Can we afford for kids to take even more cuts?

Impact of Latest FUSD Budget Cuts
To Students	To FUDTA Employees (teachers)
* Fremont is now at the MINIMUM number of INSTUCTIONAL MINUTES PER GRADE ALLOWED BY LAW .	* Five (5) mandatory furlough days. Correlating ~2.67% pay cut for days NOT worked. OFFSET by Pay raises of roughly 1% based on seniority (2009-2010). NET IMPACT is ~1.67% reduction of annual income.
* Some grades get only 1/2 day of school every Wednesday.	*
* Library hours cut 50%	*
* Counselors cut 35%	*
* Computer, Science, Music, PE prep cut 66%	*
* Prep teachers moved into full curriculum classrooms settings are unprepared to meet new demands--STUDENTS suffer	*
* Fall Parent/Teacher conferences eliminated to accommodate teacher furlough days	*
* Further reduced maintenance ...continuing neglect of facilities	*
* Bus routes/availability reduced; costs to parents increased	*

Further cuts have been forecast. Where do you think they will be made?

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Permalink Reply by Hiu Ng on December 28, 2009 at 9:47pm

All FUSD teachers have credentials. Unfortunately, just because some teachers have credentials does not mean that they have the skills or desire to properly teach . Some teachers routinely do good jobs while others routinely fail.

Credentials only fulfill basic requirements. They don't seem to have much to do with the ability and desire to teach. Routine renewal or not.

There are plenty of reports of teachers having problems being moved to positions that they are not fully prepared for this school year.

For that matter, medical doctors (or at least the legal ones) have full credentials too. That doesn't mean that all doctors are great doctors. There are serious limitations to credentials in just about every profession that I can think of. Credentials are not enough.

Can our kids afford to take more cuts? My answer is absolutely no.

Fremont and just about every other California school district are at minimum instructional hours by law. Is this best for the kids?

Does anyone really want to debate the need for counselors or library hours? Does anyone really want to debate all FUSD employees taking a 2.67% furlough with a full step and column (seniority) pay raise this school year as a good solution to the state educating funding cuts?

Fine. I am happy to debate.

Hiu Ng