Last week I told
you about naming this year’s Next-Generation Student Council, a group that I started a few years ago. This group represents students across
Kentucky. I meet with them in person or virtually three or four times a year. The
group is always energetic and they have tremendous ideas on how to improve
public education.
We had our initial meeting for 2013-14 this week and we
discussed a multitude of issues. One issue that I asked students to respond to
was concerning budget cuts. I asked students if they had observed the impact of
state education budget cuts in their school or district. Here are some of their responses.
• "The fees for my science club went up from $30 to $90 this year
since the school and district were no longer able to support the
club due to state budget cuts."
since the school and district were no longer able to support the
club due to state budget cuts."
• "I have a cousin who is a special education student who lost his
teacher assistant this year due to budget cuts. My cousin is
having a difficult time in class since he does not have the assistant
to help."
teacher assistant this year due to budget cuts. My cousin is
having a difficult time in class since he does not have the assistant
to help."
• "Our school eliminated several science classes. My school no longer
offers physics due to budget cuts."
offers physics due to budget cuts."
• "My school eliminated several extracurricular clubs due to
budget cuts."
budget cuts."
• "My school eliminated several art and music classes due to
budget cuts."
budget cuts."
• "My school lost a full time librarian due to budget cuts."
• "Our computers are slow and the school has no funding to
replace them."
replace them."
• "Our internet at school is slow and there is no money to increase
bandwidth."
bandwidth."
• "Class sizes are larger at my school due to budget cuts."
• "My school does not have funding to offer several math and science
classes that I need for my future career."
classes that I need for my future career."
• "Our school district told my school they had to increase class size
due to budget cuts."
due to budget cuts."
• "Our school district eliminated funding for small classes and told our
school to focus more on general education classes that have larger
enrollment. I lost several classes I needed for my career interest."
school to focus more on general education classes that have larger
enrollment. I lost several classes I needed for my career interest."
• "Students in our automotive technology class lost their instructor
and had to take another class. My principal said these students
would not be able to meet career-ready requirements since
they lost the automotive class."
and had to take another class. My principal said these students
would not be able to meet career-ready requirements since
they lost the automotive class."
• "My calculus textbook is falling apart and teacher says we cannot
get replacements due to budget cuts."
get replacements due to budget cuts."
It was
very painful for me listen to the reality of budget cuts in our schools. I know
our Kentucky teachers and administrators are doing an amazing job every day –
the results certainly show the tremendous progress we are making. However, it
must be very discouraging to our teachers who are taking money out of their own
pockets to support what children need in their classrooms. It is also
discouraging to students and parents who often have to raise funds in order to
provide for basics like school supplies and technology. The most depressing
statement comes from the student who is unable to fulfill his/her dreams of being
a scientist or an automotive engineer because the school was not able to offer
classes the student needed to meet college and career ready expectations.
Definitely. Why would they cut the budget for the education of the children? There have been a lot of current education issues regarding this and it is still a problem until now.
ReplyDeleteThanks ffor sharing this
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