I fished around in the office supply cupboard looking for pencils. Pencils disappear in my library at an unbelievable rate, and students rarely have their own with them. I made a mental note to stop off at Office Depot on the way home and pick up another package of a thousand bright gold number 2 pencils so my students would have something to write with. Another expense out of my own pocket.
After 30 years of teaching, by now I am used to purchasing items such as paper, pencils, blank CDs, paperback books, crayons, etc. I have lost track of the thousands of dollars that comes out of my own pocket to buy supplies that my school cannot afford by the middle of the year.
We all do it.
Principals are given budgets based on the school population, and this money goes not just for supplies, but technology, books, printing costs, replacement furniture--all things my friends in the private sector take for granted as being provided for them. With the economy the way it is, it is sometimes impossible to ask parents to chip in more than they invest in September because they don't have money to spare, either.
And the legislature keeps cutting.
We are hurting way beyond supplies at this point. The permanent stain on the ceiling tiles of my library cant be replaced anytime soon. The oldest part of our school was built in 1935 and the sewer backs up and it smells like a barn out there. History books in Federal Way list Bill Clinton as our current President. The school that won a Gates Grant and received a huge amount of new technology now finds it cannot afford to replace batteries in laptops nor bulbs in LCD projectors. Chances are, your child sits in a classroom of 30 or more kids. Those who are lucky enough to be in a smaller class today are going to find themselves surrounded by more classmates next year. This means your child will get fewer minutes individually with his or her teacher. It means less innovation in teaching methods because there is just no room to spread out and not enough money to fix that broken laptop.
Is this what the citizens of Washington want for their kids?
From this morning's Seattle Times:
The list of education programs that can be cut by the Legislature because they do not fall under basic education is relatively short, but they add up to billions of dollars.
Lawmakers this year are looking to cut nearly $5 billion from the state budget for the next two years. Nearly $2 billion will likely come from K-12 education.
Here are the education cuts already on the discussion table for the next biennium, most of which are part of the governor's budget proposal:
- A total of $1 billion from two different class-size reduction programs, one of which was authorized by voters in 2000 .
- A 6.3 percent cut in levy equalization - money that goes to "property poor" districts that have trouble raising local tax dollars. Many lawmakers oppose this idea, but it would save $39.5 million.
- About $99.5 million in teacher bonuses for earning national board certification.
- A suspension of salary-step increases would cut another $56.3 million from teacher pay.
- Voter-approved teacher cost-of-living raises amounting to $253.3 million.
- About $18.6 million for gifted or "highly capable" education.
- More than $37 million for a variety of teacher training, mentoring and continuing education programs.
- About $57 million would be saved by not expanding all-day kindergarten to more school districts.
- Another $95.6 million would be saved if the state changes the way it supports the replacement of old school buses.
- About $40 million could be saved in the next biennium by putting off the state's science and math graduation requirements. Eliminating all the graduation requirements related to the High School Proficiency Exam could save more than $84 million.
That list adds up to about $1.7 billion.
Get your National Board Certification at a cost of several thousand dollars? Thanks, but we won't reward you for it--no money.
Studies show that kids in all day kindergarten make many more significant learning gains than those who attend half-day class? Sorry, no money if you live in the wrong district.
Your child is 2-3 grade levels ahead of his or her peers in math? Sorry, there is no more money to send your child to a half-day gifted program.
If you have chosen to live in an area of the state that has a small tax rate, your schools will no longer receive funding to help make them more equitable with the large districts west of the mountains.
Another piece of cost cutting is being disguised as considering tenure when laying off teachers. Most would like you to accept the argument that older teachers are less effective than those fresh out of college. Those older teachers often have their master's degree and years of additional training to hone their craft. This translates into dollars, as teachers reach higher levels on the pay scale for doing this, although after attaining the maximum level, pay stagnates at that level unless the legislature approves a raise. I have been at the top of the scale for 10 years. I continue to take more classes even though it wont benefit me financially because this training will make me a better teacher.
On top of all of this, President Obama and Arne Duncan are telling us that only excellence in teaching is acceptable, and test scores will determine who is an excellent teacher. They tell us that we must adopt the Core Curriculum standards if we want to receive federal money, even though the national standards are not as strong as the ones we already have in place in Washington state. At the state level, they tell us we must have 100% of all students at 100% mastery in all subjects by 2014 (or 2019 depending on grade level and subject) even though our classes will be larger and will still include special needs children and English Language Learners.
The WASL is now the MSP and will be done on computers. What?
Your school only has 5 computers and 500 students? Well, you need to buy some!
Updated by fireflynw at Tue Feb 22, 2011, 12:42:57 AM
Thank you all for your recommends..this is the very first time I have made the rec list and it is a very nice feeling. Thanks to kos and the rescue rangers for creating the community spotlight...
I encourage everyone who has a diary knocking around inside your head to get it down on your screen and publish it!