The Road Ahead

As most of you may know, I am the president of the teachers' union for our school system. It has been a leadership role that has had its ups and downs. The challenges have been numerous, and often times very intense. I have loved every minute of my time in this role.

Having said that, I struggle with the current situation in education...specifically in our school system.

We are currently facing a $4.5 million shortfall in next year's budget. The administration of our school system has painted a very grim picture of next year's possibilities. I am aware that in larger school systems $4.5 million may not be such a huge chunk of a school system's budget, but in our smaller city system it equates to about 5% of the school systems operating budget.

Even by cutting some of our most expensive programs, we will still be left with a shortfall of over $2.5 million. As anyone in a leadership role will tell you, the most expensive portion of any budget is personnel. As the president of the union, I get a seat at the table when discussing what/who will have to be cut.

Let me put it simply...it does not look good as all!

I was speaking with one of our secretaries today, and she informed me that our principal met with the office staff last week and said she would have to cut on of the secretarial positions for next year. Now there is a fear  and apprehension as they all try to figure out who is being cut. The principal is not talking when asked who is being cut in the office.

I am getting calls or emails every week asking me what I know about the future of our teachers and staff. The truth is...I simply don't know yet. Our administration is not totally sure either. We have asked our city commissioners to increase funding to our school system's operating budget. The sad realization is our city commission does not see the education of our students as top priority anymore. They are more interested in fulfilling their own personal agendas that putting our students first.

For example, our city commissioners voted this year to tear down our current football field (which is off the high school's campus) and to build a new field on the high school campus. The cost for this project...$5 million. Seems the city is taking the money to build the new field from some mysterious fund they have been saving. It is not coming from the school system's operating budget. They have the money to build a stadium, but the city commission declares they don't have the money to increase funding to our school system. The fact is that our commission has not increased funding to our school system in over 5 years. Every other funding source (the state, the county commission, etc.) has increased funding annually to meet the demands of education and our economy. Our city commission, however, doesn't feel the need to increase funding. They continue to demand we make do with what we are given. There is something seriously warped with that.

Despite the decreased funding, our school system ranks #3 in the state when it comes to student performance. That is #3 out of 135 school systems. Our school system's report card consistently shows A's across the board. All of our schools continue to meet the requirements under the federal government's No Child Left Behind Act. Our teachers hold each and every student to the highest of standards. Our middle school is ranked in the top 1% of all schools across the state, and has done so for the past 5 years or more.

Simply put...we have one of the most incredible school systems in the state!

The surprising part of this is that per pupil, we are one of the lowest funded school systems. That's right! We do what we do without the funds. We are innovative! We are driven! We are caring and compassionate! We are the best! Sadly, our city commission doesn't seem to care!

The point I am trying to make with this little rant and rave session is that we are in a desperate situation here!

Our quality of education is in jeopardy. If our commission does not realize the level of desperation we are in, and then choose not to help us out, we will be forced to make some serious personnel cuts.

There is an order to how this will play out. The first people to be cut are teaching assistants and non-essential staff. All of our teaching assistants (except for special education assistants...they are funded differently) will be gone. A number of our secretarial and custodial staffers will be gone. Next to be cut will be those teacher who are non-tenured. The situation is so dire that we have even had discussions of which tenured teachers would be cut if necessary. It is bad!

All of this has led to a great level of uncertainty and fear. As the president of the union, I have been given the task of (1) working with the school board and leadership of our school system to decide the best path to take while minimizing the damage to our quality of education, (2) keep the teachers and staffs informed of what the future holds, and (3) working to ease the minds of our teachers and parents. It is a huge task given to me by our membership, and I will do the best I can.

The simple truth is that no matter what happens with the budget crisis, I know our students and teachers will rise above and beyond as we always have. I have faith in our teachers and our administration. We will make the best of any situation and prove why we are the best!

This crisis is one of the reasons I believe that I have been sent here. I believe that I am needed here, and that is one reason the whole job situation has not worked out as planned.

Yes, I am trying to justify the happenings of the past weeks and months. Ugh!

So what does the future hold for me? Who knows.

All I know is that the road may be long...the road may even be winding...but I will persevere!