Education Cuts Hurt Kids

When the Legislature cut $128.5 million from the public school budget, they forced districts to make tough decisions. How will your district deal with the cuts they will be facing?

Here’s a list of just some of the ways the cuts will hurt our kids, our schools, and our community:

• No New Textbooks
• Limited Classroom Supplies
• Districts may need to rely more on parents to furnish supplies
• Increased Class Sizes as a result of not replacing teachers who retire/leave the district
• Extracurricular activities will be limited and parents will likely be asked to fund more
• Fieldtrips will likely be limited or eliminated unless parents can fund them
• Loss of Programs
• In smaller districts, the elimination of one teacher can mean the loss of an entire program
• Fewer electives for middle/junior/high school students
• Possible restructuring of Kindergarten programs or complete elimination of Kindergarten programs, since it is not required by state law
• Sets the child back in education and may have a lasting affect on the child’s ability to perform
• Increased cost to parents for day care
• Loss of after-school programs
• More latchkey kids and more unsupervised time at home
• Loss of social interaction and enhanced learning
• Furlough days – direct impact on students and parents
• Increased daycare costs to parents
• Parents taking leave from work because they can’t afford daycare
• Some daycares don’t allow drop-ins or kids who just attend on individual days
• More kids left home alone
• No school breakfasts or lunch on furlough days
• Kids on free and reduced lunch will be added expense for already tight family budgets
• Kids less likely to eat nutritious meals
• Kids who want to apply to high powered colleges will be at a disadvantage from loss of programs, increased class size and decreased student contact time
• It’s likely that fewer advanced placement or dual enrollment classes will be offered to high school students wanting to obtain college credits to get a jump start on their college education
• High school students are already being encouraged to graduate from high school early to decrease the cost to school districts
• Early graduation may result in less time to obtain college credits and take classes that could help them perform better at the college level
• Districts will be forced to run a supplemental levy to fill the gap in what the state doesn’t provide
• Puts an additional burden on patrons in small districts with a high poverty rate rather than spreading the responsibility out across the state in other taxes and among people who are better equipped to pay them
• The state will be at an even greater disadvantage when it comes to attracting and retaining high quality teachers
• Programs, such as peer mentoring, cognitive coaching and reading coaching, that help less experienced teachers hone their skills to become better teachers, are unlikely to be funded
• Small businesses whose revenue relies heavily on high school students will feel the loss of students not attending school on furlough days
• In most communities, school districts are the largest employer. Lowering employee salaries decreases purchasing power thus affecting community businesses, sales and income taxes