If you're the parent of a Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) student, no doubt you're in a state of anxiety over the budget cuts planned by the school board, cuts that may include 2,300 teacher layoffs, larger classes, and the loss of vital programs.
Our neighborhood K-6 school is an excellent one, with high test scores, involved parents, and outstanding teachers. I can't count the number of times I've talked to another parent who attended the school when he or she was little. In some cases, the grandparents of current students even attended. With only 371 students, parents here have always appreciated the comparatively small classroom sizes and having the chance to know so many members of the student body and their parents.
Making Economics Lessons More Personal
Yet as our child enjoys a truly wonderful third-grade teacher this year, we've been troubled by thoughts that her school may be about to lose not only teacher's aides, but teachers themselves.
Some parents of older children may already have talked with them about our country's financial problems, expressing hopes that our government's stimulus package may be the boost we need to begin getting back on track.
In fact, the current stimulus package, now in its last stages of voting in the Senate, does include $106 billion for American public schools. With $53.6 billion set aside for a nationwide state stabilization fund, the package will provide $39.5 billion for local school districts. This could translate to a billion dollars in federal funds for LAUSD.
Now we can make that parental lesson in economics more personal by explaining to our children how our school budgets are affected when the State of California and the nation as a whole go into debt.
Time to Get Active
These budget shortfalls -- even with the potential windfall of federal dollars if the stimulus package passes the Senate with education money intact -- bring up an important point. Part of any lesson in family and governmental economics could lead to an opportunity to lead by example.
If you're not already active in your PTA or PTO, now would be a good time to join and help the group raise funds. Yes, it takes time out of our busy schedules, but it shows the students we love that we don't have to sit back and watch the quality of public education deteriorate. We can work hard and make a difference in the areas of life that are most important to us.
Comments
LAUSD is facing a societal problem not an educational one. 1 in 5 students live in foster homes. That's 160,000 students! 12,000 are classified as homeless! Hello! Is anyone listening? 80% are below the poverty line, high schools built for 2,000 students are housing up to 5,000 students, teachers have to teach in crime ridden, gang infested neighborhoods that most people reading this article would never think of driving through let alone working in. They are scared and live with an undercurrent of fear and violence at their schools on a daily basis, and I could go on ad nausium... PTA? Are you kidding? It's this kind of ignorance as to the situation in urban schools that keeps people from focusing on the real issue...poverty, violence, crime, and gangs. There should be a requirement that anyone writing about or purporting solutions to the situation at LASUD must teach in an urban middle or high school for at least one year before they open their mouths. Only then can one see the problem for what it is.
Jack, thanks for your comment. I absolutely agree that poverty is a major contributor to not just school problems, but larger societal problems such as endless cycles of poverty and crime, as well. I've volunteered at my child's school in the classrooms for the past four years, so I'm familiar with the issues first-hand. However, this article was aimed at parents of LAUSD kids who are anxious about huge budget cuts. Helping the school raise funds through PTA-sponsored events can make a difference in our neighborhood schools in the very near-term. The larger problems also beg for solutions and social action, but that should be the subject of another article, ideally by someone with experience in public education such as yourself.
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