Measure Twice, Cut Once

I'm really hoping that as the numbers from Sacramento and Washington become clearer quickly, and that LAUSD--the board members AND the Superintendent really put everything on the table.

Several parent groups have begun the sad realization that the bloodletting at Beaudry and the local districts will cause an influx of senior teachers and administrators who are legally allowed to return to their former positions if their current desk job gets eliminated.  For schools with fab teachers and phenom principals, this is a frightening proposition.  And one, thanks to union contracts, we can not protest, picket, or media frenzy our way out of.

I've been hearing parents discuss what they believe their deal breakers are: 20:1, loss of teacher's assistants, shortened school year, over testing, etc.  Given the economy though, and talking to friends who work or have kids attending private schools, I seriously doubt there will be too big a flux to the private schools.

But now that the district has numbers, I hope they put ALL the options on the table.  How much does cutting 5 days at the end of the year save?  How much does cutting Beaudry by 30% and the local districts by 50% save?  Or should it be 50% at Beaudry and 30% at the local districts?  And adding four more  kids to a classroom saves the district what?  When all the options are on the table, we could more readily accept the outcome.   Of course, when you're trying to cut 15% this year, and an additional 4% next year (after a big cut last year) there's not a lot to cut that doesn't affect kids.

My questions, though,

Why not let the schools with active open enrollment seek more families to (without overcrowding)?  More kids would bring economies of scale, and if a school community is providing a product that families both in the community and outside the boundaries want to be a part of, the district should embrace that--study it even.  And going 24:1 will no doubt free classroom space at most schools, which brings me to my second question.

With the increased school site control and decision making, are we going to be able to bring sixth, seventh, and eighth grades back to create span schools?  Two schools slated for the Valley are already span schools, and I know many parents who'd give their eye teeth to keep their kids at the elementary school to avoid junior high completely.

It's an interesting time to be a parent, perhaps even a frightening time, but I'm thankful I will have a voice in it.