The news is full of stories noting the impending layoffs of thousands of US teachers as of the end of this school year, and those are just those school systems that have made the final decisions to cut staff to meet stringent budget cuts coming down from State government offices for this year.
Ongoing economic stresses have reduced enrollments for private, reducing the need for staff levels and increasing scholarship demands. Public and charter schools have been hit hard due to reduced budget contributions by state and local governments. Most public and charter schools have had no choice but to reduce staff.
What does this mean to our schools, our kids and our nation as a whole? Now, in lieu of fighting a war to reform our education system, we are faced with the need to do it without our teachers, the lieutenants and captains in the ranks of our schools. Classrooms, already bulging with more children than can be effectively taught by one or even two teachers, will increase in size to make up for the lack of staff.
Anyone who has ever spent time in a school classroom understands that the work of a teacher is not just to teach the required skills, but to mentor, guide, counsel and often police to some degree, the children in their classroom. From bullying to home crises, teachers need to have the ability to divide their attention among their students as needed during the school day.
Reduced staff and larger, more crowded classrooms will reduce teachers’ ability to handle these
needs for their students , making the school day more difficult for the children and less effective overall. As always, the ultimate victims are the kids.
The time for change is now. Since the State governments are not ready to support our teachers and our schools, it is our responsibility to demand adequate resources for our schools.
You may also offer volunteer one day a week at your local school, or offer to help a teacher with the cost of supplies. Attend school board meetings so your voice is heard and to increase your understanding of what is happening in your district.
Posted By: Paul Adams
Tuesday, May 11th 2010 at 1:57PM
You can also
click
here to view all posts by this author...
