Why the Budget Matters

There is a high level of frustration among teachers regarding the MPS budget...so high that it seems as if our problems are
insurmountable. First of all, no, they are not (yet), secondly, yes, this is serious.

I'm going to explain the positives of my job (because this is a great job) and then talk about the difficulties imposed on us with all the budget cuts.

I teach in a middle school. There are many days that I could not possibly love my job more. What you have heard about middle school students is absolutely true; they are walking hormones with their bodies years ahead of their brains, and they are developing fun and interesting parts of their personalities: sense of humor, independence, and morality. I love watching them change and become young adults. Don't get me wrong, they are challenging and rather (very) difficult at times; but I do enjoy this age.

I love the impact I think I have on them. When a kid makes an ethical decision and I possibly could attribute that to role modeling, it's a great feeling. When students can recite prepositions or reasons for World War One, I feel an incredible sense of accomplishment. When they can critically think and draw correlations and write good topic sentences and use adjectives and identify theme in a novel and connect the French Revolution to today in the United States....that's just awesome. It doesn't get any better than that.

I like the fact that I get a classroom, bulletin boards, and a desk. Pretty cool, if you ask me. I'm employed in a place where I make a difference doing something I am passionate about.

However. Every year I get better at what I do. Every year it is not good enough. Ten years ago, I would have been an outstanding teacher. I think I'm above average, but not outstanding. What prevents me from "awsomeness?" Great question. Money, of course.

1) Worry, stress, wondering what is next.

2) Cutting or underfunding the programs kids love. Some come to school for band, or art, or the computers. When those disappear, why come to school?

3) Cutting or underfunding after school activities that kids (again) love. Some come to school and do well so they can be on the track team, or stay after for football. When those disappear, why come to school? Why try to do well if there is no track coach saying, "Keep your grades up!!"

4) Being overworked and being one who is getting sick due to stress (and the cute little germs kids bring to school), but worry about Channel 4 doing an expose on teachers taking time off, so we come to work with pneumonia. I am not kidding; we had a teacher come into work this year with walking pneumonia. She was sent home by administration when they caught on to her illness and the severity of it, but it happened.

5) Lack of money for basic supplies: construction paper, glue, staplers, the like. I don't mind buying my own, but I've been teaching long enough that I can afford it, and I'm in a middle school where we really don't use the above as much as in elementary schools. I can't imagine what an elementary teacher does without glue.

6) Finally, class sizes are increasing at a ridiculous rate. The projection for next year at my school is somewhere between 38 and 40. In middle school. Where the hormones rage.

I want to tell you why class size matters, and for the people who say, "I was in a class of 36 when I was a kid, and I turned out okay," let me respond that you and your classmates grew up in a bit of a different world.

I keep a clipboard with the name of every student--it's used for attendance and behavioral notes and so on. When I look at the clipboard at the end of the day, I sometimes notice two things in order of bad and worse: (bad) I didn't even TALK to "so-and-so" today; (worse) All I said to "so-and-so" were imperative or negative things ("Sit down, please; don't talk; etc.). I honestly don't know what is worse--your teacher not talking to you or your teacher never saying nice things to you???!!!

I have several students who NEED daily attention, just for them, by adults. When they don't get it, they act out. It's really difficult to give one on one attention when there are 39 other kids in the room, several of whom need that same extra love. When they don't get the extra moment, they start to act out, and it gets worse as time goes on.

I would assert that class size has a direct impact on school safety. When there are so many kids in a room, and the five are now acting out, plus the one or two who will act out no matter what....now there are more behavioral issues that ma lead to safely issues. UGH!!

Finally, class size has to impact education. How could it not? With 24 kids (my ideal), I could do awesome groups, have individual time, correct papers in a more timely fashion, and be a better teacher. With twice that (and we are almost to twice that), I am moving more and more toward worksheets, lecture and teacher centered learning. It's not ideal. It's not even close.

The budget is what impacts the classroom. Without funding, we are fighting a losing battle, and the problem is that this battle is not for a strip of No Man's Land in war-torn France (we are learning about WWI right now). The problem is that this battle is for the education and future of our children.