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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?

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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