At a sit-down with the Ashe County School Board, which is justifiably freaking out about Republican cuts to education funding in Raleigh, Sen. Dan Soucek and Rep. Jonathan Jordan patted the school board's collective hand ('There! There!") and assured them that Their Eminences are open to questions and concerns. The senator and the rep. also sympathized with a small school system like Ashe's, comparing it to a large system, like Watauga's:
"Jordan and Soucek explained that they realize larger school systems, such as Watauga and Wilkes counties, can absorb cuts better than what Ashe County could."
Good to know. Watauga schools are absorbent.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Soucek & Jordan to Watauga County Schools: Sponging Works Both Ways
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17 comments:
Yes, Jerry, 'absorbent' is one way of looking at it.
Absorbing huge sums of money and debt to build a massive and extremely costly high school complex. We have yet to know the full cost of such an expenditure and debt around the county taxpayers' neck.
What's more the WCSS bureaucracy continues to want more and increasing funds, and frequently the administrators come back to the County during the year wanting additional funds. I find it revealingly ironic that teachers sometimes have to pay for supplies out of their own salaries, while over the years, the administration has grown larger and top administrators are paid at least twice what longtime teachers are paid. Also, teachers are not the only classroom personnel. There are teachers aides and assistants, which are additional expenses.
The truth is that the WCSS is a top heavy, over-bloated, and arrogant bureaucracy that continues to want more and more funding, as a fat leech absorbs more and more blood from its emaciated host, the county taxpayers.
This post could apply to the other 99 counties.
And when they do have to cut, it's always "Oh, no! We have to fire lots of teachers. Think of the Chiiiildren!" instead of "Oh no, we'll have to fire the Deputy Assistant Director for Curricular Services."
Kind of like how ASU is putting put that 950 section closing figure under current budget estimates--as if it will all come from instructors, instead of letting administrators go.
There, there. No need to worry. Remember: Soucek and Jordan PROMISED Vince Gable there would be no cuts.
OK, A. Ashe County has 3178 students total in 5 schools. Watauga has 4292 students in 9 schools. I can't see how either school could be considered "large". B. Neither Watauga nor Ashe are top heavy. Watauga actually had fewer than the recommended administrative staff even before the budget crisis, and have consolidated at least 4 administrative positions since 2009, saving around $150,000. The Supt and Assistant Supts all do make more than teachers do, but they also made the commitment to further their education (two have PhD's)and regularly put in 10 and 12 hour days.
Yes, piled higher and deeper.
Well, if some administrators have advanced degrees, like two have Ph.Ds, then it seems to me that their talents are being used in the wrong place.
It seems that these advanced degree people would be better utilized in the classroom teaching the children.
Most of the PHD's I have know are to impressed with themselves to be effective teachers. They do not communicate well with others and are terrible teachers due to their arrogance.
I have worked in several school systems, and I really don't think Watauga County is top-heavy. I think that the central office has done a good job of streamlining their operations and consolidating jobs. I'm sure there is still some wastefulness in day-to-day operations that could be eliminated, but not nearly enough to cover the amounts they are talking about. It is easy to say that cuts should be made at the top, but people need to be aware that with the amount they are discussing, there will be lots of teachers and assistants who lose their jobs. The job loss in and of itself is not an argument against the cuts, as we all know that jobs are lost in this type of economy. But if we are going to offer public education, we need to do it right. Trying to teach 6-year-olds to read in a class of 24 with no assistant is ridiculously unfair to the students. I don't begrudge the central office staff their higher salaries at all, but I would like to mention that our county has LOTS of teachers with advanced degrees who also work plenty of 10-12 hour days. Teachers aren't asking for more pay, but they are certainly justified in asking that the resources directly affecting students not be cut. I'd like some real suggestions regarding where these cuts can be made without taking teachers and assistants.
WC Resident: Your remarks are noted, but they are subjective. You are part of the system.
Teachers of decades ago taught whole classes how to read, and to love to read, to write and to perform basic math, without teachers assistants or aides.
Ths school system then was run very well without a huge central administration. And they did it using far less money.
Of course they did, Anonymous. But the clientele was quite different back then. The expectations were also different. And of course my comments are subjective, but I am MUCH more concerned about the loss of resources as a parent than I am as a school employee.
I am MUCH more concerned about the loss of resources as a parent than I am as a school employee.
I beleive you! Thousands don't, but I do!
Clientele? What or whom do you call "clientele"?
Clientele different? How so?
Expectations different? How so?
Loss of resources.
WC resident, from my research of the last twenty odd years, the BOE and WCSS have requested and received increasing funding every year. Even when BOE and WCSS officials admitted the County funding was "very generous", they still wanted more.
What the heck have they done, and are doing, with all the funding, not just with the county's allocations, but also from the state?
What has the school system done with all the money? They've maintained a stellar reputation and are consistently among the highest-ranked schools in the state. They've kept class sizes and student:teacher ratios low. They've built a state of the art high school (arguably best in the state) and effectively integrated technology into all classrooms. I talk to people all the time who move up here because they've heard how great the schools are. I don't think you can say that the money has been squandered. Now that the economy is in the dumps, Watauga Co. Schools are suffering like most other public and private entities. They have taken huge hits over the past couple of years. Teachers have been given much larger workloads with much less resources. Quote from Dr. Hemric's letter: Even with the strong local
support we receive from Watauga County and the Federal relief funds we have received, the past two
years of state reductions have resulted in a reduction of $2,223,515 (50.4 positions, no money for
textbooks, the elimination of professional development, and sharp reductions in classroom supplies and
materials).
There is no way the schools can take such a huge hit next year without major negative impact on daily instruction of the children.
There is no way the schools can take such a huge hit next year without major negative impact on daily instruction of the children.
Not if the system continues to try to waste money as it has in the past.
Waste, waste, waste....I think every time a "conservative" says WASTE a Tea Partier in Heaven gets their wings! I'm sure there are plenty of ways to cut expenses. Maybe we can ditch the buses and go back to walking or riding horses to school. Maybe we can get rid of the computers and go back to using an abacus. I know many of you say that you didn't have all the "frills" that students do today and you learned quite well. Great! Do me a favor, open your eyes and try to compare the knowledge needed in your generation and the type of knowledge needed today. It is apples to oranges. Some of you need to get on a computer (ask a High Schooler to borrow theirs if you need to) and look at websites other than the Heritage Foundation or the John Locke Foundation and think critically for yourself. If you don't want to do that then I suggest you lock your doors and duct tape tin foil around your windows because society is about to leave you behind.
I think every time a "conservative" says WASTE a Tea Partier in Heaven gets their wings!
This is true, especially when the waste is lessened or eliminated.
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