School district sent home a letter today asking for ideas on how to cut the school budget

[Horse with no Name]

I just finished my letter to the superintendent. Help me folks! What am I missing?

>>>>start of letter
First of all, I want to commend you for asking parents for input on how to ease the budgetary constraints imposed by the state.

The easy answer was for Perry to accept the stimulus money. But that didn’t happen.

The next easiest thing would have been to raise taxes to a penny on the dollar. That, by itself, would have eased the entire burden to all of the schools in the state. It didn’t happen either. However, voters have no problems raising taxes to build sports stadiums that generate millionaires more millions, yet cringe over pennies spent on educating our children, but, I digress and put the disclaimer out there that I did not vote for this.

So, now schools have to depend on austerity cuts to survive, assuming it will be cheaper to lay ancillary staff off. We all know it is cheaper to add to the Medicaid rolls and Food stamp rolls than it is to pay an extra penny on the dollar. I hope that you can hear my sarcasm. Not to mention the cost to the children—it isn’t monetary but it should be looked at very carefully.

With all of that in mind—school cuts should NOT come at the expense of people losing their jobs. While it may fix the school problem, it creates more unemployed and underemployed which doesn’t solve the larger problems that we face as a state and as a nation and significantly impacts it negatively.

Presently, our children go to school Monday through Friday, from 8 until 3:15.
That is 36 hours and 25 minutes per week. School is in session for 40 weeks a year. IF school started at 7:55 am and ended at 5 pm—a normal workday for most—and ONLY went to school Monday through Thursday, which is a total of 36 hours and 20 minutes per week, it would save 40 days a year of lunches, fuel for the buses as well as wear and tear, electricity, water, etc. It would give the same amount of education to our kids in the four days; generate a substantial savings to the school district without impacting existing jobs. Without knowing exactly daily expenditures for the school, I can imagine that shaving 40 days of expenses off of the year would be helpful.

Personally, with the budget crisis in the schools, we NEED to discuss other options. But, the sad truth is, that sacred cows will NOT be slaughtered. Our teachers and administrators will be the ones that pay the price. The main objective of school is education. Period. We need to remember that when we have the school budgets on the chopping block. Ultimately, at the end of the day, at the expense of EVERYTHING else, education needs to be preserved.

We need to look at the extracurricular activities—sports, band, etc. ANYTHING that is NOT related to education and it needs to go. The expenses of transporting students to and from these events, the sometimes inflated salaries of coaches, utilities, uniforms, etc. all contribute to the bottom line in the school budgets. They are extracurricular. That is where the cuts should start—at least on a statewide basis, and arguably on a nationwide basis. There is NO reason that booster clubs cannot figure out how to run the sports programs on corporate sponsorships and that the competitions, etc not be sanctioned and paid for by school districts—but instead be run like Little League organizations. I also understand this is one sacred cow that won’t be touched. Governor Mark White was run out of town on a rail when he dared to enact No Pass No Play.

However, things are different now. We have an educational crisis like none we have ever seen. Drastic measures will have to be taken to save public education. There is a nationwide assault on schools. As a taxpayer, as a citizen, and someone who understands that our students are the key to our future, I do not want to see our schools privatized out to the highest bidder—which is the ultimate goal at this point. I want my grandchildren to be taught more than how to scan items at Walmart or how to better serve corporate America.

I was on the front lines for the corporate takeover of hospitals. Bottom line now is profit—and that profit is made by cheaper and less experienced staff, understaffing, and an incessant battle cry to cut more and more while profits soar. The end result is health care that nobody can afford and patient dissatisfaction.

I hope you ready for this fight. I have been avidly watching the battles across the nation on education. The agenda is very clear. I have to say that I am heartened by the response to the assault on teachers in Wisconsin. It has been one of the high points. The assault on education in Detroit is a low point.

Good luck.

[LiberalEsto]

1. Fire half the administrators

and cut the salaries of the ones that are left.

[RC]

Yes the administrators! Most of them are not needed in the first place.

That was my objection and I was trying to come up with what to say. You pretty well covered it.

Teaching is the only profession where the blue collar workers are expected to have collage degrees and Masters degrees as a goal. And what other profession do people this well educated get paid so little for working so hard.

[bbgrunt]

2. that's definitely the first step.

[DebJ]

5. In our district, we were told that Administrators' contracts

specifically state that they can not be furloughed. Isn't that just peachy! Keep every payroll dollar for people not in the classrooms, and pile the classrooms up!

[LiberalEsto]

9. The people at the top get more and more money

and everyone underneath them gets screwed.

That's the New American Way.

[Bozita]

17. Same logic used to justify bonus bucks for banksters.

Some contracts are more sacred than others.

[msongs]

3. we do not have an educational crisis, we have a priority crisis: endless war vs schools nt

[Bandit]

4. Where I live they say 85% of the cost of Education is personel.

Not very much else can be cut..Once you cut to the bone things like heat and lights, all that is left is people...They want to cut teachers and enlarge class size and then will have more ammunition for how badly public schools are educating the children.. Believe me this is all in the plan...The end game is privatization in ALL areas...

[Snoutport]

6. 20% cut of income to bus drivers in your plan, cafeteria workers?

This is a tough one...I'm a teacher and I'm not sure what they expect to cut in the classroom. The schools have cut the nurses, librarians, janitors (at my last school you had to mop your own floors...my new room has rugs but the janitor empties trash. We do the rest of the cleaning) and the EAs in the district that I work in just got cut to 30 hours (and have to pay $400 a month to keep their benefits...after taxes that is about $120 take home a week).

I think, at this point, people need to protest, across the country, to save education.

But your idea is a good one...sort of... my class is special ed and 80% of my students are in group homes or foster care. they have medical issues and can't be left alone. This means that the home they live in will have to pay staff to work on Fridays. It will save the district money but will push 52 extra work days onto the payrolls of other, very stressed out social services.

The legislators are voting on a 25% cut to my district so, I understand what you are going through.

good luck.

[xmas74]

23. I'd prefer the students off on a Wednesday,

at least in my neck of the woods. We're still a religious lot in my area and Wednesday is a big church night. Taking off Wednesday gives the kids a midweek break that they could use to relax or catch up on assignments. I also know that some of our local churches would offer special activities throughout the day if it were available. (They already offer them for free or very cheap on out of school days.)

For us, Wednesday would be feasible. Within two years the churches and the local community center would pick up the extra child care and offer activities for the kids on that day, all day long.

[postulater]

7. In our district there is a referendum that will raise property taxes to cover school expenses.

Imagine the Republicans cutting state expenses so we have to increase our property taxes.

[NV Whino]

8. Excellent letter

If personnel must be cut, start at the top.

A problem I have seen in our local schools is choice of curricula. Phys ed has become optional. A big no, no in my opinion. Art classes were cut long ago. Vocational arts (car mechanics, shop, etc) have long disappeared. Music, with the possible exception of choral groups (thank you, Glee), has gone by the wayside. All of the missing or endangered curricula go into making a balance person. Yes, we need science, math, reading and history, but many of our great scientists were artists and musicians as well. Not everyone needs a college education. Give them the tools to survive and thrive in the community by exposing them to vocational arts. We need people to make the violins that the musicians play, repair the cars that the artists (and scientists) design. And we need healthy, physically active children who will become healthy, active adults.

America has become a blindered, small brained, obese cyclops. And the politicians who whack our school systems are to blame.

[krabigirl]

10. Cut the hs sports and make parents pay more for them. High school is 4 yrs of sports worship.

[Brickbat]

11. We went to a four-day week this year, and while many people liked it, I objected to balancing a

budget on the back of cafeteria workers, janitors, maintenance workers and bus drivers. They all got a 20 percent pay cut. Also, when we have home basketball and volleyball games on Fridays, the school isn't heated. In northern Minnesota. In the winter.

Many people like the four-day plan. It's mixed for me; I work at home and 20 percent of my work week is now full of kids.

[Horse with no Name]

13. My question is how are they taking a pay cut?

If the number of school hours doesn't change...I am not going to submit it if it includes jobs being cut.

[Brickbat]

15. For teachers, it doesn't. For bus drivers, it does, and for support staff, it can.

[The Midway Rebel]

12. My local school district is in big trouble.

For the first time in 30 years the voters rejected a school bond issue, so the distrcit decided it would be best to lay off 41 teachers. I have been holding a little hope that I would get hired there. That hope is gone.

[Curmudgeoness]

22. This is their answer to rejection on school funding every time.

Cut teachers. Or in our area, cut sports---god forbid. They never look for cuts in administration, or consolidation of school districts with 1/4 the students they once had. Here, they refurnished all the administrative offices at the same time they were talking of cutting teachers, and they did not do it cheaply.

They just want to scare all the voters from voting these issues down by hitting the things that matter most.

[revolutionnow45]

14. Insurance companies need to be cut- every state needs to 'abolish insurance' like Vermont

I agree cut the administrators.

But after that, everyone needs to start screaming about how much of this money goes to insurance companies, which keeps going up 30% every year. This is clearly unsustainable.

They will increase deductibles and co pays to what point? It is already unaffordable to use your insurance.

WE need to removed the middleman that takes almost the same as a teacher's salary every year...for doing nothing!

[Curmudgeoness]

16. A few other possibilities where costs can be cut...

I have been fighting for a long time about how school busses now stop at every driveway of a child instead of having bus stops in neighborhoods. There is no reason why children cannot walk a few blocks to be picked up by the bus, and it would give them a little badly needed exercise as a bonus.

We found out that at the end of every school year, our school sold "excess supplies" in a hush-hush deal with a parochial school in town for pennies on the dollar. These excess supplies were literally full boxes of art supplies, pencils, paper, etc. that had never been opened and were perfectly useable for the next year. The problem was that the school had a bug up their butt about using all the funding for the annual budget in that year, and they didn't want carry-over that would cost them funding in the future. You may want to make sure that this sort of thing is not happening in your area. What do they do with supplies from one year to the next?

Are they using the best pricing to purchase supplies and/or services? Or are they going with the vendors who are their buddies? Do they solicit bids every year?

[RC]

19. When it is -20° below and dark out, the wind is blowing, walking a few blocks is dangerous for kids.

Especially when the snow is knee deep for them. Shoveled walks is not an option when the snow started in earnest sometime after midnight and school starts at 7:30 AM
The bus needs to stop where the kids are.

I have lived 45 years in North Dakota and raised 2 kids basically by myself, so I have some experience here.

[Curmudgeoness]

21. I will agree that ND is too cold and miserable to have kids

walking far or standing at bus stops. Actually I think it is too cold and miserable for human habitation, but that's me. But most of the country is not as bad as ND. We pamper our kids too much these days. I walked just under a mile to school from first grade, we had no busses. There was no car to take me to school if the weather was bad. I remember having a huge snowsuit for cold weather. You know what, not one of my schoolmates ever died from walking to school. If school starts too early for the kids to walk when it is light outside, it is not like it is mandatory to start school at 7:30 AM. Change the start time.

What we are looking for is a way to educate kids with budget cuts looming. There has to be cost savings everywhere. This is just one way to cut costs. And if any parents have a huge problem with it, they would have the option of driving their kids to school.

[revolutionnow45]

18. Ask them to take a look at the tech department

They get all the funding...then it mostly goes to microsoft.

Often the school has so much tech funding, they will buy blackberries for the teachers and other stupid shit they don't need and teachers don't even want.


Tell them to try Linux and then buy educational software for the kids instead of microsoft BS.

[RC]

20. Really? Since when?

I taught High School Electronics 20 years ago and we had to fight for funds then.

[RayOfHope]

25. Where is this happening? It isn't in any of the districts around me. n/t

[roody]

24. Get rid of all 6 -figure salaries.

[RC]

26. $9999.99 is plenty for school Administrators