Well, You Have Heard The News!

Sorry for the gap in posting. As March concludes I'm finding myself with a few spare minutes. I just got off of the Daily Times-Call and the Daily Camera's Websites and read a few hundred comments (rants) regarding the school district's budget cuts. Whew! I'm not too sure where the animosity comes from. As I tell my staff, it is much easier to look at the data than to examine the people and the emotions behind the data. For whatever reasons, Colorado in general and the St. Vrain community in particular, does not like expending hard earned tax dollars on public education. Believe me, I understand that. Plus, we have made do. I find the correlation between funding and achievement a mixed bag. There are some states that spend huge sums of money and receive poor results. The inverse is also true. For the most part Colorado has received a good investment. But, right now, in our community, we have chosen not to pass a mill-levy. Ever. What does that really mean? It means program cuts. It means fewer after school clubs. It means textbooks last us 10 years instead of 5. It means maintenance is not performed. It means fewer resources to help us close the achievement gap. The very things that our parents request. It is assumed we'll teach reading, writing and math. The rest is up for grabs. The data is clear.

Please don't get me wrong. A mill-levy does mean more pay for our cooks, bus drivers, custodians, support personnel, teachers, and yes administrators! I would argue that is all secondary to smaller class sizes and increased programming. I guess in brief I would argue that no one should pass a mill-levy to give us all raises. We are independent contractors and can come and go as we please - if a raise is important to us. I would argue a mill-levy is required to have a functioning school district that prepares our kids for the 21st century. I love our representative democracy. We are afforded the opportunity to determine where education belongs on the continuum of public support. But, we also get to live with the consequences!

As always, thanks for reading my blog. Comment at will!