Budget cuts hit schools

This from the Central Kentucky News Journal:

Parents, brace yourselves. State budget cuts are already slicing deep, and it's going to take a lot more than a few stitches to repair the wounds.

This fall, your children will be affected.

Schools across Kentucky are being required to slash their budgets. And that means fewer teachers and educational programs for our students.

Monday night, Campbellsville Independent Schools eliminated its three associate principal positions. Those administrators will have to take a cut in pay as they go back to classroom instruction. One school, Campbellsville Middle School, will be replacing its associate principal with a "dean of students" position, but the money to fund that position will come from the school staffing allocation rather than from the Board office.

With the high cost of fuel, and the responsibility schools have to transport their students to and from classes, much of the savings they'll see by cutting back in some areas will have to be put toward transportation costs.

And these cuts, parents, will in turn affect you.

It's going to mean more fundraisers so that schools will be able to provide at least the minimum of programs. It's going to mean fewer field trips for students, and it could even mean a lower standard of education for our children.

It's difficult for us to understand state government intent.

There's just five years left until the deadline for all students to reach proficiency levels. So our schools are being forced to do more with less.

And they're going to be held accountable.

Let's hope the stitches hold tight.