma on Glee), but for some students, the help of a guidance counselor in high school is how they get into a college or get the scholarship to pay for a college. Some students don’t have access to therapists/counselors outside of school, due to parental unwillingness, lack of insurance, or other reasons. Remove guidance counselors from schools and students may lose that one small place where they can seek help.
Sure, these cuts might make fiscal sense in the short term, but what are the long term ramifications? How well will students learn in classrooms of 25, 30, 35+ students? Who will help these students with college applications or crises? What will classrooms be like when teachers have had their classroom budgets stripped to nothing?
While I think our county has a good public education system (in comparison to other public education), I am increasingly grateful that we removed our children from it. Thank goodness for the option to homeschool in these tough economic times!
To me the tone they used when describing the increase in classroom size was bit off putting. For me at least it seemed like they were trying to say that this is something great, and there is no down side. Basically we are spending less money so “yay.”
The classroom supplies are ridiculous now. My supply list wasn’t even that long for a college art class. My sisters in law are in public school and at the start of this year they each were required to bring 40 glue sticks (there were a bunch of other ridiculous demands but that stood out). Also they needed this 2 page list of items within the first two days of school. Parents were not supposed to label anything. I remember needing 2 glue sticks and that was about it. I could bring any number of pencils with and just get more as the school year went along from my supply at home. I don’t see why these kids have to bring in 20lbs of supplies on the first day, I think parents should be allowed to keep track of it and send it as needed. The not being allowed to label anything seems a bit shifty too.
You can’t label it because in most classes, it’s taken by the teacher and distributed at random throughout the year, not to YOUR kid. In general, I’m ok w/ that, but plenty of parents don’t pull their weight at all and I feel like the others end up providing everything for those kids.
Aunt Hoo told me that they did an inventory of the supply closets at her school and found tons of supplies that were never used, things like construction paper, kleenex, wet wipes, etc. They were all confiscated and put in what was once our instructional reading room so that everyone can use and teachers aren’t to ask for any more of it until the supplies are used up. She said it was just about embarrassing how much there was. Every year teachers ask for this stuff, and every year it stacks up in their supply closets.
However, I was pretty disgusted with the cuts made by the school board. Cutting the number of instructional days was more upsetting to me than increasing class size. On the plus side, enough teachers have quit or retired that they may be rehiring around 200 of the teachers they laid off. I bet they start them over as new hires though. And that is also disgusting. One school board member voted against the cuts. She said the board has no long term goals and is acting short sighted. I agree with her.
Our county has somehow managed to avoid laying off teachers next year (umm, except for TWO. How humiliating would it be to be one of the TWO most expendable teachers in the county?), but there are ominous threats in the paper every week about what’s going to happen the next year when the stimulus money runs out. Sigh. I thought math teacher was about as secure a job as there was out there.
It really shows priorities when budget time comes around. Who gets fired? Who doesn’t get pay increases? Who has to work with subpar equipment? Teachers and cops, man. Low.
Sigh. It is happening every where. Hubby has lost his aide and his class size reduction. He’ll have 30+ first graders next year. They also lost all the Vice-Principals, counselors, and librarians district-wide. There just is no tax revenue coming in and most states are dipping into their educational funds to keep their heads above water.
Wow! No restrictions on class size. How frustrating! Our school had many closets with school supplies that were brand new. It is so difficult to face major budget cuts.