It's that time of year. Winter is slowly being forced out by spring, which means that soon I won't be able to blame the weather for not getting out and walking more. More importantly, it's that time of year where the School Board starts working on their budget. In the past my interest in this subject was little to none. Two years ago, our county built two much needed high schools and since then, the budget has been cut and cut and cut. Some has to do with the debt service for building the schools, most has to do with the fact that Federal and State budgets are being cut too. For the last two years my interest in the budget process was peeked.
The first year I attended a few budget meetings the schools and PTA's were sending home letters of the importance of attending and being heard. Teachers salaries were going to be cut, important programs were on the chopping block and a lot of improvements to the schools would be set aside. This was the year before the new schools were to open their doors as well and there were threats that the high schools would have to sit for a year, or that the old high schools would not be converted to middle schools. That was a lot for people to swallow after fighting so hard for the schools. That year, things worked out ok. Life went on, all the schools opened.
The following year once again programs were on the chopping block as well as many teacher aides positions. The end of that process we lost 47 teachers aides. The next cycle, one of the elementary schools got closed.
So here we are again. Being told there may be deep, deep cuts. The problem this time is that there is nothing left to cut without crippling the parents and students of much needed programs. On the chopping block this year are sports and music and arts. At the last School Board meeting I realized how there are apparently three types of parents where I live...well actually four.
There are the parents who breed their kids to eat, breathe and play sports. There are the parents who push the value of a good education balanced with arts and music.
Third, there are the parents who just don't care. In this category, those parents will never be seen at a School Board meeting, a PTA meeting, and you will never see their kids in sports, clubs or any extracurriculars. The kids of these parents rarely have a chance to be anything but average. These parents are also the ones who complain the most even though they do nothing to change the system. Unfortunately, the whole public school system model is designed for these parents and students but that is a whole different discussion.
Finally, there are parents whose students are in need of special services. These parents at face value seem to fit into the category of parents who don't care, but that isn't necessarily true. These parents know that no matter how many meetings they have or notes they send, that the schools are just not funded enough to help them. What special needs help there is in place in our schools is very limited and the few teachers assigned to the jobs already have too many kids assigned to them, but realize that the ones they serve are only a fraction of the kids who need help, but can't do much about it. But even as sad as their stories are, even if these parents joined together to get to the budget meetings and plead for help, the sports parents would boo them out and demand new uniforms and facilities.
The other first two types of parents are the ones who attend meetings and it is hilarious when you get them in a budget meeting. You will have one parent stand up and remind the board how important arts and music are to education. The fact that they increase IQ and the chances of kids being accepted to college. Then the next parent will stand up and say that their kid isn't a band geek and no matter where they have to cut the money, they don't care as long as a kick ass football field gets built this year. Well, you can probably tell from my very biased example that I am among the parents who value the arts and above all want my child to receive a good education.
It is hard to be unbiased about the subject. I did not play sports in school and had no interest. My daughter is in 5th grade and has played every sport offered in our area but has outgrown all of them. She was an awesome cheerleader, but had enough of the girly girl drama. She tried her hand and basketball and soccer and it wasn't her thing. She was awesome at softball, but in our local Little League it all depends on who you know and who is coaching. So in a nut shell, she knows the importance of sports and I do too, but it's not for her and having a kid who is not going to play football or softball, I get so mad when these jock parents crowd the room wanting millions to be spent on softball and football fields for the high schools.
With an obesity problem in America physical fitness is very important. My daughter takes ballet instead of playing sports. It is physically demanding and will keep her in shape. It is the way that parents have gone about pushing their kids to their limits and making a lifestyle of sports or nothing that has gotten dangerous to society. There are not many high school districts out there that do not coddle their star players, and that increases when a chance at regional or state come into play. There were football players when I went to school that were dumber than a box of rocks, but they played well and the coaches were able to persuade some teachers to give them a break on their homework, or be lenient while grading test. This was done because in able to play sports you had to keep a certain GPA.
Another problem with the push for sports; injuries and drug use. I will use football as the example again b/c that is where most of the atrocities I witnessed in high school occurred. There were times when a player would get hurt and they would pop a pain pill, wrap it up, and send them back out to play. Not to mention that nationally, only one in three sports concussions get reported or check out. These kids ram heads and keep going. While most parents do not want to admit it, most of the "star" players were taking dangerous supplements and in some cases illegal steroids. The better a kid plays in high school, the more pressure they have to be better to get that college scholarship.
I know this has just been a rambling of thoughts and I got a little off track of my main point. My main point was that this School Board budget meeting made me soo mad. If our board appropriates 2.7 million to build three new sports fields instead of fixing the crumbling elementary and middle schools, I think I will be done with the public school system. Where I live, a school is "in improvement" from the NCLB act and others were on the cusp of not being accredited. The kids who graduate here rarely go off to be anything special. This one meeting led me to think back over the years and I can see plain as day why now. The priorities of some of the parents here are a little backwards. It is funny how hard they fight. Their kids will graduate with injuries and not get scholarships for sports, and never even have a chance at going to state, but at least they had a field that made the other teams envious. I was so dumbfounded I came away not knowing what to say. But the budget process just got started and I will find my voice. When I find my voice I will show these sports fanatics that brains always win over brawn.
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