Education cuts are happening everywhere and it’s getting scary for teachers and parents alike. In early March, hundreds of school employees marched at the Arizona Capitol to protest further cuts to education and similar protests have happened across the country.
As an employee in the same school district for nearly 10 years, I don’t fear for my job. Whether I will have the same position next year is another question. But more important to me is the impact all these cuts will have on our children.
It would be a challenge to name a school district that isn’t struggling to make ends meet next year, or this year for that matter. And with our state budget not finalized, many districts are playing a guessing game with their own budget and teacher contracts. Some are proposing cuts to classroom teachers, maintenance staff, and classified staff, if not all three. Add to that the cuts to supplies, transportation, textbooks, library books, etc.
I understand the need to cut, and there probably isn’t a perfect solution. But when I hear that classroom teachers will be cut, I get worried. Worried that my own child will suffer because, as a second grader, she will have 30 other children in her class. And worried that our classes that already have 30 students may end up with more.
It also scares me that classified staff members may be cut—both positions and, for those that get to keep their jobs, hours. Teachers depend on office staff, cafeteria help, instructional aides, and library clerks. Without them, teachers cannot be effective in the classroom. Classified staff members are the backbone of our schools and they impact our students just as much as the classroom teacher.
School districts are responsible for making their budget work and the Legislature is responsible for distributing the funding districts need to help our schools be successful. With our Legislature continuing to cut funding to education in Arizona, how can our school districts hold up their end of the deal?
I don’t know what the magic solution is, but surely continuing to cut funding is not it. What is happening in your state or school district? Is there anything we, as educators, can do to help?
