It is school budget voting day today here in Burlington. Again. Voters previously rejected the school budget, so now we have to vote on version 2. And a lot of things have happened since version 1. For one thing, we have many new school board members. We didn’t just reject the budget, but the folks who created it. And as it turns out, the old budget was indeed terrible. Maybe not terrible in its priorities, but just bad. As in incorrect. The numbers were not right. Things did not add up. It seemed as if it was written by someone whose own public schools had had a few too many budget cuts themselves, if you know what I mean. So we fixed that.
Now we get a second chance to vote on a new budget, which sadly will cost us more money than version 1, but which features many drastic cuts. We pay more, and get less. But at least the numbers are (presumably) correct. This new board that we just voted in has generally expressed confidence in it, recognizing that it is not an ideal budget, but it is a compromise between doubling everyone’s taxes, and violently reducing the quality of education in this amazing city in which we live. And still, there are people marching around with “VOTE NO!” signs and posting on forums that we cannot support this new budget, for reasons of, it seems like, not wanting any tax increase at all, and being mad at the old school board.
“The sun will rise in the East, the schools will open, and our children will be educated,” the opponents trumpet loudly, as if we somehow thought that this would not happen. But when the schools do open, what will be waiting for the children inside? Even in this new budget, there are heavy cuts to important things. Foreign language is out for the elementary schools, which, by the way, is a waaaaaay easier time for our brains to learn Spanish than middle or high school. Teaching assistants are out for many classrooms, including the kindergartens. When my daughter was in those classrooms last year, we were so happy to have a decent adult-to-child ratio in that most introductory of environments. Believe me, when a five-year-old steps into a school for, possibly, the first time ever, it is nice to know that there are four people ready to help those 25 kids, instead of just one. But no more. Many teachers are losing their jobs with version 2 of this budget.
As a musician I can show you all sorts of studies that prove the importance of music in the schools. How it facilitates brain function and increases learning in all other areas as well. Kids who study music do better at math, reading, writing, and, well, pretty much everything. And yet music is always on the chopping block when budget time rolls around. It is often in danger of being cut completely. In fact, anything seen as “extra” will be disposed of. Nobody is going to cut math or science, but they may cut the AP classes for students who excel at them. Sports will never be gotten rid of (not when there is still music to dissolve), but certain sports or activities will surely go. After school programs and activities, concerts, festivals, and anything else that makes the school great will disappear.
Yes, our schools will still open if no budget is passed, but what more will they have to chop? Seriously, do you want to cut corners on our planet’s future? I’m not trying to be ridiculous with that statement. I’m deadly serious. We can send kids to a school that meets the bare minimum, and we can churn out unimaginative, uninspired citizens for a future city of mediocrity, or we can put our money into a place that will produce people with a love for learning, and whose ideas and dreams were not crushed by overworked, underpaid, seriously stressed out teachers. I want future leaders who spoke a second language by age 12. I want future leaders who play an instrument, or sang in a choir. I want future leaders who feel affirmed by their communities, and who, even though they sucked at every other physical activity, somehow found success on the squash team, because we didn’t cut the squash team, even though it was ridiculous to have a squash team, and no other schools had a squash team, so they had to just play against each other, but it was so much fun they recruited more people, formed a state-wide squash league, and then later became mayor.
I know it feels like we sometimes have very little control over the government, and our taxes. We vote people in, and then hope they don’t screw us over. So it can be tempting to take out our financial frustrations in the one area that we seem to have some control over. But people. People not just in Burlington, but all people. Listen to me. Voting down the school budget is not a good way to express anger over general government stupidity. There are plenty of places in the overall city and state budgets that could use some trimming, but we don’t have a direct say in those, do we? No. We only get to vote for the school’s budget. But the schools are not the place to start making cuts. Schools without music, art, Spanish, extracurricular activities, and squash teams are not schools that are going to provide us with great citizens. Vote yes for the schools. Vote no on the idiots on the school board if you must, but always vote yes for the schools.