Bracing for Budget Costs

In the Sunday Des Moines Register, the Associated Press, wrote an article on the upcoming budget cuts for public schools and what many districts have done to combat the yearly problem of doing more with less.  In the last five years, each year has gotten a little tougher.  The 2012-2013 school year, I predict, will be the toughest yet. 

The article mentioned that President Obama included in his jobs creation bill $30 billion to save teacher jobs.  However, the Senate voted the bill down, including the $30 billion for education.  As an educator I would like to ask the Senator's who voted down this bill, what their thinking was.  Have they visited rural and urban public schools to see for themselves how districts are managing with less money each year?  My guess is they haven't.  I know one of my Senator's says he doesn't vote for many bills such as this because it is a burden on the taxpayer.  So, I would like to say this to all the Senators.  WHEN IT COMES TO OUR CHILDRENS EDUCATION IT SHOULD BE A BURDEN!

Sure, there are districts out there that have misspent money in recent years, and have had more staff than they should.  But, most districts and lawmakers are asking our administrators and teachers to do more with less each year.  Any parent who has their children enrolled in a public school should be outraged with their state and federal government leaders.  Our children deserve more and need more than what they are getting.

This brings me my last point.  With all the budget cuts the last five years, what else can schools really cut? Ten years ago students who were not traditional "classroom students" were able to excel in Industrial Technology, Art, Drama, Mechanics, and Computer classes.  I know in my district, those programs have been cut at the elementary and middle school level.  There are going to be some major direct consequences of this; 1) Students who are interested in these classes are going to high school with no basic skills on how to read a ruler, measure, or type.  Causing high school teachers to rework their curriculum.  2) What will happen to what little manufacturing jobs we have with no skilled laborers?  People for some reason think, you have to be stupid to be a skilled laborer.  This is not true, as I am married to one.  I will be the first to admit, the tests he has to take and the exams he had to take just to be considered for job, I could never pass.  3) Our children should not be considered a "one size fits all".
People can blame educators all they want, but our leaders in this country have made it pretty clear, that education for "all students" is not what they truly believe in. 

Des Moines Register, Associated Press. "Schools Brace for More Budget Cuts", 10/31/2011.

Education is Overwhelming

Since attending my first weekend of School Management, I am beginning to question many things as teacher and future administrator.  We had many discussions last weekend on how to use technology as an administrator and a teacher.  It is becoming more and more clear that in my school, using technology is for engagement purposes.  I would like to think that it is for learning but most teachers use it as an engagement tool.  I too am guilty of this.  As an administrator I want to encourage technology because it exposes students to variety of instructional methods and does in fact engage most students.  However, if our primary focus is on how well our students score on tests than should I be worried about engagement? As a future administrator, I would like to say that engagement is what I want to see, but the pressure of test scores is going to take precendence. I personally, am getting confused on what is expected out of teachers.  Are we supposed to teach to the test?  Are we supposed to focus on Writing to Learn?  Are we supposed to focus on technology and engagement strategies?  Which one?  Most teachers are frustrated and overwhelmed because they simply can't do it all.  How do you handle this as an administrator?  How much is to much?