Shock doctrine: Public schools may not look the same next fall

[Karmadillo]

I would bet the military looks pretty much the same next fall.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/news/state_regional/state_regional_govtpolitics/article/BUDG221_20091122-005403/307230/

Public schools may not look the same next fall, two months after Virginia begins a new budget year.

Class sizes could grow as large as state law allows. Music, art and physical education could shrink to the minimum. Teaching assistants and other support staff could disappear.

"I believe it would reflect a level of quality that would shock virtually every community in Virginia," Hanover County Superintendent Stewart W. Roberson said in an interview Friday.

Roberson painted a similarly grim picture for the Senate Finance Committee a day earlier, as state legislators and local officials grappled with a projected $3.5 billion budget shortfall over the next two years.

He and other local officials had plenty of ideas for how to make do, ranging from the waiver of state mandates to regional consolidation of state and local services. With state aid facing deep cuts and local revenues lagging behind economic recovery, local officials say they won't be able to afford services they're required to provide.

more...

[msongs]

1. sorry Virginia, we need $$ for war profiteers & the corporate/generals/military welfare complex. nt

[lonestarnot]

2. MO WO must have their money. Charter pump continues to build larger funnels for cannon fodder.

[Zodiak]

3. You don't invest in education, you will reap the rewards

Poverty.

[Catshrink]

4. Or stupid people who follow Beck and Limbaugh

and vote for Palin because "she's just like me!" :puke:

Unfortunately, Virginia isn't the only state facing such disastrous financial decisions. Arizona is $2billion short and the polarized legislature will once again take a huge chunk from schools. 40 kids in a science lab? It's looking that way. We already have classes with 40 students and we had a huge influx of special ed kids this year. So... the middle and upper level kids will start peeling off for charters leaving us with the lower level and sped kids. Less money means fewer teachers and class sizes will remain large but with kids requiring more attention.

Our Leg. is run by neoLibertarians but they don't have quite enough votes to enact their draconian agenda so nothing has happend. 5 special sessions and still no budget. And they wonder why people are moving out of state? They wonder why our bond rating was just lowered (or about to be)?

[Catshrink]

5. K&R

[tyedyeto]

6. The local school board here has already

voted to cut funding for music, arts, P.E and some sports for the next school year. Some areas will be eliminated, while others will be cut back some. Take a guess which ones will stay?

[Karmadillo]

7. Shucks. I should have titled this, "Levi says Palin seeks to cut school funding."

nt

[Quantess]

8. Maybe government contractors (ex-military) should start running our schools.

KBR, Bechtel, Blackwater, etc.
Then the schools would be flooded with taxpayers' money.

[MadHound]

9. This isn't going on only in Virginia,

To some extent it is going on all over the country. District after district is cutting back on funding and cutting back on positions. Class sizes are getting larger, "optional" curriculum is getting cut.

The war on public education continues.

[trof]

10. All of this has already happened in Alabama.

Miz t. and I volunteer as teachers' assistants in kindergarten classes.
The paid ones are gone.
Volunteers are sweeping the halls.
It's grim, but no one is willing to pay higher taxes.

[proud2BlibKansan]

11. Sad our kids are not worth better than this

[donco6]

12. Colorado too. n/t