Dear Editor,
(In response to, ‘School cuts
‘Deep, painful,? The Citizen, April 3,
2010, page 1.) I was blown away to
read about the proposed school cuts this
past week in The Citizen. While I understand
the budget situation and the position
of the board, many of these cuts
are simply unimaginable to our working
(and struggling) community members. I
greatly respect the board members and
know that developing a list of cuts to
reduce our budget deficit was no easy
task. However, I would propose that
they’ve only done half of their job in
determining the areas for reduction or
elimination. I would suggest (like a corporate
Board) that their ‘fiduciary duty?
is only partially financial.
Another part of their job is to maintain
the quality and integrity of our local
education system and I see very few
proposed alternatives outside of some
privatization (which I would support).
I’m not talking about alternative ways
to cut more money’I’m talking about
alternative solutions. I think it is imperative
now’more than ever’for the
Board to be creative in finding solutions
that minimize the impact of inevitable
cuts. Our community is full of intelligent,
caring individuals who might be engaged
to help develop alternatives. Opening
the board meetings to a community audience
is not enough’I’m suggesting a
proactive and purposeful solicitation
from our community members to assist
in resolving a handful of the most critical
and impactful cuts.
��For example, could we, as a district,
develop an internship program with
Oakland University or U of M Flint
where the district pays for credit hours
and gets Kindergarten/Special Ed
parapros each semester? Not ideal and
in no way intended to replace the wonderful
parapros we have now’but a
new way to tackle the problem.
�� Can our district become a pilot for
academic programs or curriculum materials
to offset cuts?
��Maybe the combination of privatizing
busing and the purchase of bus
passes would lessen the budgetary
blow’some families might be able to
provide transportation a couple of days,
but would be willing to purchase a bus
pass for the balance of the week’just
as you might if you used a bus to commute
to work? In already strapped economic
times, I know it’s not possible for
the community to absorb many of these
costs directly, but if the alternative is purchasing
a bus pass vs. putting employment
at risk because parents are juggling
pick-ups/drop-offs, the pass might
be the lesser of the two evils. Or maybe
between a pass and a truant child’we
need to prioritize these kids!
I’m not suggesting that any of these
ideas are appropriate or sound, simply that
the community might find a way to come
together and collectively develop solutions
for some of the most critical items on the
list. Clearly we cannot resolve them all,
nor can the community absorb the full
impact of the deficit.
I would ask the board to find a purposeful
way to tap the caring and creative
community at its disposal’as part
of their fiduciary responsibility’in the
effort to retain some quality of education.
Please understand that I’m not suggesting
the board has failed to do their
job’they’ve had many difficult decisions
to make. Only that the process to arrive
at those decisions may have been so consuming
as to overlook ‘solutions? as an
approach, and only focus on budget cuts.
Patty Cox