Teacher World

Recently, President Obama made the national statement that our children do not spend enough time in school, which he claimed places U.S. school children at a disadvantage in a global world. He proposed a two-pronged solution to this dilemma. First, he advocates year-round school, and second, he would push to extend the school day by possibly as much as two hours. My question is: Who is going to foot the bill to make this happen?

Proposing year-round school presupposes that our schools are currently able to accommodate children throughout the summer. This is all well and good for schools that have air conditioning. Unfortunately, many schools, like the elementary schools in my district, do not. There is physically no way we could work in these buildings or expect students to learn in these hot classrooms during the summer. Logically, that means that schools would need to be air conditioned in order to safely teach children throughout our hot summer months. Who is paying for these expensive renovations? Is the state going to shell out the money, or are they going to put the burden on already-burdened taxpayers who have difficulty supporting the current school taxes? Who is going to pay the increased operating expenses to keep schools open or the increase in fuel costs to run air conditioning throughout the summer? Our over-burdened school districts?

And what about teachers’ salaries? Does President Obama think teachers will donate their time, working both extended hours and an extended calendar with no increase in salary? Who would pay for the increase in salaries? And not just for teachers. What about the bus drivers, the cafeteria workers, and the rest of the support staff? Where is this money coming from? Again, to expect it to come from the school district or increased tax revenue is just ludicrous! We can’t get renewal levies to pass in this depressed economy. Forget new levies!

This is so typical of educational reform in our country. Decisions are made without consideration of how we, who are in education, are going to be able to make it work with little to no support from the government financially. Before this reform goes any further, questions of financial feasibility need to be addressed. Our overburdened schools and communities can’t shoulder this additional financial responsibility. 

So, I ask again, President Obama: Who is going to foot the bill?

Changes in Teaching, Educational Reform, Teacher-World's Blog Educational Reform, President Obama, school taxes, year-round school