This is a crappy way to grow citizens.
We got the news today that Dutch's school will be cutting its PE teacher and music teacher for next year. The remaining cuts are not yet confirmed, but are likely to be reductions to the school counselor, librarian, and reading specialist positions, for a total reduction of 1.3 FTE between them.
I don't know what that means to you, but I think it's staggering. These cuts bring the school down to almost bare bones, and there's every reason to expect that the following year the bones will be cleaned down to classroom teachers, admin staff, janitorial staff, and cafeteria staff. That's all. No art, no music, no physical activity, no extra support for kids who need it. I can't see how they'll cover teachers' planning time; I have to assume it'll involve students watching a lot of movies. I don't even see how they'll supervise recess, honestly. Maybe they'll cut that, too.
I also assume that every family at Dutch's school that has the money to send their kids to private school will at least seriously consider doing so. Those kids will leave, and what remains will be a community without deep pockets from which to fund-raise to cover any extras, and a population of kids who really need the resources they can no longer have.
What kind of society is this? I guess this is what anti-tax people want. I don't understand why, though. I just don't get it at all. When people say they want to shrink government, what kind of a future do they see? One in which stuff like sewer/road/water/parks/etc infrastructure is built and maintained only in rich communities? One in which only rich people's kids get anything good? Is that really what they want? Have they thought this through AT ALL?
I don't know what that means to you, but I think it's staggering. These cuts bring the school down to almost bare bones, and there's every reason to expect that the following year the bones will be cleaned down to classroom teachers, admin staff, janitorial staff, and cafeteria staff. That's all. No art, no music, no physical activity, no extra support for kids who need it. I can't see how they'll cover teachers' planning time; I have to assume it'll involve students watching a lot of movies. I don't even see how they'll supervise recess, honestly. Maybe they'll cut that, too.
I also assume that every family at Dutch's school that has the money to send their kids to private school will at least seriously consider doing so. Those kids will leave, and what remains will be a community without deep pockets from which to fund-raise to cover any extras, and a population of kids who really need the resources they can no longer have.
What kind of society is this? I guess this is what anti-tax people want. I don't understand why, though. I just don't get it at all. When people say they want to shrink government, what kind of a future do they see? One in which stuff like sewer/road/water/parks/etc infrastructure is built and maintained only in rich communities? One in which only rich people's kids get anything good? Is that really what they want? Have they thought this through AT ALL?
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