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With all of the fuss over penguins, I missed a gem of a story last week that I hope every member of the Board of Supervisors, not to mention the many concerned citizens of this county, will read.
Consultant, Celeb's Mom Advises Soon-to-Be Principals is an interesting piece about an educational consultant who is "a nationally known education consultant who has worked with Loudoun County Public Schools for more than 10 years." Yes, she's also Jon Stewart's mother but that's not even the most interesting part (at least for policy geeks like me):
Leibowitz has been working with school systems in the U.S. and abroad since 1984.
I asked her how she thought LCPS stacked up against other organizations she's worked with.
She replied, "It's amazing that [LCPS] is able to have everything in place with the enormous growth they have, and still deliver excellent education."
I also asked Leibowitz how the system's administrative functionality compares to other systems. Critics of the recently submitted school budget feel that too much money is spent on administrative salaries, which, in turn, causes rising Loudoun taxes.
Leibowitz said, "This administrative structure is bare-boned. It's the leanest central office I've ever seen. People don't understand the need for webbing in the operation of a successful school system."
Take a moment to chew on that. I have given readers of this blog similar information in past posts, but coming from an expert who tours the country should give everyone something fresh to think about.
I have now heard from several inside sources that the Board of Supervisors is receiving emails in astonishing quantities imploring them to cut the LCPS budget dramatically. There seems to be only two possible ways to handle cuts of the magnitude we may be facing: slash teacher raises and increase class sizes. If you think those cuts can come from Mandarin Chinese, lacrosse programs and Dr. Hatrick's salary, you'd better try again with your calculator because the money isn't there. It's in our classrooms. Take the money away, that's where the cuts will be felt.
If you can't walk up to your child's teacher and say "I will not support your pay raise this year, and I want more children in class with my own," you should write to your representative on the Board of Supervisors and let them know that you support full funding of Loudoun County Public Schools. Links are below:
Scott York (At Large)
Jim Burton (Blue Ridge)
Lori Waters (Broad Run)
Sally Kurtz (Catoctin)
Stevens Miller (Dulles)
Kelly Burk (Leesburg)
Andrea McGimsey (Potomac)
Eugene Delgaudio (Sterling)
Susan Buckley (Sugarland Run)
11 Comments:
""""If you can't walk up to your child's teacher and say "I will not support your pay raise this year, and I want more children in class with my own," you should write to your representative on the Board of Supervisors and let them know that you support full funding of Loudoun County Public Schools. Links are below:""""
Stevens you and the rest of your gang need to wake up.
Statements like above show you all are part of the problem and cannot come up with innovative solutions and cope with this school budget crisis.
You all are passing the buck and using our children as hostages for you complete inability to solve this crisis. Get real this is not going away and using hostage tactics for the inability of the school system to solve this problem.
Not everyone in this county is wealthy and many as said numerous times before are in an crisis financially barely hanging on and an increase in taxes could hurt these kids at home. Stop running the school budget like you have an endless pot of gold. Those days are over and you like many of us have to live within our means and cut back during these tough fiscal times. Personally I can afford any tax increase but I know many many that can't. And it is far more then you can imagine. You all need an reality check and stop using the kids as hostages almost like terrorist tactics. Use your brain power collectively and find solutions that don't mean raising taxes.
I totally disagree with lee J.
I think your statement hits right at the point. I find it hard to believe that some people don't understand that cutting the budget means cutting salaries and positions.
What the opponents to the school budget seem to be completely missing is that Hatrick's proposed budget is not the reason for the financial crisis in this county. His proposed budget doesn't even exacerbate it. Hatrick's budget is perfectly reasonable and honestly, quite conservative. Our student population is growing by leaps and bounds each year; more and more people are moving in, bringing in more and more students. It leaves the onus on the LoCo residents to support the growth of the schools. Until we change how our land is used and developed, and where our tax base comes from, this will be a problem for people year after year after year. Opponents need to wake up. Not members of LCPS.
I see you have the same problem in VA that we have in IL. Schools and boards who want to spend more and more money without regard for the taxpayers ability to pay. Loudoun County has the highest property taxes in the South.
There is a better and cheaper way to educate all children. That is to fund the child and stop funding the bureaucracy.
I feel sorry for my neighbors who have lost their homes. Double digit tax increases for several years plus interest rate resets made their homes unaffordable when incomes only rose 5%. Those homes sit empty and the children had to move to new schools in the middle of the year.
I'd take an extra child or two in each of my children's classrooms if it would help save other families and children from the hardship of economic ruin.
Well said Ed and hopefully mr stevens and the rest of the school board and administrators will realize this county is not for just the rich.
The top administrators of the Loudoun school district are becoming the laughing stock of the nation. After the book story many are wondering just what the heck is going on here.
Of course many of the wealthier parents don't want the school budget cut, but they are not being fair to the ones that can't afford this tax increase. Just like ONE parent was able to remove a book because of their personal fears and the cowardly school board and administrators went along with it.
Well the BOS what I understand have never gotten so many angry letters and email ever about an tax increase. And I have not even sent mine as of yet.
I am in the classroom and I see the effects of the large class size. Come to my science classroom of 32 and tell me you want to add more students. Then tell me how I am to do a lab in half the classroom (lab area), in a space designed for far fewer, with limited materials, and safety issues. While you are at it, tell me to do this, but yet do not compensate me adequately.
If you think you have it hard living in Loudoun..count your blessings that you are living in the county atleast, and your kids have access to one of the best school districts in the entire country.
As an educator, with a spouse who is one as well, in the county....we cannot afford to live here, thus my kids don't get the benefit of this education system. So I live in WV and commute 80 miles one way. Please come to my classroom and tell all of us why you think more kids in the room and less compensation is going to benefit the learning environment and help your kid succeed.
Our comments are here:
http://www.dullessouthonline.com/loudoun_county_gateway/2008/02/loudoun-bos-support-loudoun-county.html .
Class room of 32 students? Stevens, I'd like to see some real numbers on class sizes. I think 32is way over your goal right? So where you are over your goal, no more kids. Where you are under, shift things around to increase efficiency wherever you can. My kids are in a crowded school so the idea of increasing class sizes is not novel. Classes are being held in old teacher offices, lunches after 1:30, more trailers than all other schools in the County combined. So when everyone across the County, even those in the Dulles District, feel the same pinch, then it will be easier to swallow this budget pill. I support a salary increase, just not 5% across the board no matter who you are or what you have done. Listen, I work for a Fortune 500 Company. There have been many years we got 4% or less average pay raises. We DON'T get pensions, we get a 2% match on our 401K. Staff with seniority can get up to 4-5 weeks of vacation a year, not 8-10 weeks of vacation per year. Teachers work hard and deserve a good salary. They have job security and good benefits - that should count for alot. We just can't afford everything for everyone. What savings would be realized with a 4% or 3.5% raise across the board or have teachers pay a measure more in their health plan (like many of us in the corporate world have to do every year)?
We actually do pay more for our healthcare every year. Most of the 5% raise would be eaten up by those costs.
Frankly, If the county were to move to a merit pay system I don't think the county could afford it.
I wish I had 8-10 weeks of vacation a year. It's actually two weeks because I cannot afford not to work during the summer.
Everyone feels the pinch. e-v-e-r-y-o-n-e. There is no justification for County employees to be exempt. Everyone's health care costs are skyrocketing. If savings can't be found anywhere else and salaries are the biggest component, what is so bad about a 4% raise? It would be better than a salary/hiring freeze which some entities have had to implement in times of budget crisis. What about having sports and other extracurricular programs have user fees with financial aid safety nets? In the end, throwing up the hands and saying there is no place to trim the budget doesn't work. Compromise means both sides need to give up something. If LCPS isn't willing to give up anything, how can they expect the taxpayers to?
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