It's NOT Just about the Budget

      How exciting it is to receive all of these budgetary cut ideas!  I am even getting ideas from people who are not teachers.  It seems lots of folks want to be heard. Some of these may be similar to those in previous posts, but I am including all that comes to me, even if they are "echoes" of other ideas.  Here they are:

1. We need to cut out all the "reward" trips except for H.E.B. camp, which is self-sufficient. Make H.E.B. camp the incentive to do well in both 7th and 8th grade.  This would mean elimination of the rule that allows students to go to camp even after one tour of duty in in-school suspension. They know the rules, and  they must follow them in both 7th and 8th grades to be able to go.  If parents want them to go, then they must stand up and insure that their child is doing what he/she needs to do in school.  
2. Also, we need to consolidate bus routes to have full buses.  I have seen buses pull out of the schools with 7 or 8 kids on board.  What a waste of gas! Most of our drivers have other jobs. We could have one driver pick up the kids in the mornings and another drive them in the afternoons.  I can remember in my early days of teaching (I taught in rural schools around Dallas) when I ACTUALLY had to drive the bus; give the teachers the extra money to drive the buses.  
3. Get rid of C-Scope.  Most of the districts around us do not use it; they say it's a waste of expense.  The paper involved in using C-Scope is out of this world!  We all have state-adopted textbooks and teacher's manuals.  Dust is growing on them!
4. Hold community forums where teachers, students, and community members can brainstorm ideas.  We do so much better when we think together.  That way we can hear from all of the stakeholders.  
5. Make principals and/or assistant principals responsible for getting subs.  This does not mean that the job could be passed on to administrative assistants.  There is a great deal of accountability that occurs when principals actually interact with teachers.  First, many teachers who are just wanting a "break" may very well not call for a sub if they have to go through the principal.  Second, the principal will know a bit more about what is going on in the life of the teacher.  New teachers struggle so much, and they are the ones who seem to catch every bug out there.  So many times they think that no one in administration cares or understands because the only time they are visited is when there is a walk-through or an evaluation to be done. Third, we could get rid of Kelly Services!  It has been a mess from the beginning, and it is not getting any better.  
6. Go to every department and ask them to turn in a bare-bones budget for the coming year.  If we are really to be like a family, as administrators in central office keep saying we are, then let's handle this as such.  When families are in financial trouble, they don't dump grandma at the corner or drop a kid off at the orphanage.  They cut their expenditures to get through the hard times.         
7. Students can do without so many of the "things" in a classroom, but they can not do without good teachers.  It is the knowledgeable teacher who makes a difference in student learning. We need teachers who have depth-of-knowledge so that a curriculum makes sense to someone on the campus.  These master teachers need to be writing the curriculum with the assistance of the novice teachers.  This process, in and of itself, creates ownership and buy-in for what is being taught.  C-Scope is a one-way curriculum that never allows a teacher to fully understand the thinking that goes into curriculum writing.  Teachers who have written curriculum see the glaring mistakes in C-Scope.  New teachers just teach what is on the page without fully understanding what they are doing or why.  If the teachers were writing curriculum again, the expense of C-Scope (i.e. reams of paper, subs for roll-out days at ESC, ancillary materials), then the district would realize a savings.                                     

     Remember:   "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

                               "The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth."  ~Dan Rather