I should NOT be awake...
I have no earthly idea why I feel like I need to blog right this very minute. I should be in bed, preparing my achy body for yet another day of school, but alas I am very much awake thanks to a lovely can of Diet Dew. Three hours ago while I was propping my eyelids open trying to read AND comprehend my 2nd edition of Foundations of Music Education, I decided a little caffeine would make this go a lot easier. And now it's 11:15pm and I'm wide awake.
Poor decision.
School has been less than wonderful so far. I hate to gripe on and on about it, but it really is killing me this year. I am annoyed that my friends are at different school thanks to budget cuts. I'm annoyed that I have to work two jobs for the price of one, thanks again to budget cuts. When did we get back on this "let's cut the arts" bandwagon? I know, I know, I KNOW that it is not considered a core course according to the No Child Left Behind legislature. I KNOW that it's not an athletic class (which eventually will bring money in at football games).
What happened to the freedom of expression?
What happened to aesthetics?
There is something to be said about the power to CREATE.
You really ought to try it sometime.
I've always believed that cuts in arts programs is a political move by teachers groups and administrators clamoring for more money. Of course there are places in the bureaucracy and redundancy of the school system that could be shaved or made more efficient... but those cuts go unnoticed... so whenever someone wants more money, they cut the arts which gets teachers and parents up in arms. Unfortunately, that means you and your students are political pawns by the very people who claim to protect you.
ReplyDeleteAt NC State when the system was hoping for yet another tuition increase... they strategically cut some classes that were necessary for graduation. Professors who had been paid to teach 10 credit hours were only teaching 3, but still getting paid their same salary. The room wasn't used, yet the power stayed on. When asked why they would do this... one professor readily admitted the administration cut classes so we would complain to our parents and the legislature that the school needed more money. As soon as the increase was approved, the professors were back teaching their normal schedule, even though they wouldn't see the effects of any increase for a year or more.
It was a political move... nothing more.
Sadly, right now, everyone is hurting. From gas prices to food prices, unemployment rising and a deteriorating mortgage market, etc all mean less tax revenue for that state and local municipalities. So there is less money for public services and everyone is positioning themselves to get the same or a greater portion of the incredibly shrinking pie.
You are your students are stuck in the middle... and that sucks.
But I bet you that at the end of the fiscal year, at your very school, there are departments and administrators looking to spend the surplus money they have on hand in one line item or another so their budget doesn't get cut. And frivolous things will be bought because the money was there and if they don't use it, they might not get it again next time the budget is decided. And I bet you anything, if you look at that frivolous, end of fiscal year spending, its more than enough to pay the salary and benefits of the teacher whose job was cut.
But shaving in those areas goes unnoticed or isn't rewarded from the bureaucracy. And that's wrong, and you and the students are being hurt because of it.