So many people last night were packed into the 740-seat auditorium that the Suffolk Fire Marshal’s Office sent deputy marshals to bring the crowd under control. Those not seated had to leave the auditorium causing a few heated arguments. Parents remaining served as lobbyists for curriculum necessary for a proper education. Cheryl Landy pleaded with the School Board not to close schools or increase class sizes. “Overcrowding affects both students and teachers,” Landy said. “When a teacher must struggle to simply maintain order in a crowded classroom, the likelihood increases that they will suffer from burnout.” Is that teachers or students? That was a key statement and frames 50% of public school problems, lack of discipline. Others encouraged higher taxes and pay cuts for administration as a way to close the funding gap. We should be grateful that only City Council could raise taxes and not the School Board. One mother concerned about cutting the arts said that participating in the band has kept her daughter out of trouble. We find that interesting. The fact that almost a thousand attended the meeting is encouraging. Board chairwoman Lorraine Skeeter asked the crowd to refrain from applauding the citizen speakers. That was ignored in favor of even standing ovations. The parents were better at lobbying than finding the money.
Apparently the Supt suggests 126 ees could retire early and save 2.7 million, a good start on the nine million. And close 3 schools with 37 positions and save 1.6 million. But the board would rather not consider that. Hooray for the board's spine but they will have to come up with better ideas than Dr. Liverman. If they did both it adds only to 4.3 million. Cutting fat salaries won't do it. And we need solutions to cover several years, not just next year.
13 comments:
I hope no one from talented contributors of IS shared their critical thinking at KFHS last night. It would have been a waste of time. The meeting was largely driven by emotion and special interest groups staking out their turf much like city council budget meetings of the past.
Little could be said that would have constructively changed the path the School Board is taking by deflecting responsibility to those holding the purse strings. The next stop for last night's +1000 participants will be City Council Chambers. Ah the good old days are back again. Lets remember their mantra as they spent their way into this mess; It's all for the children.
If the parents and students believe in the arts let them pay for their children to participate in these non-SOL programs. Drop expensive sports programs or find alternative sources for raising funds like car wash, fish fry, raffles, etc.. Back in the good old days, schools were for learning and sports was after school paid with private dollars. Somehow the school board lost the purpose of what a school is about. Now they are a nanny system of baby sitting, food service, transportation service, clubs, social network groups, arts, theater and sports, sports, sports. The emphasis on learning has been lost and the testing scores show it.
Private businesses no longer have the resources to teach the dumbed down high school graduates. Suffolk Moms and Dads will just have to take care of their little gems if they can't find a job because they are woefully unprepared.
I agree with Denis as a core content teacher in Suffolk I have realized that sports are ruling the schools. The sports teams have much of the funding and the small academic clubs and organizations get no recognition and no extra funding. I always have band students and chorus students come to my door to purchase fundraising candles, candy, tickets etc but never once has a football player come to my door for any donations which proves where all the money is going. Unfortuantely the School Board has made up their minds, it is not their choice but the governments that sent down this required budget cut. On the other hand it is hard to try your best as a teaching when the superintendent is making well into the $100,000's and doesnt have to deal with the behavior problems and other daily distractions.
Actually, last night was the product of our progressive educational system in America. Parents were taught that the government is suppose to take care of the them and their whinning and sniveling validated what a great job our system has done. All last night was about was you owe me this and I don't have to pay for non-essential activities. Gee, maybe parents will be thankful that their council pays $500K a year for the unused Arts Center and another $400K for the unused Hilton Garden Inn. Last time I looked, the Constitution did not indicated education was a right. I personally am tired as a taxpayer paying for every student's extracurricular activities and paying a bunch of education administrators that are not performing but hauling done big bucks. Let's save $200K a year and get rid of the Superintendent since he is not capable of producing a budget which reflects the consequences of his incompetence over the years. Wake up city council and get a pass to the "clue" bus and hop onboard.
I've got a solution ... let's take the schools that are going going to be closed and turn them into charter schools. Let's face it competition works.
Sports loving parents and others in the public schools should be willing to pay higher tickets fees to watch the children play in a government school sporting event. This will cover ALL maintenance costs, facilities use, staffing and coach(unless they voulunteer HA-HA) expense, transportation expenses and equipment. When the parents and students realize the costs involved, they WILL look at the funding challenge in a different light.
A grade school education is necessary for our children to participate in and contribute to the success of our community. We cannot abandon our children's education just because the current situation is unsat. We must look for a tenable solution. I believe we can make this an opportunity to make a better school system that allocates money more wisely.
Putting the burden of paying for all non-core activities on parents will drive increased economic stratification. It is not a solution. Grade school must present opportunities for students to get excited about learning and gain life experience beyond that available from their parents. Our children's realization that they can achieve great things is key to improving our community.
Our greatest challenge in the current situation is that the administration is not sufficiently threatened to cause them to take the actions necessary to fix the problem. Many of those actions have been mentioned in other comments. Their jobs and salaries are not on the line, as was pointed out in another blog on Inside Suffolk. They have little incentive to do anything besides cut programs that fit the current budget shortfall.
The turnout and enthusiasm of the crowd at KFHS is a step in the right direction. The school administration must feel the pressure in order for corrective action to make a real difference.
Modpod must have been a product our great school system. The government is responsible for taking care me. Here's Modpop's direct quote, "Putting the burden of paying for all non-core activities on parents will drive increased economic stratification. It is not a solution." Once again, no solution offered just whinning and sniveling. Each of us is personally accountable and responsible for managing our finances. If it is not in the family budget, then don't tell me I am personally accountable and responsible for paying for someone else's activities. I am tired of the progressives like Mompop dumping their pathetic excuses about how the community owes it to Johnny or Suzy. You Sir, need to pay to play just like my parents did when I was growing up. We need to start burdening the community with activities we can't afford and don't want to pay for. A business is not going to survive if it does not make hard decisions. Why on earth can't government make the hard decisions?
We have no choise but to focus on academics. The schools are tested on academics and the future of this country relies upon it. When will parents realize their children will only excell in the world of the mind and not the brawn? Hoping your child is special because of sports or arts, is the same as they believing they are the next winner of Dancing with the Stars or American Idol. Parents lets get real for a moment and face the world with a clear head. Your kid IS NOT a sports superstar, they have talent but it's not exceptional and they need a lifetime career or be dependent on society or you for the rest of their lives. Unless you are as detached from reality as the Suffolk School Board, you need to come to conclusion of what is real and what is pure fanatasy. Any parent that attended the school board meeting last week should be shaking their heads and angry as being used as a puppet to promote the School Board's agenda. If you feel cheap and used, well you deserve to be.
Where was modpop when the assessments were rising at over twenty percent? Was that person following the lead of InsideSuffolk's contributors cautioning for fiscal restraint or galdly accepting the free flow of funding programs. For years there has been more nanny state thinking among parents, and appeasement thinking among school administrators. At the time the spending spree driven by rising local assessments seemed like it would never end, well it has! No longer is there a dime to throw away or waste to appease a spoiled parent or child.
Like everything in life, giving is much easier than taking away. The School Board now has the task to make a minor 7.5% cut to a $123 million dollar budget. It shouldn't be too hard. The average household has pared back spending at far greater levels without significantly compromising non-core activities. If the American family can do it, so can government.
When parents pay out of their pockets for extra-cirricular activities, arts and other non-critical propgrams they will realize they have personal investment in the system and in their children's education. They will be monitoring spending closely and attending PTA meetings in greater numbers. This is this school administration's greatest fear. Any parent that follows the lead of this school administration is a dumbed down as this year's high school graduates.
King's Fork High School Rocked? Judging by the comments it looked more like the attendees were stoned.
This is getting exciting who will be the first to blink; Selena Cuffee-Glenn, City Council, Dr. Milton Liverman or the School Board. As expected expected letters to the SNH began flowing in before the doors at KFHS were closed Thursday night. Teachers and parents again demanding city council throw more money into a wasteful education system with no benchmarks for improved performance. Yet not one of them is willing to write a check from their personnal account to make a donation. Why is that?
Liverman gets reprieve from seriously cutting costs, at least that is what it looks like at the moment. State officials found many millions under some rock. City mothers, as Pock refers to our City Officials, breathed a sigh of relief knowing teachers and student parents expected the city to make up what appeared to be a "big difference." So now schools can continue to be wasteful.
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