Plant an umbrella in your yard for schools

If you've been reading this blog long, you know that the school district in which I teach is in major financial trouble. Not only are we in trouble because of decisions made by our higher ups, but now we have added problems as the state of Oregon has announced they will be cutting funding to education for the 2009-2010 school year. This means that the cuts we made this year are not enough; the cuts we had planned on for next year won't even be enough. The newest list of cuts includes, but is not limited to the following.

• Outdoor school - at this time it has been cut completely. The district is investigating a day program as opposed to an overnight camp.
• Counselors - high school to lose 3, each middle school to lose 1, elementaries to all have 1 half time counselor rather than one full time.
• No PE teachers at the elementary level
• No music teachers at the elementary level
• Librarians to be cut (to some degree) from elementary and middle schools
• Class sizes for K-2 to be 30:1; 3-12 will be 35:1

This means that, in my building alone, we are looking at potentially losing 10-17 teachers. Out of 50. Yeah, that's a pretty huge percentage.

A couple of the music teachers in our district, teachers who will be out of a job at the end of the year because they teach elementary music, put this video together. I think it really speaks to the sad reality that is our district.

If you don't have the time to watch the video all the way through, I will tell you this - at the end, there is a statement imploring those who would like to see our state dip into the rainy day fund to help fund education for next year to put an umbrella in their yard. Please, put an umbrella in your yard to show your support for education, the arts, the library and physical education. Our kids, need something to look forward to. Reading is hard, math is hard, science is hard. Important, yes, but difficult for so many kids. To have a class that allows them the time to be creative, think outside the box, and to use their brains in different ways is to allow them a chance to rest from the other subjects, rejuvenate themselves, and get ready to face the difficult tasks once again. Studies have shown repeatedly that participation in performance arts, including music, theatre and dance, lead to better disciplined students with higher grades. Why would anyone want to take that away from a child?