Ah, it’s that wonderful time of the year when birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and nothing can be agreed upon in our school systems budget…
Today, I sat in a meeting with our principal as he was trying to be transparent about where our budget was going for the next school year, and it’s just downright frustrating!
The state hasn’t had their budget approved, which means the city hasn’t had their budget approved, which means the school district hasn’t had their budget approved, which leaves me wondering at this table…”Why are we crunching imaginary numbers based on no factual fiscal information?” Anyways, I digress.
In Baltimore County, County Executive created a budget with no tax increases for fiscal year 2013. At the core of his budget proposal was public education and public safety. Currently, in Towson, there is great overcrowding down the York Road corridor. Therefore, by renovating schools and adding more seats in up to date classrooms, 1,100 more students will be placed in a first rate building. This systemic overcrowding could only be solved by adding more seats. In addition, 10 county schools would be adding air conditioning. Finally, 124 teaching positions would be added for all the incoming 1,100 students, and 50 non-classroom positions would be eliminated.
So, what does this mean for Baltimore City? I believe Baltimore City should take note of the renovation efforts being made by Baltimore County. A warm environment with a functional building is essential for a happy school experience. No child wants to go to a school where asbestos is present or there are window that are cracked. That devalues the importance of education. A student should be comfortable in their classroom as well as the teacher. A happy environment provides the groundwork for a safe and comfortable zone where teachers and students can learn and grow.
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1 comment:
I feel that the disorganization of this district surrounding important decisions such as budgeting is staggering. However, I have thought about the movement to further improve the facilities and find myself conflicted. Each day I watch as new additions to, and improvements to my school is vandalized (sometimes beyond repair) by the students at my school. When I see this I find it hard to fight off the thought of why invest considerable amounts of money improving a building that they have no appreciation for? Furthermore, why invest in the building when there is a strong possibility that it will just get destroyed?
On this same token, I also am conflicted with the question of why would they have an appreciation for a building so decrepit in the first place? Granted, I know that I am completely lowering my expectation by thinking those comments, and I do feel that schools should at least be able to maintain a healthy environment (with a/c!), but at the same time I wonder if it would be more effective to reallocate the money for building improvements to higher more teachers and support staff to directly affect the academic achievement of our students.
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