The only disappointment I have today is the school referendums around the state that did not pass. Many, most, of these were operating levy's. Meaning- monies the schools need in order to continue to operate at bare bones. In the district my husband works for, every non-tenured teacher may as well start looking for a new job this spring. His district is teaching classes in a modified gym. The school had to take the gym away and make it into additional classrooms. Can you imagine trying to teach and learn in that environment? Ghosts of old games...
School funding is broken. I understand the individual districts can not/do not want the weight of it placed on them, but something has to be done. We are losing fantastic teachers left and right. Corey and I choose to open enroll Elijah in my district because of class sizes. His class here has 15 students, a para and a foster grandmother. Do you want to compare personalized attention to those with 28 students? Our hometown had to cut classes, teachers, paras. Kindgergarten - 2nd grade now have classes exceeding 28+ students. As a teacher, I can tell you I would not want a class that size. You can only stretch yourself so far. Student achievement suffers. (I love No Child Left Behind, but am not going to even go there right now.)
Education needs to be funded in this state. At what point are we going to demand it is? As Minnesotans, we, the people, are the greatest resource and export we have as a state. We have fallen from the top 10 in the nation for education to the 40's... Ouch.
I know we are in tough economic times, I get it. But funding has been broken for years. We did not get ourselves into this mess overnight. And if you want to talk about tough economic times, just ask the teachers in districts around the state who were cut last year, or on the cutting block this year. You can bet your bottom dollar they won't be spending.
5 comments:
Kindergarten classes in Cambridge are not 28+ students per class. While it is still higher than I would like it to be, 20 or so, it isn't as high as 28. I don't know for sure yet about grades 1-2.
I talked to a few teachers in 1-2, and they were at 28 or so this year. We still have some budget work to do...
Hey man, i'm telling ya, homeschooling is where it's at. No 20+ classroom sizes there, unless of course you reproduce like rabbits:)
I respect homeschooling, and I could never handle it, but education is an issue for the greater good of society. Everyone benefits from a good public education system.
I should have voted in the Lake of Ham yesterday, but I was still registered in the Eazy Beezy, and I wanted to support that district. I am really really sad to see that it failed, but I am not surprised. (This is Bachmann Country after all, where all you have to do is yell "TAXES!" to strike fear in the heart of El Norte.) It's a district that has doubled in size since the early 90s, and the last school was built when I was in the 5th grade.
The 40s? Seriously? I knew we weren't the top ten, but daaaang.
I get anxiety trying to help four boys with their writing assignments. It just breaks my heart to have to move them along even though they need a lot more help.
My heart goes out to teachers who enter the field wanting to inspire minds and ended up herding cattle.
Katie
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