BoxDog wrote:

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im tellin ya they always go for the teachers first. that way the parents get all up in the faces of the elected officials, money goes to the schools and they dont have to cut back on other programs.  it seems to work too!

 

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Schools are NOTHING without two things. Teachers and students. That's it. I don't understand this one.

yep and thats the point of their actions. they never intend for the teachers to be fired its leverage for those who make the budgets. the ed budget is always the biggest chunk of the pie and with states in financial trouble they can probably expect less in the way of funds to communities for education. however when they go public with the idea of laying off teachers and putting kids in classrooms with 1/50 ratios people get it and start to put public pressure on others in the community to raise taxes or cut elsewhere to come up with the money. its an effective strategy for getting a budget passed when nobody wants to increase taxes or rather be responsible for saying we need to raise taxes. its rare for the teachers to really be fired tho it does occasionally happen. where they might want to cut is the admin budget. do we really need all of those administrators over at the boards of ed? and do they really need to be making mid 6 figures while the teachers start at 40k? chop one admin keep 3 teachers. some of what inflates ed budgets might be prevented if care were taken earlier in the kids life. special ed funding is budget busting for many communities and it leaves less for the kids who dont have special needs. if we addressed those issues earlier the kids might come to school better prepared to learn and with fewer problems that might get in the way of that.

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BoxDog wrote:

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Couple of counties north of me is letting 200 teachers "go".  Most importantly, I think, is the citing of "performance reasons", IMMEDIATELY before announcing their desire to see this affect their budget and bottom line. So which is it? Performance or greed/need? We never really know unless we're the one in the position of making the decision.

Really, they think we're that stupid to believe letting 200 teachers "go" will in any way make up for a 16 million dollar deficit. How the hell much were they paying these teachers?


HERNANDO COUNTY (Bay News 9) -- The Hernando County School District is paring down its workforce.

As a result, 200 non-tenured teachers and staff will soon be without work, because their contracts for next fall will not be renewed.

The cuts come on the heels of nearly 80 pink slips issued to teachers last month for performance reasons.

School officials hope the staffing cuts will help cover a budget deficit of more than $16 million.

However, according to Bay News 9's partner paper, the St. Petersburg Times, the Hernando Teachers Union said the cuts may not be necessary anymore, as the projected budget for next fall did not reflect the new state budget, and that it needs to be revised.

Union officials are requesting an emergency meeting about the issue before the next meeting, which is scheduled to take place April 21.

 

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