[Durham INC] Thorough report on DPS spending in today's BCR

[Pat Carstensen]

>From comments I have heard from teaching assistants, the number of CLASSROOM TAs has been declining over the last couple years (I guess the idea of TAs could be controversial.  I know that we didn't have TA's in my elementary school but we also did a lot less "active learning."  If you are doing 5 reading groups or 4 math centers, it really helps to have an additional adult to work with the different groups).  In the schools in which I have been, I also haven't seen an over-abundance of assistant principals.  In general, principals have had to balance priorities pretty closely in their schools so I would say that while there is always some "extra" that you could cut (small classes for at risk students, for example), but a lot of the most obvious and ugly "fat" is mandated.  


If kindergarden enrollment declines a little, the population may go down, but they are also cutting high school teachers -- and I can't see how fewer kindergardeners will cut the need for high school teachers.  Having recently been in a class with 31 students packed in like sardines, I'm not sure what they would do with 35 students.  

Regards, pat


Date: Mon, 18 May 2009 08:36:31 -0700
From: mmr121570 at yahoo.com
To: inc-list at rtpnet.org; durhamenviro at yahoogroups.com; fairfieldspeaksout at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Durham INC] Thorough report on DPS spending in today's BCR













Please see the VERY detailed and informative investigative report on where DPS funds go in today's Bull City Rising Blog:


http://www.bullcityrising.com/2009/05/dps-local-funding-budget-gambit.html

While I support an increase in DPS funding, which should correlate to the increase in housing developments throughout Durham, it is clear that cuts can be made in  non-instructional support staff, rather than in teachers, teaching assistants and  instructional support staff....perhaps to actually start a more-at-four program???

Kudos to Kevin Davis for the much needed education on DPS spending...

Melissa

Melissa Rooney, Ph.D.
301 Spring Garden Drive
Durham, NC 27713
mmr121570 at yahoo.com



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