Hawaii is presently suffering from recession woes and just not having enough money in the state budget to pay for everything it needs to. They are proposing cutting 17 days in the school year. Wow! That's a lot! We have 176 days in our Illinois school year. Hawaii plans to have 163. The school system here is already struggling with many schools not meeting the standards. What will this do?
I taught in a rather well funded school district in Illinois but we were having to cut many fine arts programs because of increasingly tight budget constraints. In the 19 years I taught there, the number of school days children were in session was never touched because of state law. Therefore it feels like the earth is shaking to think they are robbing not just a few days out of a child's school life but well over 2 weeks! The super bright kids will survive this but for those children who we even provided free after school tutoring, this is crushing.
You may think Hawaii is paradise but the weather is steamy right now and lots of people are hot under the collar.
P.S. I just noticed in the comments that you've mentioned cutting sports. Interestingly, Art who is a real sports nut said the same thing. He feels at times like these, sports should go before anything else. I'm not saying to cut the Physical Education program. That is important for every child's health. Just leave out sports for a while until we're back on our feet.
My daughter and her husband are public school teachers. When the union was just on the brink of settling matters, Maria thought they would have unpaid holidays. They were shocked that furloughs were proposed, instead. They ended up voting for the furlough plan, but are not happy about it.
ReplyDeleteit's a time of tightening everywhere, but it's sad when it comes to schools and education
ReplyDeleteIn a more perfect world, education wouldn't be cut no matter how hard times get---why shortchange the future for a quick fix now?
ReplyDeleteWhat really hurts me is that the arts are always the first to go; so many schools no longer have a librarian or drama programme while buying bleachers and scoreboards and sports equipment worth tens of thousands. I guess I'd feel differently about it if I were swimmer instead of a writer! LOL
Will there be any protests or fundraisers or anything else to address the budget cuts?
Nice photo Kay. I do not believe the school days should be cut. It seems to me that education should be the top priority. I think cutting sports programs first should be the way to go. I know alot will disagree with that, but football here now has two teams in the high school plus now from Grade 4 to 8th there are teams. Its very, very expensive. Kudos to teachers who have to work with less and less each year but are dedicated to the students.
ReplyDeleteAbsolute horror! Education should be the last thing that's cut - are they suggesting that two weeks of every school year is unnecessary for children; that two week's worth of the things taught each year is unimportant? I have no doubt that savings could be made in education, but how about cutting some of the state administrative staff, or inspections, or red tape? The last thing to be sacrificed is the future.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad when it concerns the education system....hope things get better for the people all over the world very soon.
ReplyDeleteI am a believer that the school year should be year round...maybe 12 weeks of school and then 2 weeks off, 12 more weeks and then 2 weeks off, and then a third 12 weeks school and 2 weeks off. More continuity. It breaks up the 6 weeks of summer break and keeps the kids focused year round.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to see where so many of the cuts are being made. The schools are certainly the worst. We haven't seen this here in WA -- yet! But they did close down the entire library system for an entire week a couple of months ago. I'm waiting to see if they plan on doing it again any time soon!
ReplyDeleteSylvia
Wow! First your libraries, now this. It is so sad that often the most important things are the first to be cut by people who do not understand.
ReplyDeleteWow! This is the 2nd post I've seen on this topic. As a teacher, I would love to see a longer school day but only 4 days per week to save money on utilities and bus gas. Then it should last all year long with 2-week breaks between quarters. That makes so much more sense to me for so many reasons.
ReplyDeleteThat does sound like a desperate idea. Be sure to let us know how things work out.
ReplyDeleteIn Utah teachers are already doing more with less. Our cost per student is the lowest in the nation. We have no real librarians (just aides); no school nurses; school psychologists work with multiple schools; no specialists for PE, art, or music. In order to accommodate our growing population, many elementary schools went year-round. I loved it! Twelve weeks on then three off--just what a teacher needs who has to cover the entire curriculum.
It is difficult to decide what has to happen to balance a budget.
Our schools here have 200 school days! That´s some difference! Hope they find a better solution!
ReplyDeleteExcept for grade school, sports usually bring in money to the schools, which is why those programs are usually the last things cut.
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher I can't imagine what could be more important than educating the children. Necessities are being cut to ensure luxuries. One year I had to purchase a case of writing paper for my class room because the state thought that 2 reams per semester should be sufficient. That was the same school year we were told the state expected us to raise our writing proficiency scores at least 10%.
Sad news...,my friend in California was telling me about some proposed cuts at the school that she works at.
ReplyDeleteI think the Arts are important...PE is important. Sports would be my choice too, if I had kids in school!
yeah costs cutting & saving budget is going in almost every sector but I think it's just not appropriate to apply the same to school!
ReplyDeleteThey should start by cutting salaries of top administrative staff, bet they won't do that! Cut some of those specialists'salaries (those who semi-tutor 2 or 3 students per session), put those teachers back in the classroom. Cut spending on some of those ridiculous manipulatives, get back to basics - already!
ReplyDeleteUh-0hooo! I'm getting stirred up, better stop here.
Great post, Kay.
I always feel that sports programs SHOULD be cut back. When a kid spends an exceptional amount of time daily at team practice it's gone overboard. Phys ed, definitely; other sports, yes. But, pick a sport & keep the season short enough to make it less time consuming than school itself.
ReplyDeleteI loved the schools overseas my kids went to as a rule. The schooling was usually year around with breaks. The days were shorter too, but the homework load was often a killer. The upside is they got excellent educations, speak several languages, and were well prepared to excell in university.
They also played sports, but only one major sport per year. Couldn't have damaged them much as all made their university teams and a couple still play or coach.
so students n teachers hv more holidays..that's good..
ReplyDeleteI love your new top photo. Is there anywhere in Hawaii that isn't beautiful?
ReplyDeleteI don't feel qualified to comment on the school situation except to say that if a certain number of days has always been considered necessary to give a child a decent education, it seems wrong to cut it without several years' study and consultation (and whose budget would that come from?).
Just stopping by to tell you the header photo is lovely!
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