This morning THE BUZZ asked our friends on Facebook and a few others, whose children have already started school, how the Natomas Unified School District budget cuts were affecting their campuses. This is what we have heard back thus far:
“I live near Two Rivers Elem, and my kids are not school age yet. However, a friend of mine whose son goes there said they already ran out of copy paper. I dropped off a few reams as well as pencils and they were extremely appreciative. They said they are in dire need of copy paper, and could always use some crayons and pencils.”
“Also dropped off supplies (copy paper, pencils, glue, glue sticks, crayons, and lined paper) there this morning and they were very grateful!!”
“Yes, we are out of paper and each teacher was told that we now have to supply our own but the school would maintain the copier and toner!! Crazy times! Thanks to everyone who has generously donated paper to Two Rivers!”
“Does EVERY teacher in the entire district have to supply their own paper this year?? I would recommend that teachers start contacting some of the major corporations in the Sacramento area and seeing if/what they would be willing to donate! When I was teaching, one of the big companies here in town donated about 30 of their old computers… What a total crock!!! They expect teachers to works their butts off and get test scores up, yet they can’t be provided with the basic necessities in the classroom. No wonder so many teachers burnout so fast!”
“… my understanding is that, yes, we will have to supply our own paper and many of our own other supplies, or our class parents will have to donate these. The district cut the school’s decentralized budget (which pays for paper, copier leases, etc) by 75%, and cut the teachers’ classroom budgets by a lot as well.”
“I worked for a large bank here in Sac and when they closed their Natomas office they offered first dibs on everything in the office to the schools. I think it is a good idea to contact large companies, even if they are not office supply companies, they may be willing to donate, heck since they are not getting tax increases with the new budget, they could at least help the people absorbing the cuts!”
“At Natomas Park … both kids’ teachers are not allowed to make copies this year so they are sending everything via pdf on the Internet. It’s sad how much the children have to suffer this year with budget cuts. The big fund raiser this year for our teachers is called the “fund run” not sure on the specifics yet, but I plan to write a check for both kids teachers to help out. My kids were given a basic list of supplies and then a wish list from their teachers on one it even consisted of printer cartridge ink. We will do our best to help in this tough economy. Thanks for keeping us posted.”
I know for a fact that teachers are shelling out funds out of their own pockets for paper to use in their classrooms. You may say “oh well, at least they have jobs” but I wonder how many people are called to cough up their own dollars in order to have the most fundamental supplies for their jobs. More importantly, they are help accountable for their students’ academic performance or they lose their jobs. Teachers have no choice and I hope everyone understands that and tries to help out.
I hope that everyone with kids starting school in the next few weeks will greet their teachers with a care package! Give them whatever you can afford. My first year teaching, I spent almost $3000 of my own money just getting set up for my kids. It’s expensive and teachers (newer teachers especially!) don’t make much money.
Teachers always need: copy paper, construction paper, crayons, pencils, pens, erasers, desk supplies, gently used books for that grade level, hand soap and sanitizer, Clorox wipes, post-it notes and white board markers!
And the most important thing teachers need right now? VOLUNTEERS!
How about making some real cuts at the district level and the redistributing that money to the classrooms? What a difference it would make in the classroom, and the schools would not be taking the brunt of the pain, nor would they notice a change in services.
The school district should not be allowed to shift the cost of providing basic service to the parents (or teachers).
While I understand that teachers are caught in the middle (my wife is a teacher) many parents in the area are state workers and have had their incomes reduced by 15%. Household budgets are beyond tight.
If the district cannot provide basic classroom items, then the district is insolvent and the county board of education should take over. At least then our teachers would have chalk and our students paper.
Sean
I agree with the previous posts – mostly. This is a horrific situation to be in. I too bring cases of paper to my school periodically (100% recycled from Staples). Keep in mind, 85% of the district’s budget is salaries, 15% all the other stuff (heat, electricity, paper, etc). Unless the teachers agree to some concessions, the cuts will continue – and probably get worse. For each 1% in concessions, the district could save 8 teaching jobs. More teachers = lower class sizes.
There certainly seems to be cuts, cuts and more cuts to our childrens education. I’m wondering if our superintendent Dr. Farrar has taken a “cut” to his bottom line. If the people that actually do the teaching have to work with less, then so should he. Trixie
Administrators supposedly took furlough days, but they also increased their days recently for a salary increase so the smoke and mirrors is they probably reduced back to where they were before the raise. Big deal. Their rationale is that they are the lowest paid in the area. Also, Farrar still has two secretaries plus one PR person, so retirement positions were filled in his dept. Again, their rationale is that other districts of our size have more district staff than we do. All we know at the school sites is that we are having to make do with less. Really, the school’s resource level is all that matters to teachers and students.
Brenda
It’s not just paper and pencils, it’s everything. Aside from so many teachers getting laid off, there were also classified staff laid off (secretaries and food service and others). At several schools, one or more of the office staff is no longer there because of retirements, leave of absence, or some other thing, and the district is not replacing them. The office staff that are left have to pick up 1/3 more work and are getting nothing for it (except 12 unpaid furlough days).
Meanwhile, the “layoffs” from the district office were really just positions that were created and then not filled!! I’ve not heard of a single district office person losing a job or being told to take a furlough day(s). As a previous commentor mentioned, the “pay cut” that the administrator’s took amounts to nothing more than NOT taking the raise they’d voted themselves after deciding to layoff teachers and other staffers. Smoke and mirrors is right!!