Posts Tagged “budget cuts”

AND have a great Thanksgiving holiday……

That’s how the superintendent ended his meeting with the staff of my elementary school the day before our Thanksgiving break. Sounds like a great sentiment, however he had just come to explain to us how much financial trouble is ahead, not only for our district, but for all the districts in the state as budget cuts are coming for the rest of this year and next. The probability of a 10% across the board cut for every state agency is looming as the state attempts to balance their budget.

Every year, we get a doom and gloom speech about 3 weeks before they start contract negotiations. The superintendent and the financial guru come and tell us about all the money the district is losing and how we shouldn’t expect raises etc. Then we battle, get a small raise (usually less than the increase of the cost of living) and a month later, the administration settles on a raise that is more than any other group – teachers, maintenance, food service. This is typical for my district, and as you can imagine, it does nothing to develop trust/credibility for the administration.

Somehow, we are supposed to see this year as being worse. We are supposed to be prepared for staff cuts, supply monitoring, increase in class size and perhaps even curriculum cuts (music, art and PE are not mandated parts of the curriculum so they are on the chopping block.). Because of this, the discussion of going to a 4 day school week is now under discussion. The first response to this suggestion was “Parents won’t like it because they will have to come up with and pay for child care.” I hate to say it, but my thought to that was, “School is NOT free daycare!”

But it got me to wondering, in the numerous districts that have gone to a 4 day school week, how have teachers, students and parents adapted? What changes have occurred, both positive and negative? Would you recommend it for another district? What tweaking would you do if you could make changes to your 4 day program? There is a lot of research out there about 4 day weeks, but I would like to hear from those who are living it. So if there is anyone out there reading this blog in this situation, PLEASE share. Anyone else not in this situation – what are your opinions? I would love to start a dialog about this topic.

I pulled this article from ABC’s news section…thought it was interesting and would share.

“The Calif. Gov. Wants to Save Money by Dumping Printed Books for Online Texts; Is it Feasible?

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is taking a page from high school science books in an effort to shrink California’s $24 billion budget gap.

In fact, he wants to take the entire book — and do away with it.

By next fall, Governor Schwarzenegger intends to make free, open-source digital textbooks available for high school math and science classes throughout California, a move that he says will help reduce the more than $350 million the state spends annually on educational materials.

Some critics doubt the idea will result in any immediate cost savings — and question a plan that might require investment in technology and teacher training at a time when schools face deep budget cuts.

But if California embraces open-source materials, which are now increasingly used on college campuses, a nationwide debate over traditional textbooks is bound to follow.”

Just curious as to what different teachers feel about this and what states you are from.