Budget Time Fantasies

As the new budget is getting ready for discussion the school board is preparing their fantasy proposal and their “draconian” budget cuts. It is an indication that spring is on the way as the ground around city hall will not be covered with snow but tons and tons of BS.
As is their usual procedure the board and administrators will moan and groan about “the children” when in reality they are trying to protect their sacred programs. One such program is the pre-school which they claim is the answer to all their problems. In reality it is a glorified babysitting program that produces no sustainable results. The school board cannot point to one single peer review based analysis of the preschool program that would show that it works. Children in this program may gain a little in the beginning but by grade four they have lost all benefits of the program. But the administration not only clings to this failure program but actually invested quite heavily in it with the construction of a new, and might I say, ugly addition to Johnson School.
DPS has a little over 6,000 students and is dropping at the rate of roughly 100 students a year with no end in sight. Yet the budget continues to rise and decreases in personnel do not match the drop in enrollment. In addition buildings are being kept open that are underutilized and need to be mothballed. Reducing overhead and personnel is the only way DPS will reach a balanced budget.
Unless the board takes a serious look at these issues there is no chance of cutting what needs to be cut. They need to wake up, look at the figures, and realize some drastic reductions are needed.
Attention potential school board candidates! Here is your platform. It will ring clear with the beleaguered citizens of Danville. Reduce, cut, and better use the money they have.
Now for our third annual “What to Cut” forum. Send in your suggestions for cuts to savetheschools2@aol.com by February 15. The best will be printed and discussed. As always no one will be identified since we are all aware of the revenge nature of DPS. If the school board can’t do their job I guess it’s up to the citizens and employees of DPS to do it for them.