Dear Editor:
I write in regard to the budget cuts in education I have heard
much about and am now seeing the results of in Morgan Hill
schools.
Dear Editor:
I write in regard to the budget cuts in education I have heard much about and am now seeing the results of in Morgan Hill schools.
The very day I read about 25 percent of teachers being cut in Morgan Hill, was the day that I also received a note from our Gilroy elementary school requesting that parents please help with financial assistants for the field trip coming up in April. The note explained that the bus alone was costing the schools $1,500! $1,500!? I am all for the argument that experiences outside the school are very beneficial to our children – but at what cost?
Are we more concerned with having fancy shuttle buses that cost an arm and a leg for high school students to travel on … and expensive band tours for our children when the music program itself is in jeopardy… and expensive field trips for our children while their teachers and some of their administrators are losing their jobs? Where are the priorities!?
I think it’s time to reevaluate and simplify, simplify, simplify. Our children will survive not being able to visit Hawaii for a band trip! Yes, they are wonderful opportunities, but getting a good education is more important. The world and the economy of it are changing drastically and quickly. We need to be willing to give up the frills for the basic needs! I moved here from out of state this summer and I am greatly disgusted with the California Public School System. This is one of the richest states in the nation. There is absolutely no excuse for the school system that exists in California. It’s all about where people’s focus is. Forget about Super Wal-Mart. Forget about bigger and better and more. Let’s prioritize offering good education to the most valuable resource, our children.
ShainaLee ‘Ita, Gilroy
Submitted Thursday, March 13
