To start off this blog, I will be discussing the budget crunch. Due to a recent scare of drastic budget cuts at the end of last school year, it has been a hot topic in our school district. Thankfully, the district was frugal in the past with their finances and many were blessed to keep their jobs.
In order to pinpoint the discussion this is my question. Why is the budget crisis and school reform talked about in the same sentence?
(The US Department of Education isn’t giving up hope, either: “We are confident that as states continue to invest stimulus dollars in their schools, the funds will not only go towards saving jobs but to investing in reform,” writes deputy press secretary Sandra Abrevaya in an e-mail.)
This excerpt was taken from http://ednews.org/articles/for-schools-use-of-stimulus-money-falls-short-of-big-hopes-.html
After working in a school setting for my first year, I do see need to reform. Students see education strictly as a right and not a privilege while some students find it hard to find their niche in the education world. It is a bummer that the financial crisis hit right in the middle of a big push for reform. Reform is a daunting task alone, but mixed with financial crisis, it is extremely daunting. Do not misunderstand me, true reform is NOT more money being pumped into the system. It takes a lot more than that, but it is hard to focus on a financial problem and an education problem all at once.
BREAKING NEWS!!! (I am pondering this stuff while writing.)
Maybe this is exactly what we need to reform education. We need a budget crunch in order to avoid band-aiding the problem with a "quick fix billion." We need to start getting frugal with our money and innovate the system. An example of one school trying can be found at http://ednews.org/articles/scrimp-avoid-quick-fixes-watch-academic-achievement-rise.html.
Maybe this is what the Dept. of Education was speaking of.
So, I am opening this question up for discussion. Should we be focusing on the budget crisis and reform at the same time? Or should we stabilize the finances and then reform the system?
My initial thought was to stabilize first and then reform, but, like I said, now may be the time to kill both birds with a big rock. I think the past has shown that big money does not equal big results. America already puts in large amounts of money, but does not see high scores compared to other countries. (I know this is also a hot topic) Maybe the issue is more with our attitude as a nation than with amounts of money.
Let me know your thoughts and we can continue the discussion.
Philip Russell
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I like the idea of making good financial choices and sticking to it. In the article I appreciate the quote, ""Staying true to one program and giving it time to take root is the key." How many times has a district spent money on a "new system" only to have it vanish in a few short years. Just this year in my district, a reading program that the teachers were finally getting the hang of was taken away. At the first staff meeting the title one teacher said, "Oh ya, you don't have to do Rigby testing this year." There was no discussion from the teachers. When asked how we were supposed to be measuring students reading progress, the title one teacher told us that we would get information in the spring.
ReplyDeleteAlso, when I read the posted article, I thought about having a class size of 30. If I had enough support, I think it would be manageable. I could tailor lessons to the students individual needs and have the support para follow through with the lesson. It would be a lot of planning but I can understand how students would thrive.
With the United States spending a disproportionate amount of money in education based on the results we are seeing it is only logical to call for reform. But as you point out, at this time we are facing a triage of crises in American economics and politics, educational reform gets pushed to the back burner. When are we going to learn that education is directly tied to the economy (actually, Obama has said this multiple times and stressed this on the campaign trail)? It is short sighted to take money away from education now to solve our current economic problems as I believe we are seeing the product of the same situation from back in 80's.
ReplyDeleteSo to answer your question of whether we should be fixing both problems at once or fixing the economy first, I would say that it is imperative to do both simultaneously. Our economic system is broken as is our educational system. They are interdependent both are both doomed to fail if one is weak. We have the resources socially and financially to achieve this, but as far as educational reform is concerned, a philosophical reformatting is required instead of throwing money at the issue.
cheers,
ct
I was struck personally by the part about the stimulus money going to the appropriate places. Let me be the first to say that it doesn't always get to the places it was intended. It did not go towards saving my job. My position was reduced to 60%. Yet, my district is building a "fitness" room, remodeling the business managers office, making a parking lot... I could go on, but I think you get the picture! The money is there, it just needs to get into the right hands to be spent appropriately.
ReplyDeleteI feel that it is necessary to take on both aspects of the budget crisis and education reform at the same time. You just can't fix one without the other. You can't pay your visa bill with your master card and expect both things to nicely balance out. It would just continue to be a vicious cycle to operate that way. They both need to be adjusted to avoid further disaster.
I see the budget crunch as pushing districts to reform responsibly. Reform shouldn’t stop for the budget crisis. Should reform ever really stop at all? Osmond A. Church School dedicated its effort to one program. They spent enough money to implement it correctly and have taken the time to let it work. Yes, they had to cut some programs, but kept the Core Knowledge. If we have x amount to spend, lets spend it wisely. Administration sometimes spends too quickly on the latest fix.
ReplyDeleteI am not a fan of throwing tax dollars at problem because when the feds are involved it seems to always go the wrong way. I am not sure the states can do much better to tell the truth. I would like to see reform across board from unions, standards, high school sports, and anything that involves public education. So my vote it reform then come up with a plan for spending.
ReplyDeleteFinance and function are two very different issues. The existing system will dictate how funds are spent and leveraged. The current means of funding are not sustainable. I feel that reform and finance issues should be taken on at the same time. both problems are not going away any time soon so i do not see any benefit in putting one off. Any district getting extra money should make capital improvements in energy production. Schools and government buildings should be covered with solar cells. This will lowers the operating cost of the building and free up money long term for things like teachers pay and other improvements. If schools lower operating costs they will be in a better position the next time the economy take a dive. This type of forward thinking is what should be apart of reform as well as finance.
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