Education is one of the most important things for our children, yet the public school systems are suffering. In our county the public school is facing a major hurdle as full funding for the school year was not made available by our Board of Supervisors. What that means is that cuts are going to be made. Drastic cuts- that are hurtful for students and teachers.
There is talk about a four day school week with extended hours. That would mean children would potentially be at school until 5pm. Other recommendations are closing smaller schools, firing teachers, getting rid of sports, larger class sizes and more.
The heartbreaking part is this sort of thing is happening all throughout the country- not just in my local area. I called my mom to rant and she insisted that the school system that I went to in California is in the same boat. Teachers being forced to take furlough days and not transportation for children. These budget problems are not just limited to public schools. I also read that one of the community colleges I attended is potentially cutting 29 programs due to budget cuts. So sad!
I don’t know how to fix this problem and I HATE politics. Hubby and I feel strongly that a four day school week would not be beneficial for our children. I can’t imagine Capt. M sitting in class that long. He has a hard enough time focusing now. And that brings me to my next worry- bigger class sizes. Capt. M says his class is loud and he can’t concentrate. I can only imagine it will get worse if the class size increases.
So what do we do?
I brought up home school and hubby gave me the deer in the headlight look! So we talked about moving, the problem is our property assessment just came in last week and the value of our land has decreased substantially. That means selling our house is out. Of course we could send the boys to a private school but that would mean hubby would need to get a job. Having hubby home with the boys has been a true blessing this last year.
At this point we are just going to sit tight and closely monitor the public school situation. The decision by the school board will be made in the next couple of weeks and go into effect in January.
I do hope that someone will wake-up and reform the public school system in this country. We simply can’t keep going down this road.
How are the public schools in your area? Are they facing budget cuts? I would love to hear your thoughts!
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If you’re considering homeschooling, you might want to check into K12.com. It’s an online school system that offers both tuition free online public schooling, but also a tuition-based private school option. Both options are accredited and have tons of options to customize your child’s learning.
I think education is important too. However, I also think the budget cuts are necessary as well. If we lived out of our means the way the government does we would have had all our pocessions repossesed long ago! Having been a teacher in the public schools I can tell you the waste is not usually on the teacher level, it is far above them. Are any of the district people taking cuts to their salaries? Why do we pay them 300K a year or more depending on where you live…I too have resorted to homeschooling. There are great online programs now like Amy said. Good luck in your quest to provide the best education to your children as possible!