Mrs. Olsen: I love the sound of bare legs on a hot slide. Frazz: You're kidding, right? Please? Mrs. Olsen: Conditioning. School starts, the chalk screeches and I don't shiver a bit.
Funny thing, throughout the seventies, eighties, nineties, and first decade of the two-thousands, school budgets kept inflating like medical cost, with no regard to size of enrollment, local economy, etc. Funny thing, the more money we threw at the schools, the more it seemed to vanish down “administrative” rat holes, with no new school buildings, no new programs, no classroom upgrades and just maybe one donated computer in the library. I worked at a computer graphic place two blocks from the Salem-Keizer school district’s administrative HQ and they had a number of useless employees in that building equal to the staff working in the schools and they seemed to spend all their time going on junkets to this seminar or that (usually held at some place like Orlando or New York City) or thinking up “Mission and Vision” statements. And when they came to us to print out their new “Mission and Vision” statements, I would have to correct their spelling, grammatical errors and sentence fragments. In other words, they were both useless and incompetent. The administration of any school district seems to expand to engulf any increase of budget, leaving the actual students and teachers holding the crap end of the stick.
Chalk boards or marker squeaks, neither one ever bothered me. The stupid AC that everyone else had to not only listen for but stand right under it, now THAT drove me nuts. Came to find out my hearing range is shifted high, I can’t hear low tones properly.
Our school has formed a Foundation that is devoted to math, science, technology and the arts. The Foundation purchased Smart Boards for all of the classrooms and we have laptops available for all classes (they have schedules per grade level). We are fortunate to be in a well-to-do area, so I worry about the other areas that struggle for the basics like pencils and crayons. The county definitely won’t provide either the computers or the pencils, and every year they increase class sizes.
What happened to lottery/bond issue/special tax/name your funding source? Well, when those passed, the rest of the budget coming from the general fund mysteriously got reduced by the same amount – or more. Except all those specially approved funding sources only go to certain programs so oops, basic education takes the hit.
In Texas, education spending has increased every year at a rate higher than the growth of population plus inflation. The so-called “cuts” are merely reductions in the desired increases demanded by the education establishment.
Tirasmol almost 12 years ago
hahahaahahaaaaa
Varnes almost 12 years ago
I’ve passed through 3 media for teaching on the wall. Chalk boards, marker boards, and now smart boards. Writing in the air is next…..
tigre1 almost 12 years ago
Hey Varnes…yeah, with WII it’s possible, yes?
Cathy38c almost 12 years ago
What happened to the “Lottery to support schools” plan?
Dampwaffle almost 12 years ago
Funny thing, throughout the seventies, eighties, nineties, and first decade of the two-thousands, school budgets kept inflating like medical cost, with no regard to size of enrollment, local economy, etc. Funny thing, the more money we threw at the schools, the more it seemed to vanish down “administrative” rat holes, with no new school buildings, no new programs, no classroom upgrades and just maybe one donated computer in the library. I worked at a computer graphic place two blocks from the Salem-Keizer school district’s administrative HQ and they had a number of useless employees in that building equal to the staff working in the schools and they seemed to spend all their time going on junkets to this seminar or that (usually held at some place like Orlando or New York City) or thinking up “Mission and Vision” statements. And when they came to us to print out their new “Mission and Vision” statements, I would have to correct their spelling, grammatical errors and sentence fragments. In other words, they were both useless and incompetent. The administration of any school district seems to expand to engulf any increase of budget, leaving the actual students and teachers holding the crap end of the stick.
phoenixnyc almost 12 years ago
Gotta admit, she’s got a point.
water_moon almost 12 years ago
Chalk boards or marker squeaks, neither one ever bothered me. The stupid AC that everyone else had to not only listen for but stand right under it, now THAT drove me nuts. Came to find out my hearing range is shifted high, I can’t hear low tones properly.
lightenup Premium Member almost 12 years ago
Our school has formed a Foundation that is devoted to math, science, technology and the arts. The Foundation purchased Smart Boards for all of the classrooms and we have laptops available for all classes (they have schedules per grade level). We are fortunate to be in a well-to-do area, so I worry about the other areas that struggle for the basics like pencils and crayons. The county definitely won’t provide either the computers or the pencils, and every year they increase class sizes.
k_sera almost 12 years ago
What happened to lottery/bond issue/special tax/name your funding source? Well, when those passed, the rest of the budget coming from the general fund mysteriously got reduced by the same amount – or more. Except all those specially approved funding sources only go to certain programs so oops, basic education takes the hit.
Varnes almost 12 years ago
Night-Gaunt, well at least the maps and books with the Soviet Union are fading away, even in the inner city….
blather046047 almost 12 years ago
In Texas, education spending has increased every year at a rate higher than the growth of population plus inflation. The so-called “cuts” are merely reductions in the desired increases demanded by the education establishment.
ealeseth almost 12 years ago
@Varnes. Were the chalk board black or green?