...a member of a local school board, what would you target as a cut from the school budget?
Assume that you are a member of a local school board facing a multi-million dollar shortfall in your budget. Your local governing body has provided all the funding it can. You are faced with the unenviable task of having to prioritize the items in your budget that must be cut. What would be the three or so items that you would eliminate from the school budget?
Keep in mind that personnel costs constitute the largest single expenditure in any school budget.
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This would be a very tough decision. If I had to pick three things to cut they would be the following.
ReplyDelete1. I would eliminate foreign language classes, all other elective classes and the personnel that teach it. I would cut back the admin jobs in the office.
2. I would put a stop to field trips and any remodeling projects going on.
3. I would have the sports teams only play against teams within our area to save gas on the outlying trips. I would also impose a fee to play to help offset the uniforms and expenses of playing.
4. I would stop buying the lab supplies for Biology classes and strictly turn it into a lecture class.
First of all, I think this is the worst budget cut we could make. This is our future we are taking funds from, and to cut anything out of it I think is a really bad idea. How are we to overcome such bad times when we are cutting our future leader's education? I think the better educated the children are the more able they would be to run our country. So the more classes that are available to them the better off they are. So I personally think the biggest cut should be from administrators, not the teachers. I would also eliminate sports, as there is not a necessity nor any educational benefit from sports. In eliminating sports you would also eliminate the cost of travel, uniforms,the salary of a coach, the need for a stadium and upkeep of a stadium. Instead of eliminating field trips, I would say just to ask for more money from the students to go to cover the travel cost, I think educational field trips are a great learning experience. I also do not agree with cutting biology equipment for the same reason, hands on learning is a much better way to learn than just lecture. Another way I think to off set the budget would be to cut some of the time off the school day, maybe just an hour a day. One hour off each teacher a day would amount to quite a bit overall without greatly impacting the teachers.
ReplyDeleteThis is a tough area to make cuts. Cutting educational programs should be a last resort. Education is vital to our society and its survival. There are many other areas where funding should be cut first but if it had to be, I would...
ReplyDelete1. Cut down on unnecessary admin. jobs.
2. Eliminate all electives besides P.E.
3. Limit funding to sports teams. Schedule less games and schedule local opponents. Limit team sizes and provided equipment.
4. Do away with excess technology tools. i.e. overheads, expensive TVs, speaker systems, etc.
5. Eliminate coaches who only coach. Require teachers to coach.
6. Limit the amount of supplies to each class room.
7. Consolidate bus routes.
8. Field trips would be very limited and mostly funded by students.
9. And as a last resort... I would consider increasing class sizes to lower the number of teachers and classes.
... and also u might only consider hiring part time employees to escape the costs of benefits which a full time teacher would receive. However, I feel this would be an unfortunate situation.
I would cut all sports programs, after school activities, art, and eliminate P.E and its teachers. Most kids aren't interested in after school activities, in fact most kids want to leave the school as soon as they can. Cutting school projects and other activities they may be fun but not really educational is the best way to save some cash.
ReplyDeleteI would cut pay for all school board members and superintendents, considering they make the most. Second I would give all teachers a 1% pay cut. That way everyone can keep there jobs. I would decrease the quality of the food. I know kids must eat right, and they will. Just not as high of food cost. And I would increase the costs to sports games by a dollar
ReplyDeleteI would first cut all gym classes in elementary, middle, and high school. 30-45 minutes is hardly enough time to truely exercise and more than half the students just stand around and talk. It would save money on paying P.E. teachers along with equipment cost. Second I would cut all field trips to save gas money and third I would change the ridiculous ways we operate playoffs in most sports. I know in high school basketball two teams will face each other in a region championship, but have to travel two hours away to play the game at a neutral site when both teams are 20 minutes of each other.
ReplyDelete