Schools will close, sports and arts programs will be dropped and class size will increase “astronomically” as student numbers increase while fewer teachers can be paid.
That’s the dire scenario Lowcountry public schools face by 2013 if the state sees the billion-dollar revenue shortfalls that are expected and continues cutting funds for education, the chairman of the Berkeley County School Board said.
“We’re essentially out of business,” Doug Cooper told members of the Greater Summerville-Dorchester County Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday. A whole generation of students could be lost and need remedial education as adults, he said.
“We’re going to have more and more students and less and less money. We just can’t ride this out. Education in this state is not a line item in the budget. It is our state,” Cooper said.
Might be tine to redesign a “school” in this state.
1) Encourage damilies with the means to use private schools and save public welfare dollars for families needing public welfare. About half the children in my district are enrolled in private schools. Its the norm and not the exception in this part of the South.
2) Encourage brighter or motivated students to use online learning resources resources.
3) Encourage home schooling. Home schooling books and curriculums are inexpensive by comparison to traditional public schooling.
Time to break out of the 19th century educational model of school and move into the 21st century. Necessity is the supposed mother of invention, so invent, rethink, reorganize.
#1 – great points and they all lead to what is really needed in America. Parents taking back over the education of their children. Home school co-ops can solve much of the problem.
I agree with the above comments. But there is also the issue of budget *allocation*. Truth is, the ridiculous top-heavy bureaucracies in the public-school system ought to be purged away. Note that there is always the threat of cutting teachers, rather than clearing out the administrative deadwood, of which there is vast supply.
It will get worse when the unfunded mandates for health care kick in as South Carolina and all the states are commandeered to administer a federal health program. To put it another way the feds are mandating state tax increases.
I agree with Sarah. I feel like I am hearing Mr. Rogers say “boys and girls, can you say mismanagement?”.
Within reason, the issue of rising class sizes is a red herring. Research has repeatedly shown that smaller classes do not actually result in children learning more — they just feel nicer while the learn the same and are less work for the teachers.