Deeper holes in public education
Bits of discomforting news are beginning to come out of area cities and towns that point to another year of budget shortfalls, desperate cost-cutting measures, calls for tax overrides, and the inevitable laying off of teachers and other school staff.
In Canton, the failure to pass a $ 3.95 million override has translated into what school officials predict will be the layoff of as many as 34 teachers. In Randolph, School Committee members have already cut their budget request by millions in hopes that an override vote will become more palatable to the voters; if not, layoffs and other reductions are in the offing.
Regional school districts such as Bridgewater-Raynham and Whitman-Hanson are predicting another year of discontent as the funding formula from the state places them at a comparative disadvantage. And in Rockland, the Finance Committee presented a balanced budget for the next fiscal year, which was achieved only by calling for 5 percent across-the-board cuts for education, fire, and police.
Funding reductions for public education have become such a common ritual that parents, students, and supporters of schools now reluctantly accept the fact that the fight for more dollars, whether from the state or their neighbors, borders on futility. There are still determined education funding advocates in each city and town, but their morale is flagging in the face of regular defeats.
So each year public schools patch together a budget that nibbles away a piece of the curriculum, usually in the arts, music, literature, or in specialized areas such as advanced placement courses or the gifted and talented program. Field trips are reduced, textbooks stay around beyond their time, equipment purchases are deferred, and school officials cross their fingers that some generous soul will donate a few computers or educational foundations will raise enough money to help retain some of these "extras."
No one in any city or town that has been hit with regular funding cutbacks should kid themselves that the students are getting a complete education and that complaints about being shortchanged are exaggerated. The very sound concept of educating the whole child is no longer in vogue. Today public schools offer just the basics, with a few add-ons that are always vulnerable to the cutting board.
What passes for education these days is preparing students to pass the MCAS tests in English, mathematics, and science, and if the scores go up, there is community satisfaction for a job well done. If the scores stay steady or drop, the general consensus is that the teachers and the administrators failed to adequately prepare young minds. Rarely is there talk of developing an expanded curriculum that offers students a wide variety of learning options.
Where does that leave us? Those who champion public education will have to find more ingenious ways to make the schools look like they are whole, rather than filled with holes. And there is nothing hopeful about that.
Michael Kryzanek of Whitman is professor of political science at Bridgewater State College. He can be reached at mkryzanek@bridgew.edu. 