http://insidesuffolk.community.officelive.com/Documents/letter-suffolk-school-board-budget.pdf
In her letter to the School Board Debra Wahlstrom cited many sensible ways to trim much from the present school budget. They are worth a read by any taxpayer. Certainly the School Board should pay close attention, and the Superintendent. You can read them by COPYING AND POSTING IN YOUR search engine.
And you can also see the School budget by clicking on the blue wording in Debra's Post A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.
4 comments:
The discussion of prolonging the school year is mute. Too many special interest groups oppose this action. Rather than find reasons to make the year longer and creating another excuse for school administrations to ask for greater funding, we should advocate creating an environment of competition. This rational approach is missing in the discussions. Government schools must be forced into competition for the limited public dollars available with private-public partnerships, private schools, home schooling and vouchers. Only when school administrators and teachers understand they are being held accountable for their performance will we ever regain control and improve the quality of education for our children. Merit pay and other band-aid incentives are a secondary concern. What is the opinion of the school board incumbents and challengers.
Whomever brought this up - thanks.
In my 34 suggestions, I don't support lengthening the school year, but rather support items that can be immediately done to deal with reducing the budget. As George aptly states in one of his posts, we still need to get to the weeds in the budget.
Additionally, lengthening the school year does no good if other factors in the district are not as aligned as they need to be. In terms of improving achievement in a district, there are some things that need to be done before others.
I believe that competition is good for education and is a viable tool for improving learning for all of the students we serve. I also believe that everyone should be accountable for their performance, whether it be teachers, administrators, or any of the support staff in the school district.
I also believe that it should be the choice of the PARENT to determine where his or her child attends school. Parents don't have this choice right now; students go into their zoned schools. Parents get to choose just about everything else - their doctor, their stores, their churches, and more. But they don't have much choice when it comes to where their children attend school. Additional types of schools would provide parents with additional choices - especially if the money stays with the student. i welcome other venues for providing a great education for students.
The latest examples of Suffolk's government school programs are the marching band, theater players and sports teams. Does anyone but me think there is something wrong with this picture and the priorities of the school system? Not very long ago our hometown newspaper the one that cares about Suffolk, had a school insert featuring pages of excirricular activities but very little committed to improving academic performance. Where was the SNH's staff report or their opinion demanding accountability from the School Board. If Johnny doesn't get a sports scholorship, will he aspire to a career as a welfare dependent for life? If Jane fails to sing and dance her way to Hollywood, is she going to have an illigitimate child at 17 and no prospect for a career other than kids for cash. Please lets get our priorities straight.
I stopped by the Assessor's office yesterday to see if the data was out. They told me that it was "at the printer's and would be in the mail on Monday..." Nothing else was said...
Post a Comment