Cuts in KC

March 23, 2010  
Filed under Opinion

The nation’s economy has been suffering a slow and painful death during the past year. It seems that things are getting worse before the promises of them getting better.  The American people have had to come up with more thrifty ways to go about with their daily lives, and there has been two dreaded words floating around for a while involving the American students’ educations… budget cuts.

These two simple words have created many problems in the United States, for students and teachers alike.

A story that has hit national news has surprising proximity to the small town of Ottawa. Kansas City, Mo., is planning to close half of their public school as a last ditch effort to save an estimated $50 million.  This drastic move in the Kansas City educational system seems to highlight how badly the state of Kansas is trying to stay afloat in this wounded economy.

School districts, students and teachers are aware that they need to make money saving changes to schedules, classroom materials, and school transportation. Most of these changes are minor and have not made a huge impact of interfering with the students ability to learn and the teachers ability to teach. OHS has made some of those minor changes, for instance, eliminating Kleenex boxes from the classrooms has saved a huge chunk of money for our school even if it results in a couple runny noses.

But closing half of all the schools in Kansas City? What will happen to the students who attend? The teachers?

The Kansas City school board seems to have all the answers to these questions. Students would enroll at other schools, and teachers could reapply for jobs at other schools that will still be open. Everything seems vague at this point and in complete chaos. No one seemed to realize the severity of the budget cuts in the Kansas education system but this story has been a real eye-opener to the students and faculty of Kansas and America, we need financial support fast and we need it now.

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Haley Butler

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