I am sitting with
my son at the park and he looks up at me and says, “Mom thanks for letting me
take the bus this year I really like riding with my friends.” I think to
myself, “Enjoy it now kid because by next year I won’t be able to afford for
you to take it, thanks to the new budget cuts.” Budget cuts have been affecting
so many of our schools nation-wide and it has finally reached the town where I
live, Westport. As many of us hear “budget cuts” we assume the worst, I know I
do, but is it as bad as everyone makes it out to be?
Last summer during
window replacement PCB was found, a suspected carcinogen, in the middle school that cost
the town $3.2 million. (Hershberg, Shoreline) The PCB cleanup consisted of
removing contaminated materials (including caulk, ceiling tiles, and rugs),
cleaning, ventilation, and moving furniture and other objects around the
school. Forty percent of the schools budget was used for the cleanup. The town
recently had a vote to increase the town taxes 2.5 percent each year, but it
didn’t pass. Unfortunately, our children are being punished for something out
of our control.
As a mother of a
child who attends the Westport Elementary School I have my concerns for the
recent announcement of budget cuts. As a mother I want the best for my child
and education is at the top of that list. I don’t want to see my son in a school
with oversized classrooms, loosing the opportunity to play a sport, or not be
able to participate in an after school program. As an unemployed single mother
I am concerned about the revenue adjustments including bus transportation
charges and the increased prices of lunches.
I,
like many others, do not support budget cuts in the education system. One
budget cut happening in many states across the country is shorter schools days.
It is obvious that the longer time spent in school the more the student tends
to learn. American students are already being cut short compared to students in
Germany and South Korea. “German
children spend 20 more days in school ... and South Koreans over a month more.
Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of
school, equivalent to an entire year.” (The News Tribune). Luckily, shorter
school days have not reached Westport yet and hopefully it never will.
With budget cuts come teacher lay-offs. Three
teachers from the Westport Elementary School may be eliminated, unfortunately
resulting in oversized classrooms. It has been proven smaller classrooms do
better than children in larger classroom sizes. An experiment was conducted
called project STAR, which compared two classroom sizes, small and large, over
a four-year span. The results showed that the children in the smaller classroom
had an 11.5 percent increase in high school graduation rates. It also showed
those students had strong math and reading skills. (SheKnows Editors, She
Knows).
Another negative impact from budget cuts is
the difference between the lower income students and higher income students. Students
from the higher incomes are more likely to achieve than the low-income
students. This imbalance increases when education budget cuts increase, making
the parents pay for more of the educational costs, such as, music lessons,
weekend sports, books, supplies, and tutoring services. (Taverise, New York
Times). Unfortunately, the students coming from lower income families are being
deprived achievement.
Although I don’t agree with budget cuts on
education there are some positives that come from it. One positive side to
budget cuts are not raising the taxes. By raising the property taxes families
may loose their homes due to foreclosure or evictions. As the taxes increase
homeowners no longer can afford to pay the mortgage or keep up with their
rental property. In some cases this may lead to homelessness.
Another good thing about budget cuts is
schools are forced to find more efficient ways of spending money. For starters
schools could decrease the amount of paper being used. Instead of using paper
newsletters teachers could email parents instead. Teachers could also use
computer programs instead of textbooks. Imagine the amount of paper you could
save just in textbooks alone. “The
paper used in providing a three hundred-page textbook to one teachers'
one-hundred-and-twenty-five students amounts to 37,500 sheets of paper.”(Tuttle,
Hotchalk) Not only is the use of computers saving on paper, but it also
benefits the children by learning more on a technical level.
Another way budget cuts can be positive is
it forces staff and students to become more energy efficient to cut cost. Schools
in New York City have installed motion-censored lights and unplug their
refrigerators and freezers during the summer months. Since the changes in 2008 energy
consumption is down eleven percent. (Hu, New York Times). One school spent
seventy-five dollars on stickers and placed them on light fixtures, computers,
and printers as a reminder to turn them off when not in use. Not only do these
steps save money, but it is also a good lesson for our children to get in the
habit of doing.
Budget cuts are affecting out children’s
education in so many ways. By creating shorter school days, creating oversized
classrooms, and adding more financial burden on lower income families we are
hurting our children. They are not receiving the quality education they
deserve. Although, these cuts are not what we want for our children there are
still some good that comes from it. By not raising taxes this is helping the
low income families from possibly loosing their homes. Promoting energy
conservation and decreasing the amount of paper being used not only helps the
environment, but is also a good lesson to teach our children. Nothing has been
set in stone when it comes to the budget cuts in Westport. I can only hope it is
not as bad as they predict and bus transportation is affordable so my son can
continue to take it.
