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School districts around Oregon are slashing their budgets after Governor Kulongoski ordered nine percent cuts across the board for this coming academic year. Districts made cuts before the decree was final: Tillamook laid off custodians, music and PE teachers, Tigard got rid of library assistants (who had taken on extra duties when PE was cut back), Klamath Falls began to discuss a four day week, and Wilsonville planned teacher cuts across the board.
Now Portland Public Schools is considering laying off ten percent of high school teachers and 25 central office administrators. It's facing a campaign with big backers for its proposal to end physical education for elementary and middle school students.
Hillsboro asked community members for feedback, with this plea:
Please know that the identified potential reductions are a result of many, many hours of investigation, discussion, deep thought and analysis. Every effort was made to take a balanced approach to the cuts and reduce the impact to staff, students and programs as much as possible. We continue to value the support and collaboration of all patrons as we work through this difficult process.
How do different communities choose what to cut and what to keep? What do you value most in your school? What are you willing to eliminate?
GUESTS:
- Drew Mahalic: Executive Director of the Oregon Sports Authority and a member of the Save PE Coalition
- David Wynde: Chair of the Portland School Board's Finance Committee and a vice president and manager of community relations for US Bank in Portland
- Brenna Burke: Parent of a student at Sunset Elementary School, and a board member of a parent group in support of the school's Spanish immersion program
- Randy Schild: Superintendent of Tillamook School District
Tagged as: budget cuts · education · pe
Photo credit: Dklimke / Creative Commons
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We seldom do longitudinal studies to see how well our efforts improved lives. And that is a major shortfall.
http://www.youfreeweb.com/additives/ http://helpgodme.21publish.com/ -
What if we had a simple care-taker program that fills the hours of the day with simple cost free education like watching educational PBS television, the History Channel or The Discovery Channel. I was not in special education, and I and my siblings grew up vegetating in front of the TV as a babysitter --too many wasted hours But we all graduated college and earned advanced degrees.
There are good TV programs, that can update information, teach skills, and help navigate life's pitfalls. And since the average child watches 4-6 hours of TV a day and another 2-3 hours on the internet, Television can be seen as a NORMAL activity in 2010.
And teaching basic life skills critical to independence--specifically how to hold a job. How to behave in a workplace, how to read a clock and maintain a schedule and be on time, and how to catch a bus. AT least learn how to be a discriminating TV watcher--it consumes 30% of all waking hours.
If the Goal is to raise a responsible independent adult, we are failing. Not just 'Special kids'. But 50 % of Normal 'kids' under the age of 30 years old are still living with Mom and Dad and eating Sphagetti-Os. Waiting 35 years to cut the Umbilical Cord seems a bit much. We just raise another generation that will subsists for decades on public dole, perhaps have dependent children and not contribute to their own well being or society.
Special Education is not a good long term investment. Even TV looks like less of a waste of time.
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I agree that we should incorporate media into our schools in the form of an educational supplement. We are still running our schools as they did in the 50's and we need to keep up with the fast paced stimuli of media/multimedia based exposure. Educational TV is a good idea and using more computer software to enhance learning in all areas is key to keeping the attention of our children and staying relevant to them, while providing a promising and updated education.
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I am not sure that I would cut anything. I would require that teachers pay a portion of their health care costs like all other employees. I am a manager (non-represented) at a local school. Over the ast three years, my salary has been cut 5%, I have received no cost of living raise the past three years, and we now pay $250 per month for our health care. The classified staff are in a similiar situation, but pay less in health care costs and have seen their salaries by 3%. The teachers have given nothing back. Instead of cutting a program of staff, cut the cost of benefits or salaries of teachers.
So, I do answer your question, what am I willing to cut from school budgets? I would cut the salaries and benefits of teachers, first. After that, I would cut the number of teachers and increase class sizes
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Mark -
I agree. Public employees across this state need to contribute more to their health care costs. But that is only a short term fix. We can not continue to turn to public employees for band-aid fixes. We have a structural funding problem.
To the public health advocates and others who do not want their special program cut, show me the money. We have been cutting back on "central administration" and maintenance for the last decade. It is any wonder our schools are falling apart?
The way we fund public education in this state is broken. The property tax reforms of the early 1990s are the cause of this problem - thank you Bill Sizemore. Oregon has slipped from 15th to 44th in per capita spending on education. Under these reforms, Portland property taxpayers send $400 million every year to the rest of state.
The solution to this structural funding problem requires statewide property tax reform. We have had 10 years failed leadership on this issue in Salem. It's always another special commission or wait until the next Legislature. Kulongoski has given nothing with his Reset commission. Now we get more of the same from our future governor - no specific proposals from Kitzhaber or Dudley on how to fix the system. We need real leadership on this issue - which means Oregon property taxpayers are going to have to pay more if we want a quality public education system with PE, Art, smaller class sizes and longer school years.
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You make it sound as if you know for a fact that teachers have not had salary cuts, raises witheld and that they don't have to pay for their health care like everyone else. All I can say is - check the facts. It's easy for people to say "They need to take cuts like everyone else." When the truth of the matter is - they have. And in addition to that, but everytime teachers or specials are cut, that puts additional responsibility onto the teachers left in which they are not compensated for. Many teachers have up to 35-40 students in a class now, with no assistants, and no prep time - not even time to go to the bathroom. You try working in those conditions and then say that the teachers haven't given anything back.
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I am a retired teacher, having taught 33 years, and recently supervised student teachers. Throughout my career I have seen the revenue decline in our schools. Only one time in the early nineties did things improve. Every year we saw less money. At one time I personally had to purchase $6,000 worth of materials for my kindergarten classroom so that my students had essential equipment. Every year we saw our staff cut, even with similar numbers of students. Our principal kept saying, "We need to do more with less. We have to meet these standards." One year he even gave us each a package of raisins, saying, "You deserve a raise in pay!" Educators are kept out of the decision making end of education financing. People think that we get 3 months of vacation, but don't understand how much of that is spent in updating schooling (for the many extra requirements being put in place yearly) or planning for the next year. Many teachers arrive by 7:30 A.M. and stay until 5:30 or 6 P.M. daily.
SO WHAT DO WE CUT?
Start by cutting out all consummable supplies and asking parents to purchase those supplies. Buy workbooks instead of copy paper, so teachers don't have to spend their time copying for the students. Workbooks are spendier at first, but would save a lot of teacher time, which could be so much more wisely used in planning and collaborating. Cut out all sports/P.E. and begin a community based sports and fitness program, much like they have in Europe. We made a great mistake in America when we included these along with academic subjects in our schools. We simply can't afford it. Use the monies that are available for textbooks, teacher pay and the buildings. Keep academics at the top of the budgeting focus. I can tell you, if something doesn't get straightened out we will be looking at a nation with no school teachers. No one will go into the field, even if they love teaching, if they look at the requirements for ongoing certification, work conditions and pay. Wake up America! Call your Congressmen. Tell your friends and neighbors to do the same. Our teachers should not have to take moonlighting jobs to make financial ends meet. Mary
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great ideas! especially about the workbooks and the sports programs.
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How about cutting math? Or better yet, English. Have you seen how kids today write? Text speak has long replaced English, so why bother?
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I think Maryn is on the mark with her suggestion -- cut everything that is not an essential. We save reading, writing, arithmetic, history, health and science. Phys Ed: gone! Intramural athletics: gone! Interscholastic athletics: GONE! (Which also solves that pesky problem of sending kids from Salem to Medford for a football game.)
Issue workbooks at the beginning of the year to all students, and replace textbooks for subjects that really don't change less often: algebra is the same today as it was in 1980, and will still be the same in 2040. History, however, will continue to progress, and there is no good reason (except for money) that textook authors and publishers can't produce a base textbook, with biennial supplements, for a few years then produce a new edition maybe once every ten years.
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Thank god I graduated from High School before the crumbling of the school systems began and before the funding sources for public schools were demolished. (Thanks a lot, Bill Sizemore, you *******!)
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I don't know a single teacher who thought they were making a substantial positive financial move when they became teachers. I consider them a sort of passionate missionary. I am not accustomed to missionaries picketing.
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Sports are great for students K-12, but they do not have to be funded through public schools. Cut the sports and work out a maintenance deal with the city and county governments for maintenance of the sports fields.
Decentralize school management and dramatically reduce the number of middle managers and school district "assistant superintendents". These are the highest district salaries and the positions are non-essential.
Sell off school district property not actually used for classroom management.
School budgets in WA and OR have been balanced on the backs of teachers for years, with salary freezes and cutbacks and the packing of classrooms to the bursting point. Stop using the teachers as the source for deficit funding.
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Why have Physical Education when the Video Generation can do Wii Fit, Wii Yoga or Wii Aerobics? Can you say ' Dance Dance Revolution' ? Why Music lessons when there is great software like Guitar Hero Beatles?
It is it a surprise in budget wars that the PE Coach defends his Turf as does the Music Maestro?
How much does it cost to have the class run a mile around the block? And does a coach have to be present?
Despite decades of PE, we are the fattest generation that ever walked the planet.
Instead of riding the bus to school. Walk or ride a bike to school...it burns calories and saves money.
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Great ideas! especially about the sports programs. These should be community and volunteer based programs anyway.
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I do believe we could be more creative when dealing with sports and the arts. Why can't we work with local community centers, college students who can use P.E. or music instruction as internships or volunteer opportunities. This would take some sort of organization, however. But if we create a job to organize these programs, we are still saving the greater cost and still providing these activities that are vital in maintaining health and wellness.
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Jacob,
The problem with replacing teachers with WiiFit and GuitarHero is that it would cost the district much more than a teacher's salary to purchase enough hardware and software for 30-40 students to be active for and hour in class. And, yes, legally a teacher needs to be present unless you want expensive law suits against the school for fights that break out over drug deals that would be going on between kids that really don't care to be playing WiiFit when they could be shooting up or smoking a joint since no teacher is around.
Besides, if you really knew what Physical Education and Music Education was all about, you'd know that it requires team-work, working together to produce a specific outcome that brings about a sense of accomplishment, community achievement, and it fullfills a sense of belonging. Without them, that sense of belonging might be fullfilled in other ways that are non-productive to society, such as gangs.
Believe me, teachers are well aware of technology and have a desire to use it, and many do. But it comes with a price tag, too! Figure it out.
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I served as a tutor for a student for a short while recently at one of our local middle schools. During that time I got a strong sense that life and learning could be greatly enhanced for middle school students through education around nutrition, eating, cooking, gardening and learning how to take care of oneself. This aspect of education seemed to be sorely lacking in my student’s life as was his lack of access to a decent amount of exercise. So, I am saddened to learn that the Portland School District is thinking about cutting out PE. My wish for young people would be extra chances to learn about life through other means than books and sitting in a classroom. I would recommend adding in more PE, nutrition, health, cooking, urban farming, bike-repair and practical skills helpful for living in our society. Not that I think the 3 R’s aren’t important, but learning the 3 R’s without having basic information and practice around using and caring for one’s body and one’s health abandons students to learn these things on their own when they could be learning them in school. Please reconfigure what students learn so that their educations are more rounded and so that they are more prepared to take care of their health earlier (and later!) on in life.
I'd also suggest adding in a healthy dose of medically-accurate comprehensive sex education for students at every grade level. This will lead to a healthy understanding of sex, less teenage pregnancy, less unplanned pregnancies, and again, a better understanding of our bodies and how to care for them.
Thanks for your show.
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I don't (yet) have an opinion on what should/should not be cut but I can say that it is looking less likely that my daughter (now just 2 months old) will attend Portland Public Schools. I'm the proud product of public schools and am saddened that my daughter may not follow those steps.
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there are still a lot of great things about public schools. One of the best ways you can support them is to attend. You will spend a lot more money on private educaiton than if you donate to your school foundation to support your classrooms. Please consider keeping your kids where they are. PDX schools are still great!
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I am in the West Linn / Wilsonville school district and have been shocked at the recent process our board took to 'cut' our Spanish Immersion program. It was not looked at alongside other potential programs to cut logically and methodically weighing its benefits vs. costs, but was literally 'plucked' out of a hat. Last night, at a recent board meeting, a board member admitted the process was flawed...thanks, but now our children and district suffer. This process has divided our community, brought out racial undertones and was shameful. I encourage board members to take a close look at what they are viewing as "potential cost savings." Since the program was cut, no teachers have been let go, so where did all of that "savings" go?
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Spanish Immersion is an extra program that we can no longer afford - cut it or make it parents who enroll their kids in the program pay the added costs. That is the reality we are no facing.
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Immersion education programs are invaluable in preparing children for the 21st century. Theses programs can be provided a cost neutral basis and actually are proving time and time again to be revenue positive for districts as they attract families seeking these types of programs for their children.
Language immersion taught in early years should be considered as a 2 for the price of 1 deal. Children in these programs learn the same core curriculum non immersion children but they get the added benefit of learning a foreign language as well. This is value education especially during tight budget cycles. The West Linn-Wilsonville School district needs to provide leadership to see that this is cost effective.
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I don’t have any children but I know from my own education experience that the most important things to keep are teachers and a major emphasis on the basics; Reading, writing, math, English.
Now for elementary school I would suggest keeping PE, just because kids focus better with the excess energy worked out.
My school did not offer much but my parents took up the slack in the fitness and arts department.
I sorry parents but the rest is up to you. It is up to parents to take responsibility for supplementing your OWN children’s education.
You had them, you take care of them.
I can hardly support myself; I can’t consider anything that would cause my expenses to go up.
Sorry, I know all the options suck but you gotta do what you gotta do.
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Cut administrators and let's make them an example to the private sector by adjusting their compensation closer to that of our schools' educators and service workers. We continue to reward failure at the upper levels. This may prove just a drop in the bucket financially, but morally, it's long overdue.
We need to fully fund education NEEDS. For that reason, we must make M66/67 a first step toward tax fairness. It's time to kill the kicker and create a stable rainy day fund, 'cause it sure does rain in Oregon!
EBT, aka hans
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I went to grade school in the early 70's in Minnesota in a small farm town. Nobody had much money. Everyone lived in modest homes and drove modest domestic cars (no McMansions, no BMW and Mercedes SUV's). Yet somehow we were able to afford PE, art, band, sports, the whole bit. How? Well, our classroom teacher was also the PE teacher. When it came time for PE, we lined up single file behind the teacher and walked outdoors or to the gym where the regular classroom teacher tought us the fundamentals of basketball, field hockey, etc. It wasn't until middle school were we had dedicated PE teachers. Also, we are constrained by red tape in how we can fund our schools. If parents wanted to get together and donate money to the schools, they can't do it. At least that is what we are told out in Beaverton, since parent donations aren't a reliable source of funding year to year. So, even though you get a thousand parents willing to give 5 grand each to the school, the school can't use it to keep a teacher.
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Question for WLWV School District: Why is it that numerous other school districts in Oregon and nationwide are able to run language immersion classes on a cost-neutral basis (meaning other than some nominal set-up costs, the cost to run the classroom is no more than the cost to run an English-language classroom) and WLWV claims that it is not? Experts across the board agree that set-up costs are minimal. Parents involved in the program have pledged over $47,000 to cover the startup costs. Therefore, what exactly does cutting Spanish Immersion save the district, and why is the district unwilling to work with the parent group to come to a mutually beneficial solution?
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As districts are making the tough decisions about what to cut they should attempt to ensure that students feel the impact the least.
Districts across Oregon could benefit by taking a look at their business practices to see if any efficiencies can be found. School districts in Central Oregon, in partnership with the High Desert ESD, found through such a study that if Crook County, Sisters and Redmond combined their fiscal and technology services with a partner like the ESD, they could see $500,000 in on-going, annual savings.
The study also suggests that it is likely that districts across Oregon could find efficiencies by regionalizing certain services so that those services reach 4,500 or more students.
This is not work that can be done overnight, but it is work that is essential to keeping dollars in the classroom where they matter most.
The full report is available at: http://www.chalkboardproject.org/images/ECOESDefficiencyFinal.pdf
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I am sorry this is not helpful - we have been looking for these phantom "efficiencies" for a decade. There is not that much fat left to close a $19 million gap. Get real - start working on real school funding reform.
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Public employees need to start paying for their own healthcare like the rest of us.
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Are you saying that those people who are diagnosed with a disease like cancer deserve to go bankrupt?
I respectfully suggest that rather than advocate for the stripping of the benefits of others, fight your own employer and or government for something that should be a basic human right...healthcare.
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As adult commuters, we know that personal self-powered transportation like bicycling or walking is the MOST RELIABLE EXERCISE PROGRAM in a modern society.
Let Kids learn to walk and ride bikes to school; THEN they will do the same to college and to work.
Physical education was always a social program just above the value of recess. There is NO Education in PE.
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Jacob, maybe you haven't been in a physical education class in a while or one that was standards-based. When taught to standards by a PE specialist, PE builds student skills for lifelong physical activity and fitness including skills around goal-setting, safety, problem-solving, self-assessment, self-managment and more. It's way more than playing sports or games (or having social time). And yes, many PE teachers include instruction on bicycling and walking! I'd suggest getting involved with Portland's Safe Routes to School program since you're so passionate about the issue and have experience with bicycle commuting: www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=40511
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PE is absolutely unnecessary---if one was to cut something, that should be the first thing to go. There is absolutely no clear defense of PE. What educational value does it have? How can you even teach it at all? What is to teach? Really, what are they teaching? I never learned a thing in PE that wasn't already obvious. What research says PE is valuable? Skateboarding might be valuable, chess might be valuable---it doesn't mean we need to teach it.
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There are many studies the demonstrate the strong positive effects of exercise on learning, retention, etc. Google is your friend.
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P.S. If there is anything to 'teach' regarding physical education, it could be taught in two weeks. If we want to let kids run around on the playground, great, let them outside for some personal recreation, but don't come up with some nonsensical advocacy for the 'teaching' of physical education.
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fatmidwesternwhiteguy,
Yes, and I don't agree with a single one of those studies! Because how could those studies possibly ever determine whether it was the physical activity itself rather then the 'teaching' of it, that is valuable? You did say exercise! I could propose dancing is valuable, it is good for the mood and the mind, but that doesn't mean teaching dancing is anymore valuable then just dancing.
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If you're interested in what is taught in a PE classroom, you can download the state standards (what all students should know and be able to do) from the Oregon Department of Education website: www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/real/standards. This might help clear some things up.
School physical education programs offer the best opportunity to provide physical activity to all children and to teach them the skills and knowledge needed to establish and sustain an active lifestyle. Physical education teachers assess student knowledge, motor and social skills, and provide instruction in a safe, supportive environment. Based on sequence of learning, physical education should not be compared to or confused with other physical activity experiences such as recess, intramurals, or recreational endeavors.
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How about closing the ESD's there are about 20 of them that were initially supposed to serve small school districts (those under 1000 students) Now, they serve large school districts such as Lake Oswego. Should we continue giving precious little money to such institutions???
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Why are the WLWV Immersion classrooms being discussed during a show about budget cuts? Immersion classrooms are cost-neutral after negligible start up costs. In WLWV, parents agreed to cover those costs, created a 501(c)(3), and raised $48,000 in a matter of days. Instead of being about the budget, the slashing of immersion has NOTHING to do with costs and EVERYTHING to do with the superintendent's agenda. Roger Woehl clearly controls that School Board; there are no checks and balances in WLWV. Woehl has admitted he's had it out for Immersion. Board members Keith Steele and Jeff Halin have admitted they, too, had problems with the Adminstration's cost figures re: Immersion. What they said last night in a Board meeting is that the Immersion classrooms have a "perception problem" in WLWV. We are left to believe that that refers to the awful racism that has reared its ugly head in WLWV around this issue , and/or about Superintendent Roger Woehl's agenda and directives (one and the same)?????
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Schools seem very slow to add technology in ways that will actually enhance efficiency of learning. Almost all schools still use an assembly line approach or even worse, a job-shop/batch learning approach. Education is measured in years instead of in learning. Technology offers the opportunity for interactive paced learning that can accelerate students progress and dynamically help parents and teachers find ways for them to discover their individual gifts, passions and learning styles. The real progress though and the real savings wont show up by trying to tweak the old model. It's as though we're trying to figure out a better way to learn Morse code on the telegraph instead of trying an iPad.
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Bob -
Schools are slow to add technology because they don't have any money!!! Are you willing to buy 45,000 iPads for PPS students?
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Why must education be on the chopping block every year. Within 10 years we will not have any schools left! There must be other areas where cuts can be made. Do we really need a new street name and streets signs?
None of the things mentioned should be cut. PE is essential. otherwise we have children in a closed room for 6 hours and are expected to stay put, quiet and learn yet they are not given any outlet for energy or to use their bodies. Then they get put on medications for "paying attention" better and getting fatter. Then we pay more insurance for health because everyone is obese. IT does no make sense.
we are telling our kids they don't matter when we cut thier programs, teachers and days every year.
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How many people who voted for Prop 5 are now screaming for PE and more teachers? Did those voters not see this coming??
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I've been a classroom teacher for 6 years in the Portland area. I know physical education is extremely important to keep kids healthy, reduce obesity, and allow kids to stay focused.
However, I do not believe it takes a certified teacher to teach physical education. PE teachers could be trained classified personnel who have a passion for getting kids engaged in fitness, wellness, and fun. The same lifelong skills could be taught by an individual without a 4 year or even a masters degree. I know this idea is controversial, but several of my colleagues have voiced the same idea. I know we're faced with difficult decisions to make and I wish Oregon would restructure its funding sources
-Anonymous
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I value classrooms that either have less students per teacher or classroom assistants. The budget cuts are forcing schools to add more students per class and this is hurting individual attention that is critical for students to progress.
Although technology is a part of our world, we need to teach students to be able to function without technology. Technology can cost a lot of tax dollars and it is preventing our children from thinking independently and socially. I want to see less technology and more reading. I would like to see bans on cell phones for students as well as teachers in the classroom environment.
I am a non traditional college student and I see first hand the lack of writing skills, math and basic English that Oregon high school grads do not comprehend. Our children should be able to write a sentence after graduating from any Oregon high school and this is not happening. We didn't have these problems when I was growing up, and I think we really need to get back to basics.
We should never cut music or art out of the budget. Arts and humanities make for a well educated student. PE is a necessity for today's video crazed, sedentary children.
The size of our house has become more important than the education that our children receive. We as Americans are maxed out on credit and can't afford to support our schools anymore. Most people do not want to admit it, but that is reality. We must get back to basics and do everything we can to get our children back on the right track. Today's children are tomorrow's leaders and that should be more important than anything else in the budget. I get very frustrated that people to do not want to support schools yet they enjoy their 3,000 square foot homes. Something is wrong here!
If I were to cut anything out of the budget, it would be administrative costs and foregin languages.
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I have heard that in Japan, the K - 12 students clean their own classrooms and also clean up after lunch. This would reduce the number of hours needed for janitorial services. It would also teach the children to clean up after themselves and create peer pressure on those who litter.
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Not only that, but in many other countries (Japan, China, for examples) students are expected to take a second language, usually English, in addition to their other class load. When you consider that English is the most screwed-up language (in terms of bizarre rules that have obnoxious exceptions with arcane exceptions to the exceptions) in the world, then you see part of the reason why we are falling behind in the classroom and in academic performance.
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When you talk about WLWV suspending their phenominally successful immersion program after only one year it would be interesting to know why Portland Public Schools didn't look at immersion. Can your interviewer ask why PPS didn't look at cutting immersion? It's because immersion isn't an elective. It is a classroom delivering a core curriculum in a foreign language. Bi-lingualism is a by-product of the immersion process. In a time of financial cut-backs this is the ultimate cost savings...you deliver the mandatory core curriculum and you also gain foreign language proficiency at no additional cost. Good for PPS for delivering this value added, cost-neutral education! I wish WLWV had as much vision to lead our children into the 21st century.
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These current cuts to Portland Public Schools are heartbreaking, but rallying to "save PE" or "save classroom teachers" for the coming year misses the point. We have a broken revenue system in Oregon, and without statewide changes we'll be cutting and cutting for the next ten years.
We need to hold our decision makers accountable for getting us off the boom and bust cycle. A no-brainer first step is to reform the kicker and set up a robust rainy day fund for schools. A second step is to elect quality, forward thinking, can-do leadership in the fall. I am not inspired by legislative leadership telling Oregonians "not to panic." I am inspired by politicians who care about student achievement, not just funding, and who are willing to take the bold steps necessary to stabilize our school funding so the conversation can turn to how our kids are doing, rather than what are we cutting.
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What should be cut in addition to PE is transportation. In California the parents pay for school bussing if they need it. We are no longer a rural agricultural economy, why are we being taxed to pay the bussing costs of people that can afford rural McMansions? No bussing might lead to smarter decisions about school size and location.
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http://healthyamericans.org/reports/obesity2010/
Check out this article, then decide if PE should be cut. PE is necessary, if not, how many kids would then turn into obese diabetics for medicare to take care of? We need to start with payroll, we need to run schools like a business; cut the fat, have the unions pay their fare share of healthcare costs, invest in their own 401ks (not have the taxpayers fund it), etc. This is a structural problem that is NOT going away anytime soon. The school board is a bunch of talking heads, the superintendent is a worthless use of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Administrative costs are out of control. The PPS executives aren't willing to cut their pay, the teachers (understandably) don't want to cut their pay as they're already overworked and overextended. The PPS system has to pay custodians they erroneously fired. Buildings are extremely inefficient (energy-wise). The PPS can't even co-ordinate a dumpster to be delivered to local schools where clean-up projects are done by community members (Portsmouth).
As a victim of Prop 13 in California in the 70s, we learned to live with the reality back then. The luxury bus service went away, parents chipped in to fund the local schools, etc. I turned out fine, although I admit I grew up in an over privileged community. What about bussing? How much does that cost? I see the bus come by my house every day in the Overlook neighborhood and Beech is just a short hop, skip & a jump away. Most people walk their kids to school, what's with the bus?
How about charging for bus service. Kids are fat, they need the PE. Just go to the suburbs and look at the people out there that drive everywhere. They're terribly out of shape. Keep PE, change the cafeteria menus, and hold the parents accountable for keeping their kids active.
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Every parent who lives in a district that cuts school days should take their child to Salem on one of those cut days and tour the Capitol. We did this a few years ago when our district cut days. Our legislators need to be overwhelmed with school kids demanding restoration of adequate funding. Imagine kids from all over the state descending on Salem!
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Your guests neatly stepped over the topic of SPORTS programs equating them with PE. By referring to the needs of the less fortunate, they indicated that there is only hope for them if they have PE. What they really meant to say is the hope of all football and basketball players to get college scholarships. So, fine. Let the Universities pay fees to recruit athletes. Or let Nike, the Blazers, the major contributors or sponsors of local high school sports pool their money for "sports program fees" outside of the school day. I am frustrated that school districts will cut instructional days for all students, but not consider or discuss cutting sports which is optional for a fraction of students. Consider, elementary schools do not have sports programs but thhose same kids from less wealthy families are imacted even more by the lack of instructional time.
Second, changing the school calendar to a four days saves transportation costs. The fifth day can be used for sports, assemblies, field trips etc. currently taking time away from the instructional day. As for child care, consider the high unemployment rates indicating there are parents at home. While not optimal, hard times call for hard solutions.
Finally, I agree. Its time Oregon faced up to the financial realities. Funding schools by property taxes when homes are in foreclosure? Are the banks paying the taxes? It's time to call forth that terrifying phrase: sales tax.
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I've been listening with interest to your conversation. I sympathize with the PE supporter. However it is irresponsible to say "don't cut PE, but I do not have another idea for what to cut". If you are going to oppose proposed cuts you must propose an alternative. Unfortunately something has to give. Please, PE campaign folks, be responsible and propose other cuts.
Thank you.
-Sarah Young
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If we are not willing to cut anything and we are not willing to pay enough to support everything, then we are stuck with either balancing the budget on the backs of the employees (by lowering their salaries and benefits) or shortening the school year.
Personally, I worry that the "cutting" mentality also includes lowering quality, since many comprehensive programs don't work well when schools implement just the easiest/cheapest parts. I guess that leaves us with: whatever we do in public schools should be high quality and, when the money runs out, that marks the end of the school year.
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I would like to point out how bass-ackward our government spending is: We pay our lame-brain governor about $100,000 a year and we pay our federal legislators over $150,000 a year, but yet we pay our teachers -- who are trying to educate the next generation, who will grow up to be our leaders -- a pittance and then expect them to cover the shortfall for needed classroom supplies out of pocket! HOW IS THAT RIGHT?!?!?
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One of your guests made the distinction between sports and PE. Why not look at cutting sports, an EXclusive activity, and keep PE which is INclusive?
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Home school has no PE requirement, why should students attending a brick and mortar school have more requirements than home school students? PE provided very little physical activity and little to no life long physical activity behavior pattern. If anything schools should have a workout club environment where students could get on a treadmill for 30 minutes a day and get some actual exercise and develop a life long pattern of exercise and health.
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I would also like all of your listeners to be aware of the Oregon RoadMap strategic plan for language excellence. This plan was created by government, business and educational leaders from all the state. This plan provides clear direction that by 2025 they would like to see all graduates having proficiency in English as well as a functional proficiency in a second language. The message the Oregon RoadMap provides is clear- now is the time to focus on best practices for language instruction. Early language immersion follows the goal for this state. We need to embrace early language immersion and work with our school districts to provide this critical type of education.
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Why is the West Linn Wilsonville School District the only one in the metro area that can't figure out a way to keep their language immersion program? Lake Oswego, Canby, North Clackamas, Oregon City and Portland all have big budget deficits, but they are keeping their immersion programs. Why? Because they realize that language immersion programs are not a large draw on the budget and in fact can be run close to cost neutral. The bilingual teachers hired last year are STILL employed with the district, yet the district is unwilling to utilize their skills to continue on with the Spanish Immersion classrooms.
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Oh come on! I absolutely reject this notion that classroom teachers can't effectively teach PE. I reject the assertion that this has never been done successfully before. How quickly we forget what life was like not that long ago, when a much less consumer oriented society without 4 dollar lattes, gas guzzling SUVs, energy sucking big screen TVs, eating out 4 nights per week....and we still managed to offer band and orchestra starting in 4th grade, still managed to teach kids art, still managed to provide quality PE instruction. But now....NOW...we have to have specially trained teachers to teach PE? I encourage ALL OF YOU to visit a school and watch the highly trained PE instructor and TELL ME...how different that instruction really is from what you remember getting from your classroom teacher when you were a kid? My prediction? It won't be different!!!
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What is interesting to me is that the news media largely frames the issue as budget cuts, innefficiencies, bloated payroll and benefits. While there may be an occasional story about ...gasp... the concept of raising revenues... The major framing of the issue is always on those terrible innefficient schools with waste and abuse and huge teacher salaries with the status quo being preserved by the thugs called the teachers' union.
It is all about getting rid of inefficiencies until that inefficiency might be called an affluent high school district like Grant. Then it becomes an issue of stupid school administrators that we will pile 2 dozen lawyers on top of.
Have a show on the unequal distribution of wealth, the possibilitiy of raising corporate taxes to adequately sustain the education infrastucture that Oregon industry is the direct beneficiary of and then you might have a meaningul conversation about priorities.
Until then, I suggest we cut the state subsidies and grants to OPB and redirect that money to keeping school librarians employed
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How much has things like textbooks been reviewed? I know that every couple of years we used to get new textbooks, without any real need for new ones. Where I grew up the school district had a contract to purchase new textbooks every two or three years and it was insane how much they paid per textbook. I cringe when I see the "new" additions into textbooks, especially now that the Texas school board has forced unfounded and disproven ideas into textbooks. So, have these things been looked at? Do schools really need principals? Or can regional principals serve the same function? How much leverage are the schools doing? If ALL, every single school district in the state combined their resources and purchased all consumables together, what effect would the economies of scale have? And of course as so many others have said, the entire funding model is flawed and needs to be completely changed. Also as others have mentioned, the teachers (and most public employees in Oregon) don't pay much if anything for health insurance. Most private employees do. I think it would be fair to ask those public employees to pitch in and pay some of the health care premiums.
In the end, there is no good answer. Maybe the way to get attention to the problem and force the State Legislature to review the fundemental problem with the financial model is to cut English, Science and Math. One year, completely from ALL schools in Oregon. I think schools may get some attention then.
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There is something bothersome about these cuts, they undermine our education system at large, in the same way, the proposed cuts to state employee benefits undermine their total worth (you discussed this topic several days ago). Either these areas of study are useful, and are, well, actually part of an education, or they aren't. If we can cut them and don't miss anything, then why are they there in the first place? Education is a basic necessity, if we barter parts away, what does that say about us, and our idea of education itself? And what have we been doing for all these years? Have students been receiving a luxury education all this time?
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My concern is for special education. I have 3 children in PPS, and 2 receive Special Ed assistance. If this budget is cut anymore, the impact will be felt by everyone. I don't think parents realize that the assitants and learning centers keep children learning and part of the classrooms. Without the help, behavior in classrooms will be impacted and children will not learn as much. It feels like a hidden necesity at schools. You don't realize the value of special ed unless your child receives these services but without the help our schools will not be able to perform at the same level and all children will be impacted. If this budget is cut more, I really believe that IEP goals will not be met and the district will be fielding lawsuits from families. Special Ed is not an elective and cannot be cut anymore.
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I suggest that the students of all ages who are going to be affected by these cuts find some pro bono lawyers and file a class action lawsuit against the adults of the State of Oregon, demanding proper funding for our schools.
The adults screwed up the economy and now the children are paying the price, and before they have even reached an age where they can earn any money to pay any price.
Cutting back on education will cut back their future ability to contribute to the economy, let alone their own lives and future families.
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Cheap Billingual Education IMMERSION Program:
Watch only Spanish Language Mexican Programming.
UnaVision is the second largest broadcaster in America.
Start with the English Subtitles. Then Turn them off.
Children WANT to watch TV. Might as well let them watch Mexican Wrestling and learn Una Otra Lengua.
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Budget concerns are real, but they do not completely drive the process for what programs stay and which are cut. Last night I was at the West Linn / Wilsonville School Board meeting and a final plea was made from over 20 parents and community members to re-instate the Spanish Immersion classrooms. The budget numbers surrounding the decision to suspend the program were proven to be flawed, the decision process from the board was shown to be rushed and politically based and the Superintendent would not answer questions directed to him from the audience for clarifiication. It was clear that there was an ulterior motive that was driving the decision to cut the Spanish Immersion program.
The community offered several options to help support the classrooms; both in volunteer hours and financially. This fell on deaf ears and the School Board would not consider any of these options. THis was an outrageous travesty. Budget was not the key issue on this matter as cost neutral options were provided yet not considered. Politics are at play and children are being displaced. Teachers are not being displaced because of this program suspension. It is a shame and a disgusting display of politics running the educational futures of our children. WLWV school district is no longer a destination district and the school board and administrators should feel disgraced for their bait and switch actions that hurt our kids.
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Why has no one brought up fundraising? Appeal to the community. 16 million is a lot but ialso seems acheivable. How about we ask Nike to donate??
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Beaverton parents suggested the same thing. Donations can't be used to fund teacher positions. Red tape.
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Depending on "Nobless Oblige" is the wrong way to go if we really are a government of the people, by the people , and for the people. Nobless Oblige is not dependable over any long term for anything and especially not for schools.
We ought to "fundraise" by taxing ourselves, to govern ourselves, and educate our children.
No thanks, to being reduced to beggary, we rejected Conservatism in our 1776 Revolution, and we need to re-reject it now.
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After thirty some years of believing the promises of wealthy Conservative Republicans that if we only give them more tax cuts, the future will be rosy, the economy will be robust, we'll all have great jobs and our schools will be the best in the world, now we're facing the truth, it was all lies!
And now you are suggesting that our children go begging to the wealthy people to give back some of what we gave them, so that the kids can get an education.
The whole thing makes no sense to me at all!
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I moved to Oregon right after the passage of measure 5 (I believe that's the #). It seems as though this was a catastrophic piece of legislation for all public services but it does not seem to be a large piece of any discussion I have heard about the current budget situation. I would request a show that discusses the background and consequences of this measure.
In addition, I would like someone from the anti-cut PE group to ask Nike why it has fought paying city taxes to Beaverton. These tax breaks both at the local and state level take money out of the pockets of schools and other public services. The gifts that Nike gives schools are great but a reliable funding source would be much more valuable.
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Can someone please explain the formula for school funding...percentage from local, state, federal? And whether it varies for urban and rural schools.
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It's clear that no one is ever going to agree on what to cut, especially those in the PE advocacy realm. If I were queen, I would cut school days rather than totally eliminating a certain subject. This would be fair to teachers as most jobs could be preserved and they certainly could adjust their curriculum to cover what they need to cover. A shortened school year does not have to be an onerous thing. When I was in high school in a suburban school in Oregon, we regularly got out of school two weeks before Portland schools, usually by the end of May. It gave us an advantage in job seeking and it allowed us to earn a little more money for that first year of college. Our SAT scores were always above the state average, so we did not suffer academically. Kids come to school for many different reasons, and completely eliminating some subjects also completely eliminates some students!
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School days should be cut. I have not heard a good argument against this. It sends the strongest message that: 1. We can't operate with fewer teachers and staff 2. Parents and politicians pay the most attention. It would be as short / long term as cutting PE teachers. No?
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No. A shrinking education system, most alarmingly demonstrated by cutting school days, is as damaging to society as incurable cancer is to a person. Next to a solid family (in the widest sense of the word) a sound education system is critical to a healthy community. A sure sign of a civilization in decline is one that doesn't educate it's children. Now, in the age of globalization where competition for jobs comes from India and China as much as the neighboring county, societies that undereducate their children will lose and lose badly.
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My children are not yet in the PPS system, but will likely be in the coming years. The proposed decision to drop PE classes uniformly across elementary schools is of great concern to myself and other parents (as indicated by the percent of parents opposing the idea). Studies have shown that reduced physical activity of children is associated with 2 big problems (1) increased classroom management problems and (2) higher percentages of overweight children. To address the first point, increases in classroom management problems lead to less effective instruction, and subsequently lowered achievement. To address the second issue, we are in a decade where childhood obesity is at its greatest, and it seems important to address what has become a national epidemic, not promote the problem. The way to do this would be to increase activities shown to improve the problem (i.e., physical activity), not reduce them. Kids simply need physical activity. The outcome to both of these points will in the long-term, lead to increases in behavioral problems, lowered academic achievement, and increased rates of child obesity. It simply seems like a short-sighted solution to a financial problem that will likely result in much greater costs to the health care system and education system in the long run.
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Why does it always come down to cutting teachers? Look in the district at all the levels above teachers. I work in a Portland Metro School District and I see the waste at the district level. The rare bad teacher is not let go, but instead, is promoted to the district offices where s/he makes a higher salary and is often just as ineffective as s/he was in the classroom. Cut the fat at the district offices, not in the classroom!
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I have always wondered how budgeting for substitute terachers was done and whether it could be reduced or eliminated. If each school were required to absord the duties of an absent teacher within the existing staff by doubling up classes, using the principal or assistant or some other method would there be significant savings?
My experience has been that classes with substitute teachers are frequently not very productive. Teachers would be less likely to call in sick for frivolous reasons knowing they would be putting an extra burden on the rest of the staff.
If the amount spent on substitutes is significant, I think this should be an area of some creative thinking.
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I feel silly asking when I must be looking right at it, but I can't seem to find a list of your guests for today's show. It seems like that should be prominently listed in the introductory paragraph, no?
Am I looking right at it...?
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Nope, we forgot! It'll be up right after the show. Sorry!
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I'd like to know what the process is that you are using to make your decisions. Specifically, are teachers & parents involved in brainstorming solutions and coming up with proposals? In my experience effective change can only occur if the folks in the trenches (in this case teachers and parents) come up with solutions. The solutions are always much better and implemented more effectively when shaped by the people who actually do the work. I'm not saying teachers and parents would make the final decisions, the leadership needs to do that, but they should be heavily involved in coming up with the solutions. This would require decisions to be made on a more local level since you can't do this with all teachers and parents on Oregon. To mitigate the concern that this would create inequality in schools, the leadership would need to provide clear objectives to the schools. In this way objectives are standartized rather than the way each school meets the objectives. An example of an objective could be that each child needs 30 minutes of physical activity during a schoold day, then let each school decide how best to accomplish this. I beliee this is the only way to effectively bring about change. The "define and convince" method where the leaders come up with the solution and then try to convince everyone that it's the best choice does not work.
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Though exacerbated by the current financial crisis, this round of statewide cuts is a symptom of a larger problem - Oregon's boom-and-bust budgeting cycle and our lack of a Rainy Day Fund. Oregon needs real revenue reform now. A rainy day fund, funded by at least partially by kicker reform makes sense for Oregon and makes sense for our schools.
I’m a member of Stand for Children, one organization among those calling for a Rainy Day Fund and real leadership from our legislators – find out more and join our efforts at http://www.stand.org/or/stablefunding!
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As a grandparent of a student in the kindergarten Spanish Immersion at Boones Ferry Elementary, I have been amazed at the progress and engagement my grandson has shown over the past year. His parents, and the other parents, too, have been very engaged and enthusiastic about the program. They are committed to their children's academic education and futures. I would have assumed that kind of involvement and support is something that the school district would value. Unfortunately, that does not seem to be the case. Although the parent's group has presented statistics showing that once start up costs have been met that the programs are cost-neutral. Other school districts have lent their support and the benefit of their experience. The program has been in place for one academic year. Where are the costs now - as opposed to the cost of other classrooms. The 50 students in Spanish Immersion are continuing students in the WLWV district and still figure in overall costs.
It seems that there is an agenda here that has little or nothing to do with costs or budget shortfalls. Perhaps it could be attributed to one person's personal agenda - not valuing a diversity of education that could potentially benefit our children and grandchildren in the future - giving them an advantage in future. As a tax payer and long-time resident of West Linn I am ashamed that such a relatively affordable program is being cut without due process and thoughtful assessment.
What are comparable costs of sports programs, other non-academic programs. Where is the equity of opportunity to get the best possible education?
I am very concerned.
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I agree with the consensus here regarding the proven SUCCESSFUL and BUDGET NEUTRAL Spanish Immersion program in WLWV. I realize times are tough and changes need to be made, but Spanish Immersion should not be the scapegoat it has become. Yes, there are start up costs, but parents have offered SEVERAL means to offset these costs. And after start-up costs, there are no additional costs -- a kindergarten class is a kindergarten class, plain and simple. In fact, they get more education for the same price... definitely what I want for my kids and my community!
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There is no difference between an English taught classroom and a Spanish language classroom in terms of cost. Each needs a teacher, each teaches core curriculum. Outside of materials and minimal professional development, the costs are EXACTLY THE SAME. The district put up a slide during the June 16th meeting showing the costs of a Spanish Immersion classroom. The NEVER put up any slide indicating what the cost of an English classroom was. That is because they knew that it would be essentially the same. I would like to hear from the board or administration on why this information was presented with such a bias toward getting rid of the program.
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Hmm, let's see now, Conservative Republicans started a trillion US dollars worth of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to help those countries and now we can't even help our own US children?
GRR!
Just a minor cut in our military would pay for our schools.
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Reminds me of a bumper sticker I saw once, Tom...
It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need, and the Air Force has to have a bake sale to buy a bomber.
We need to re-prioritze education back up to an inviolable #1 position.
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The Travisty in what happened in the WestLinn Wilsonville School District was the way the process of cutting the Spanish Immersion Program was dealt with. NO program should have been brought out in an isolated manner like this.
The point was the families effected and more importantly the children were not given the appropiate consideration that all other programs will be given. Our point has always been to include our program side by side with all the other offerings and then look at what costs are associated with them and what the benefits are side by side. Then the board and district makes a level headed, well informed decision based on the facts rather than by reacting to a political agenda or district pressure.The process for eliminating the language immersion program was FLAWED in everyway. No matter what program your kids are in or what activites your kids participate in if we allow decision makers to make decision in this manner the system fails us all.
The Budget crisis is serious and we need leadership which is fair and just. -
Why was WLWV Spanish Immersion deliberately sabotaged by manipulation of the public to create the "perception" problem stated as the reason to cut Spanish Immersion by board chair, Jeff Hallin? Emails and phone calls were made to parents around the district saying that Spanish Immersion would be responsible for 9 teachers losing their jobs after the school board meeting on June 7th. Yet, after Spanish Immersion was retained at the June 7th meeting, NO teachers lost their jobs, class sizes did NOT increase and P.E. was actually INCREASED! Even now after Spanish Immersion has been suspended , the Immersion teachers, the only first year teachers in the district, retained their positions. The board members are fully aware of this, but chose to cave into mob rule of uninformed parents. Now, that the board has all the facts, isn't it their job to change the public "perception" and do what is right?
At last night's board meeting the board stated that they will devise a system for looking at all programs equally. When we then demanded this for Spanish Immersion, we were refused. When a motion was brought forth to hold a study session to get all the facts and look at the program in a fair way, the motion was not seconded.
Why is WLWV the ONLY district that is not supporting immersion programs? It makes no sense to discontinue an over-performing, cost effective program that could actually bring in revenue for the district as other families would move into the disrict to be a part of the immersion program. Now, the immersion parents will be forced to leave the district to seek out immersion programs and take their money with them.
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I want to voice support for Superintendent Smith and the members of the Portland School Board in their efforts to deal with the perpetual funding problems that face this city's schools. We hired and elected skilled, experienced, caring people to look at all the choices, weigh all the competing priorities and come up with solutions. Unfortunately, every parent group is convinced that their school, their program, their child is not being considered and that they have a better plan than the school board. I beg you to stop your second guessing and let the professionals and dedicated volunteers get on with the difficult work of providing a strong educational program for ALL students.
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Support staff (music, PE, and art) are the greatest. They are specialists. My pcp is a generalist like a classroom teacher. If I could not have a specialist, I would be grateful for the pcp. The bulk of my teaching career (16 yrs) was spent in Palo Alto, CA, a very wealthy district with all the bells and whistles. We did not offer language immersion classes, art, music or PE. Who took care of those needs? The classroom teacher! I do not know what the required training is for an elementary credential today, but I graduated with training in art, music and PE. No teacher, though, is talented in all those areas. Often teachers split up the "jobs" among their peers so that the students receive the best that is available from each grade level. Educators are creative; they will figure out ways to provide for PE and the arts because they DO realize their importance. We even teamed up with academics. I taught reading to the challenged learner or English learner, so I think the same thing could be done with PE and the arts until the specialists could be returned to the program. It will be a sacrifice, but we are living in times of sacrifice and we need to suck it up.
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This is simple, public education needs to harken back to its origins. It has ceased to have the mandate to provide dozens of specialized opportunities for students. The only effective option is to simply choose the essential foundation subjects that students must have (Reading, Writing, Science, Math, PE), staff the schools so that all children have no more than a 15 to 1 student/teacher ratio in grades K-3, 20 to 1 in grades 3-8, and 25 to 1 in grades 9-12, and do the job of teaching those subjects well.
Oregon is unable and unwilling to support "Video Production", "The History of Rock Music" and "Film as Lit." in schools any more. The addition of these subjects in the '80s and '90s was great for entertaining checked-out teens when the money was pletiful, but the staffing to support these subjects now is simply robbing public schools of the opportunity to do an effective job teaching anything.
It's time for those people who make the decisions to just get on with it! It may ease their conscience to do across-the-board cuts, but, like the choices that many Americans now face, it's the choice between eliminating eating out at a restaurant once a week and trying to explain to the bank why the mortgage is not paid-in-full or just not going out to eat and paying the mortgage.
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Again, what exactly is the 'teaching' part of PE? How is the complexity of teaching PE commensurate with the teaching of something like music? If you don't think music is valuable, or is a necessary component of an education, you should at least realize the degrees of conceptual difference between the two. Because even if you make a case that physical education could be taught in an in-depth fashion, that really gets into theories and concepts of movements and strategies----physical education is never taught in a complexity that in any way nears the difficulty of music. That is why personal trainers are called 'trainers' and not 'teachers' or 'tutors,' because that would be an overstatement of the work.
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We need a rainy day fund for schools and other essential services NOW, only then will the boom and bust stop.
We need to reform the kicker tax law to provide stable and adequate funding for public education.
I also believe a small sales tax would be a good way to provide stable funding for education and other essential services (health care and public safety) and would reduce the need to raise income and property taxes.
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you said it!!! a one or two percent tax doesn't add much to the price of things, but could amount to huge sums to the state budget. i would rather pay a sales tax than more on my property taxes.
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Its traditional, apparently, that to cover any shortfall you must attack schools and/or police. As I was listening to the dialogue and gathering my thoughts I found myself having to try to maintain some decorum. My rag would be: Why do we always grind on schools and police when there are other areas where money seems to be leaking out in no special direction. For instance, when Im driving past road crews I always make a mental note on the amount of work that appears to be getting done. I find myself amazed when all the workers, or even half of the workers are busy, which is very seldom. Usually I see a hole, one man with a shovel, one with a clipboard and three looking on. If there are eight workers on the site, three are working and five are watching, usually with animated conversation. Maybe the workers need cheering on.... I know these workers, who require no special education, are paid very, very well with our tax dollars. In 1978, my friend had the flagging job (and sometimes deer carcass picker-upper), at 18 dollars an hour. My jaw dropped, she was educated to run an art gallery, but I dont think she would have commanded that wage at that time in her profession. Anyway, I think you get my drift. Why do we never look elsewhere to cut back on expenses. I understand that legislators get lots of perks that we dont even know about, but we pay for and Im sure some of you could come up with a bunch more suggestions. What would I cut? Well Spanish immersion can go, sex education has no place in public schools, Im all for Phys. Ed. but couldnt we let school out earlier and let the parents make sure their kids are getting their excercise? We could ban twinkies and soda and their ilk, I think thats in the works, maybe we wouldnt have such a population of beached whales. Oh, didnt you ask? Sorry.
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your PE "expert" was givinging you a HUGE pile of the big, brown, steamy stuff when he said the general elementary school teacher is incapable of also taking on the role of physical educator and that no successful model of this exist ANYWHERE. bullocks! i was educated in the california public school system in the '70s and '80s and that's exactly how it worked at the elementary school level. from a half an hour to one hour several times a week our regular teacher took us outside to play kickball, capture the flag, run some laps, and other fun activities. they were also the ones who trained us for the presidential physical fitness tests, which most of us earned patches for. nutrition was included in the biology/science category. back then, there were maybe only a half-dozen or so kids in the entire elementary school who were considered over-weight and i only remember one who fit the obese category. we didn't have an official, single physical exercise expert until the junior high school level. and we did just fine!
oregon, it's time to suck it up and implement a sales tax so we can provide the funding to keep ALL of the educational programs needed to turn our children into well-rounded, successful adults.
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Here here. There was one fat kid in my school. Uno. That's it. She probably wouldn't even be considered fat anymore by modern standards. Now that we have all of these professional PE teachers with their very advanced curriculum, things should be better right? Let the classroom teachers teach PE and let's not expect the schools to fix every single problem we face. If parents are feeding their kids fast food 5 times a week and feeding them packaged food from the freezer section of the grocery store the other two days out of the week, there is only so much that the schools can do.
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I suspect that PE teachers will be banashed to Earth 2 billion years before its next explosion, with no one for company save the rejects from another planet, including public telephone cleaners and the like.
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We need a rainy day fund for schools and other essential services NOW, only then will the boom and bust stop.
Heidi Blischke/Parent and Stand for Children Member
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Did I miss the boom? Seems the schools were poor mouthing and laying off teachers all through the last decade and a half.
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Rainy Day Funds won't help if you have a systemic fiscal problem of low income and high expense. You should just as soon appeal to the Bill and Melissa Gates Foundation in Seattle.
Yep, we will all be blessed with higher taxes in time AND reduced services. It is not too far to see user taxes and fees for those using the education system.
May we get what we pay for.
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I am disappointed that the WLWV Spanish Immersion discussion has been included in a program addressing budget cuts in our schools. Eliminating Spanish Immersion in West Linn and Wilsonville has nothing to do with cutting the budget.
I am the grandparent of a child that just finished his Kindergarten year in Spanish Immersion at Sunset Primary. I watched him blossom with excitement and confidence and in one short year start on his way to bilingualism. So much success in just one year.
My daughter and her family and all of the families of these students made a studied and firm committment to the program. And the WLWV school board made a committment to them. They all knew going in that this would be a multi-year program and that the educational well being of these students was dependednt on continuing this bilingual learning throughout their elementary years.
And now, for whatever reason, because a valid reason can't be found, the District and Board have eliminated Spanish Immersion. Nothing positive has been accomplished. They have taken the enormous success of these children and turned it into a colossal failure for the WLWV school district, and all of the bright and eager students that would have followed. The district and board should be ashamed.
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One of the most disheartening aspects of this discussion is that EVERY budget cut to schools is discussed out of context. My kids were in kindergarten when Measure 5 passed, which began the budget cuts to Oregon public education. Every year since, every budget year since, valuable programs, classes, teachers, funding have been cut. The media reports all of these as "...time to tighten education's belt in response to budget cuts..." When my son was in 1st grade his teacher was already buying most of her classroom supplies. By the time he was in high school (2003 he could not study music at Grant High. The schools are scapegoated for society's ills, consequently schools are not funded, schools are no longer teaching (which comes first the chicken or the egg.) By this time, there is NOTHING to cut from the public education budget. If we believe in public education, as I devoutly do, there has to be some way to reliably fund a full range of public education.
Our children need to read and write, understand the value of math and be able to do sums, and develop their minds, bodies and spirits with academics, sports and arts. Not only do the present budget cuts need to be reconsidered, but the state...the nation...needs to reexamine our future without the most robust public education system possible.
Oregon and the nation needs to identify public education as one of the, if not THE most important, state and national priorities and then give our children a chance to grow into the individuals and citizens they should be.
Please, reframe this discussion to include what education should be, and how it could be sustainably funded.
Pattie Hill, Portland
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This is a tough time. I'd like to ask those individuals rallying for any specific program what their personal financial status is. As a nation, and as individual states, we are in trouble. We may keep any program we like, and continue to dig our children and grandchildren further and further into debt. Instead, we need to cut. To dig deep, and hunker down and pay for the mistakes we have made as a nation. Use this opportunity to teach your kids what happens when you don't manage your money. Utilize community resources like big brothers big sisters, and parks. Put responsibility back into the hands of parents. Beautiful community togetherness and volunteer programs come out of times like these; allow them to be formed.
Also, one of the Save PE members was quoted saying that elem. school teachers can't handle adding PE to their own workload. That statement was not based on any fact (or even any expensive poll) and was frustrating to hear. Bad form.
Maybe we could ask the welfare-ians to do a little work for their cheese and toss them each a soccer-ball or paintbrush.
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The WLWV parents have options they could exercise if they are committed to immersion. For example, they could relocate or commute for school just 15 minutes south to Woodburn, where we have 700 children in dual immersion Spanish/English. We have excellent schools with an unmatched diversity of language, culture, and rich learning. (We even have dual immersion Russian/English if you are so inclined.)
Kevin Carr, Woodburn Parent
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I am a classroom assistant in a elemetary life skills class in a public school in Portland, although I do not work for the Portland Public School District. I am sickened by the continued cuts to schools. We no longer have art and the PE and Music teachers do an amazing job, but with nonexistent budgets.
If PE is left up to classroom teachers it will go the same way as art. Some teachers prioritize it enough to find the time and resources and some don't have that ability as they are already stretched so thin. As a child, the one thing I was excited about in school was art. If I hadn't had that creative outlet once a week I would never have managed to attend school in the face of anxiety, health problems and no extra help at home. Because of art, theater and music I did very well in school and went on to college. If a district takes away everything but academics I fear many children will lose the little bit of inspiration they have to attend.
Things are already stripped so bare and we rely on the children raising money, the amazing PTO raising money, creative teachers who can teach without needed supplies, teachers who have given up work days and have to find time to do report cards and preparation on their own unpaid time. We need to create a threshold we refuse to drop below to protect education. These children are the adults who will be running this place once we can't. Why are we willing to starve them intellectually, physically and creatively? The question is not who and what to cut or which bare bones that are left are more valuable than others. Do we throw out the heart or the brain? Look somewhere else in the state to cut. I don't blame parents who look to charter schools or private schools to save their children from a stripped education. But what happened to the idea of overhauling the whole system and trying to give all children a rich education, rather than only children who are lucky enough to get into a specialized school?