The Storm Arrives

You probably don't recall, but several months ago I wrote about the major financial storm that was about to hit school districts. Part of it was because of the deficit in the state pension plans which have been underfunded by the state legislature for many years. I predicted that state legislators would continue to ignore this crisis and pass the ball to local school districts and to future generations. Unfortunately, I was correct and our legislators did pass a law which did little to solve the problem except pass it on to our grandchildren to solve. In addition, schools are now being hit by the loss of stimulus funds and probably major reductions in state subsidies since the state is millions in debt itself. I read that school districts in this state need over one billion dollars just to break even. York, for example, needs $15 million - for just this year. And as I predicted the slashing has begun. Administrators have taken pay freezes - teachers have not been willing to do so and can't be forced to do so because of their union contracts. Teachers who retire or resign are not being replaced. Where it can be done legally, teacher jobs are being eliminated. Programs are being cut. And the worst is yet to come. I predict that within a few years schools will be much different than they are now. But what I find interesting is that parents who have failed to see this coming are now forming citizen groups to fight the cutbacks. In the Steelton-Highspire District, a few years ago bus routes were expanded with stimulus funds. Now without these funds the district wants to drop this expansion because of its debt and parents have organized to fight this, pleading hardship. Times have changed. I remember when I was in second grade in Elizabethtown having to walk about a mile to and from school, sometimes four times a day, because there were no busses or cafeteria available. I guess I survived. In another area district plans were announced to layoff 12 to 15 teachers because of the deficit and also because of a decline in enrollment. Parents then organized to fight this decision because their kids might face larger class sizes. And this gets nasty. The board approved the layoffs on Monday night despite protests from students and parents. One Senior citizen in attendance thanked the board for this action. An adult protester then yelled at him to "shut up!" I think the next area to face the cuts will be the arts - music, drama, and art. These teachers are already organizing to fight this. At a school concert we attended, the music teachers urged us to contact school board members to tell them how important music is for our children. After buying tickets online for a local high school musical, I received an e-mail from the head of the drama department telling me that the school might drop the high school fall play because of its cost. We were urged to contact the board and administration to protest this decision. He wasn't too happy when I wrote back to him telling him that if admission fees couldn't cover the cost of the production, then I supported dropping it. I suggested that a solution was for the teachers who direct it to donate their time for the play rather than expect a stipend with an annual raise. In a reply he told me that I would be taken off their mailing list. If you read some of my recent blogs, you know what I think of current teacher salaries, benefits, and unions. I spent 39 years as a public educator and much of that time I had to work a number of extra jobs to be able to support my family. But now things have changed and it is time to freeze salaries and benefits. But the union won't let that happen. I've always enjoyed the fight song "On Wisconsin". Maybe more states need to start singing and following that. It will be interesting to see what happens. How will school boards deal with their major deficit and the public pressure to maintain programs? What cuts will come next? Will teachers do anything besides take higher salaries, or protest, or strike? The sad thing is that nobody wants to pay higher taxes and everybody wants government to cut expenditures - just don't let it affect me - not my social security or medicare or unemployment benefits or the arts - and certainly not sports! I guess we all just want to have our cake and eat it to.