Class sizes of 40. Prisoners tending school grounds. This can’t be Cobb County. Can it?
I understand the crisis facing state schools, but raising class size to 40 students, as discussed in Cobb today, seems a solution that will only create more problems in the long run. I just don’t know how much a teacher can accomplish with 40 students.
If these scenarios are the only alternative, I have to believe Cobb taxpayers would rather pay higher taxes. I can’t imagine a premier school system like Cobb accepting classes of 40 students or criminals tending the school lawns.
Or is this the new reality of Georgia education? If so, we’re selling our kids short.
According to the AJC:
Cobb County might have to raise classroom sizes to 40 students, cut hundreds of teachers, cut bus routes and use prisoners to maintain school grounds to slash its budget next year.
At a hastily called Wednesday meeting, the Cobb County School Board discussed all of these possibilities, foremost how to handle raising class sizes to the maximum, in order to address an expected $137.7 million deficit in the coming year’s budget.
Board members also talked about making children walk to school if they lived within 1.5 miles of the school. That could cut 200 buses and about $5.6 million, Cobb County School Superintendent Fred Sanderson said.
“If it’s between cutting a teacher in the classroom and cutting a bus route, Cobb County kids are going to walk,” school board member John Abraham said.
With some reservation, board members spoke about using prisoners to maintain school grounds, though not violent felons or child molesters.
“Guys, you have to think outside of the box,” school board member Alison Bartlett said as Abraham quietly left the room while the discussion unfolded.
School board chairwoman Lynnda Crowder-Eagle suggested using people who need to perform community service.
It was determined the biggest savings would come from increasing average class size. That could mean cutting hundreds of teaching positions, Sanderson pointed out.
“Let’s go to the big gorilla in the room,” school board member John Crooks said, referring to the classroom issue.
Raising classroom sizes on average to the maximum allowed by the state would save about $53 million, Sanderson said.
Bartlett cautioned that the numbers the school district has released on the student-teacher ratios are overly optimistic because they represent averages. While the school district said the maximum high school classroom size would be one teacher for every 32 pupils, Bartlett argued that’s not really the case.
“By gosh, they need to understand that it’s an average,” Bartlett said. “For English, science, math and social studies classes, we’re looking at putting 40-plus students in there.”
That would reduce the teacher to a disciplinarian, she said, adding, “I may have 45 kids in a classroom. That is awful.”
“If we could find another way to cut $53 million, we’re all ears,” Abraham said.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
138 comments Add your comment
Buzz
April 1st, 2010
2:23 pm
It’s bad and difficult enough to teach 32 students, but 40? It’s like we, the teachers, are being punished. We are robbing the students of their right to a quality education. Cut some of the fat cats in CO. Do we need both Constantinos? Cardner? We need to think about going to a 4day work week and cut the sports funding. When I was in high school, we had to pay to play a sport.
We'll see...
April 1st, 2010
2:33 pm
While the “Fire Marshall would surely oppose 40 in a class” argument may seem logical to most of us, the school system will find a way around it. At least one of the older schools didn’t even have sprinklers until two years ago.
Fill out the survey and let your opinion be heard!
Buzz
April 1st, 2010
2:39 pm
If the state wants us to improve standardized scores, then they have to rethink this asinine idea over. There will be no more personal learning – it will make us teachers become robotic. Can you imagine hosting a language lab? A science lab? We are nearly tripping over the kids now in class, and they want to squeeze in 8 more? Have you SEEN the size of some of these kids! Whomever suggested this should be fired themselves – I’m just sayin’
Buzz
April 1st, 2010
2:40 pm
Enter your comments hereIf the state wants us to improve standardized scores, then they have to rethink this asinine idea over. There will be no more personal learning – it will make us teachers become robotic. Can you imagine hosting a language lab? A science lab? We are nearly tripping over the kids now in class, and they want to squeeze in 8 more? Have you SEEN the size of some of these kids! Whomever suggested this should be fired themselves – I’m just sayin’
One Furloughed Step from Poverty
April 1st, 2010
2:50 pm
Fred,
How much did the video cost me? 1 furlough day
You said stay united and support our co-workers. LOL. What does that mean? United we were hired, united we are fired? I guess I can support my co workers and hand them a band aid because they are feeling the cuts too. If it weren’t for my passion for education, I would have been long gone. By the way, did you know that you could save money if you go back into the classroom? I am so fed up with the politics of education. I guess you want us to relax over spring break because many of us may not have one next year. You can shoot high test scores to the ground. The only resources you care about is a number 2 pencil and a scantron. To teachers, AYP means All Yield to Part time jobs…..the end result is Can’t Rely on Cobb Testing (CRCT)….. ….
One Furloughed Step from Poverty
April 1st, 2010
2:53 pm
Constantinos? LOL … Their conversation.
Mr. C, “I want to see you everyday.”
Mrs. C, “Really, call your buddy in the HR dept. and tell them to hire me.”
Mr. C, “Done, let’s go to sleep”
One Furloughed Step from Poverty
April 1st, 2010
3:10 pm
Just feed me an apple filled with Boric Acid…… (Cobb’s Vision with a little acid)
Our vision is that all children will receive the respect(walk to school in the dark), encouragement (sit in an overcrowded classroom with swine flu) and opportunities(no sports or fine arts….paper and pencil…bubble within in the lines and no erasures) they need to build the knowledge, skills and attitudes to be successful, contributing members of a global society (how… we are broke).
Second largest school system in Georgia (Second largest school system ranking at bottoms up)
26th largest in United States (which means…wait let me do the math ..18,000 employees x 6 furlough days =108,000 furlough days)… See I wasn’t educated in Cobb….I can do the math ……LOL oh yeah…Who said I need teeth to teach? Just call Dr. Bare Mouth why don’t you. Imagine me teaching phonics and Spanish…….
One Furloughed Step from Poverty
April 1st, 2010
3:13 pm
I’m not finished yet….I had to gather my thoughts…No, I am not doing spell check…. It went out the window with the value of my education degree.
One Furloughed Step from Poverty
April 1st, 2010
3:16 pm
Hey Fred,
I just thought you would like to be evaluated by one of the 49 School Psychologists in the county because you have lost your hair as well as your mind…
Admin Salaries
April 1st, 2010
3:25 pm
How many 240-day contracts are given and how many are NEEDED? If all 240s were cut to 210s or 190s, how would both the budget and service be impacted?
When superintendents say they have taken furlough days at CO just like the certified staff in buildings, do the math…if everyone’s taking 6 days, guess who’s being less impacted percentage-wise?
At a $50K salary on a 190-day (teacher) contract, you lose $1579 for 6 furlough days. Now if you’re at CO, you probably aren’t making $50K unless you’re a professional assistant, but your salary would only be cut $1250. Parents, who do YOU think has more impact on your student – CO or building personnel?
Fericita
April 1st, 2010
4:40 pm
For anyone who is interested, Cobb County’s RIF plan can be found here: http://www.cobbk12.org/centraloffice/adminrules/G_Rules/Rule_GCQA.pdf
As a teacher in my third year, this worries me. In board meetings, various members have stressed the importance of using performance as a measure of who to keep and who let go, but in reality the RIF is totally based on seniority.
I’ve read through some comments that point out the “bloat,” and there is some. However, it’s mostly in pots we can’t access for teacher salaries, like SPLOST money or federal money that is earmarked for specific purposes.
Hank Rearden
April 1st, 2010
5:18 pm
The ‘tax-cut’ freeloaders had their way for a decade and now the schools are in the crapper.
Why are we still listening to Faux News sheep on this one?
imastudent
April 1st, 2010
5:25 pm
this is a rediculous idea. ill be a senior when all of this happens, so im not worried about walking, and even if i had to who cares some of these kids need to walk a little more.i understand that this idea wouldnt be very safe for elementary and possibly even for middle but high school they should be fine.
but class size is even more rediculous, its already out of control with disruptive students that honeslty just dont care. and when you have a higher chance of putting them all together you will have 1 hour and 30 minutes of constent chatter and bickering. and face it you have students that skip well this gives them even more incentive to. im an a/b honor and ap student and i dont think ive missed a day of school since freshman year, but in all honesty id consider it if i had to deal with this nonsense.
Performance?
April 1st, 2010
6:32 pm
Fulton has announced that it will RIF based first on performance, but that presumes that principals have been documenting under-performance to this point. We’ll see how effective it is here. To date, the rumblings of not-back-next-year have been more in the seniority category mong teachers and I can assure you the last-hired are NOT by any means the lowest-performing. Some have, apparently, received their first negative evaluations (as discussed here before) this semester and are consulting PAGE. What should lead to imptoved quality of staff may may be an expensive experience for Fulton (taxpayers, that is..)
Dondee
April 1st, 2010
6:48 pm
How about we look at the top and where this whole problem stems from….The Recession! I am thinking that if the Fed Gov’t would have or could come up with a better way to jump start this economy, many of these problems would be solved. Did Stimulus or TARP work? I would say not. When the economy improves, so will the situation for the states and schools. FairTax anyone?
Bell Curve
April 1st, 2010
8:47 pm
The problem has not just been caused by the recession. Sonny and his minions began cutting education for funding shortly after he took office. This caused systems to spend more than they previously did to cover the shortfall from the state. The recession made the situation worse, but it is not the sole cause of the problem. If the state had fully funded education when the money was there we would not be having this discussion now.
love2teach
April 1st, 2010
10:14 pm
@ Hank(?) have you actualy read Atlas Shrugged? You seem to have missed the point.
Dee
April 1st, 2010
10:44 pm
Thanks to all who offered suggestions with respect to my search for a good local private school. I will go and take a look at Walker. I am also planning a trip to Pace. I think I will also dig up that application for Riverside Military Academy again. Thanks to all.
Tim
April 1st, 2010
11:38 pm
Wow what a weak liberal political agenda this Maureen Downey is pushing?
Why can’t we make prisoners perform property maintenance?
A teacher can teach 100 students if they sit down, listen and behave. If they don’t kick them out of school and get on with teaching those who are there to learn
We need to cut costs at government schools in every conceiveable way!
Cobb Property owners and parents are sick of paying more and more taxes for less and less efficient government programs–especially public schools that produce a third world class of citizens that can’t manage to get through life without bigger and bigger government.
Cut government school costs in every possible way…and while we’re at it let’s repeal Congress’ health care bill and give a pink slip to every politician that voted for it to begin with.
Chalkboard Flu
April 2nd, 2010
8:05 am
Here’s something to think about. If you raise class size to 37 and ask teachers to teach six classes (as in Forsyth), each teacher is responsible for 222 students.
Let’s say that an English teacher gives an essay assignment. BTW, students need to do much more writing than they are now. Assuming that the teacher can work efficiently and grade essays at the rate of one every ten minutes (a conservative assumption, I think), that means the teacher needs 2220 minutes to grade the assignment.
This means that for every essay assignment, the teacher will spend 37 hours grading.
Think about labs for science. Think about foreign language instruction. Also, think about all the parental expectations and demands for special attention for their children. Think about time to differentiate instruction.
Where can a person possibly find this much time? I honestly don’t see how anyone expects our students to get a quality education under such circumstances. Teachers are passionate about education, but this is reaching a point where no one will be able to do the job well.
Elizabeth
April 2nd, 2010
9:10 am
Class sizes of 40? Almost everything as been said. None of it is good. If we had students like the studetns in the 1980’s, we might manage. But today, with all the special problem kids plus all the entitled little people who think they do not have to behave or do work? No way this will improve instruction ( note, I did not say test scores though that seems to be the expected result these days).
I am curious why someone mentioned the defined benefit teacher retirement plan. Teacher retirement is an independent, strong, and well funded system. Over $350 a month comes out of my salary as a contribution. The local Board also contributes, but the amount has been cut several times during my time as a teacher. Our funds also depend on investments, just as 401K’s do. Employers contribute, just as in most pension plans.Teachers make so little. I will get only 48% of my salary when I retire. Why do you have a problem with a system that has served teachers well and is well funded? It is no secret that Perdue has tried to get his hands on the fund and failed. Leave my retirement alone.
As for RIF being done by seniority, unless there is documentatin by the adminsitration that a teacher is not performing, those with seniority have a right to keep their jobs before the newer employees. Older employees deseve to be considered first. They would have more trouble finding another job. And because they are older does not mean they cannot perform. We know what works. We know how to manage a class. We know how to TEACH, not just administer a process like robots. We don’t need a teacher’s guide to teach a subject. We can do it without one. Enough about this. PROVE they cannot perform or keep them. We will fight any attmppt to nonrenew us if it is not justified and does not follow procedure, JUST AS ANY UNION IN ANY OTHER JOB WOULD!
Oh no!
April 2nd, 2010
9:53 am
Have we considered the idea that they WANT us to fail? I mean think about it. They take away all of our resources, shove 40 kids in our classes, do not support us in discipline matters, etc. Then they bump us all down to the base salary of $33,400 with opportunities to earn “bonuses” based on student achievement and evalutions designed by THEM. Have we all forgotten the numerous times in recent history when the state assessments have not lined up at all with the state curriculum. Really? No matter how hard we work they will find a way to stack the deck so badly against us that there will be virtually no way to earn the bonuses. Heaven forbid we do meet the criteria, they will have a loophole through which they can deny us the money anyway(NBCT anyone??). It’s a big game and we are the losers.
incredulous
April 2nd, 2010
9:55 am
@Tim, unfortunately for your point of view, it’s the 21st century now. Laws don’t allow us to “kick out of school” every student who doesn’t function well in a class of 100 students. “Government schools” have a mandate to prepare all children to be 21st century citizens, not just the well-behaved ones. Just as you’d like to kick those kids out of school, I’d like to kick voters and taxpayers with your fantasyland ideology out of the county. Then maybe we could get on with coping with present-day challenges in a realistic way.
Elizabeth
April 2nd, 2010
11:38 am
I agree. They want us to fail so that there will be no bonuses. Then they will have taken away our pay for college degrees AND not have to pay bonuses. And when the economy is better, watch teachers leave– in droves!
Oh no!
April 2nd, 2010
11:51 am
We are a two teacher family and we each have almost 20 years of experience and an Ed.S. The pay cut down to the “base pay” as listed on the RTTT grant application would be almost a $30,000 pay cut each. We do not overspend but this would bankrupt us. I don’t know many households who can afford a $60,000 pay cut. Many of my colleagues are in the same boat. We have worked hard for all these years, spent tens of thousands of dollars and countless hours of work earning advanced degrees and are tired of having to constantly defend ourselves.
Dee
April 2nd, 2010
3:50 pm
@Incredulous ““Government schools” have a mandate to prepare all children to be 21st century citizens, not just the well-behaved ones.”
I agree that all children should be given the opportunity to get an education. However, I do not think that the government schools are mandated to keep disruptive children in the same classrooms as those who have a desire to learn. As I mentioned earlier in the blog, the problem is that our teachers are forced to teach to the lowest common denominator — the classroom troublemaker. Why are people so quick to jump to the defense of “Johnny Disruptive” when we mention removing him from the classroom? Why isn’t there outrage on behalf of the 20 or so other children in the classroom who want to learn and who are having their education undermined by Johnny because he won’t or can’t read? I would love it if there were enough resources to address Johnny’s issues, but I don’t think that the other children, those who desire the education, should suffer because Johnny lives in the district and the district doesn’t have the money to get him a therapist and assign a teacher to stick by his side and try to get him to learn. At what point are Johnny’s parents responsible for this? And I mean responsible beyond whatever it is they pay in property taxes? My son has some trouble with math so I had him in a commercial tutor for about 10 months and now pay one of the teachers at his school to tutor him. I never for a moment thought that my school taxes should cover this extra assistance for him. My school taxes provide the school and the standard learning experience and anything else is on me, as his mom. Other parents who have children with needs that go beyond standard teaching need to start taking the same responsibility for their children as I have taken for mine. Peace.
Booklover
April 2nd, 2010
4:14 pm
Taxpayers have a choice: raise the millage rates a bit now so that your inceased property taxes can allow the schools to keep functioning at a reasonable level, or see your property values plunge by likely tens of thousands of dollars, and then try to sell your house and recoup your investment. What’s your choice?
Booklover
April 2nd, 2010
4:17 pm
Perhaps I should explain a bit more: generally the only people willing to pay the higher home prices in suburban areas like Cobb are people who want to have good public schools for their kids. Childless people like myself would rather live in some cheaper area (or in a downtown area near the nightlife) because poorer neighborhood schools don’t matter to us.
I’ve taught in several cities in Georgia, and I’ve always chosen to live in a cheaper community with yes, substandard schools, and then commute to teach in a community with highly-rated schools and higher home values.
Dee
April 3rd, 2010
10:19 am
Maybe Booklover is on to something. The first visceral reaction is to say that not having public school hurts our future, but what if it doesn’t? What if we in Cobb nearly elminated property taxes by closing all of the schools and allowing many of them to reopen as privately run tuition-based schools? Wouldn’t the increase in the number of private schools naturally reduce the average tuition? Many parents in Cobb already send their children to private schools anyway. Seems to me that the only kids who would not get an education would be the ones whose parents don’t care now anyway and who allow them to disrupt classes. Maybe Johnny Disruptive’s parents wouldn’t send him to school at all — or they would send him, but because they now have to pay directly they will force him to behave and learn. Cost of private education will normalize and probably be around what the taxes on a house in Cobb are currently — if you have more than one child, you might pay a little more, but it will be worth it for a better education. Home values will actually go up because property taxes will be almost nothing and people will feel like they have some control over their child’s education. hmmmmm
A Taxpayer
April 3rd, 2010
10:29 am
We CAN find another way to deal with these problems. It’s called raising the millage rate, moving the 62-Senior Exemption to 65 and raising the state sales tax by one penny. It’s also called getting rid of real waste in school administration, buildings and operations (quit promoting people to the central office who actually ought to be fired; make sure that everyone who is teaching/administrating/supervising is actually providing value for the money). While it could be done, and certainly would make more sense than having prisoners cut the grass and putting 40 or more students in a classroom, it would require intestinal fortitude and a measure of wisdom that many good-ole boy Southern politicians don’t seem to possess. Recently, it was said of the U.S. Congress that, when they have no other options left, then they will do the right thing. Unfortunately, that concept isn’t even a blip on the radar screen for our Pillsbury dough-boys.
JustGraduatedTeacher
April 3rd, 2010
6:55 pm
I just got my first (temporary) job in a Cobb County School and I am a little bit sickened by this experience. I worked in a lot of different rooms and had my eyes opened. More than half of the students that attend the school I worked in are here illegally. The money that is spent on non-English speaking students through language coaches, ESOL specialists, Title 1 tutors would astound you. I don’t think asking people to pay for the services they use (especially disproportionally) is that crazy. Parents should have to prove their residency, legal status and tax information, just like they require a health check. If you think that you have to provide a social security number to attend school, you are wrong. Is it really fair that citizens of this country and county get a second rate education to people that are breaking the law to be here and don’t pay taxes to pay for the education of their child? If EVERY parent paid into the system I doubt the problem would be this bad. How many more teachers could be hired if there wasn’t such a huge financial drain? In retail, using/taking/consuming something you didn’t pay for is called stealing. I think we need to wake up and deal with the problem of illegal immigration in this country. Maybe these American jobs are not directly being taken away by illegal immigrants, but it sure looks like it to me.
Maxx Clayton
April 3rd, 2010
8:59 pm
Wow, is this the great all-mighty Cobb County that is about to go down the drain. First the floods and now this..I can remember many on this blog criticing Clayton County about its school system…some of you showed no mercy for the children and the homeowners of Clayton Co…now look what’s happening…Cobb is in a flood zone and your schools now suck..ever heard of KARMA.
Former teacher
April 3rd, 2010
10:11 pm
ESOL classes should not be offered in public schools. The official language in this country is English, and everyone who moves to America knows that. Secondly, during the school year, EBT cards need to be reduced because most of the students receiving the services eat breakfast and lunch at school. Furthermore, if parents are receiving EBT cards, they SHOULD fix their children’s lunches at home.
Tend to the Grounds
April 4th, 2010
9:18 am
As a Cobb homeowner and educator, I do not mind the prisoners tending the grounds of the school buildings. I feel that they need to come on Sunday when the buildings are not open and student activities are not being held. During Sunday activities, they should not come.
Why not utilize this population? These inmates are fed, clothed, and sheltered. Just like when they pick up trash all over the county, care is needed. These inmates are not considered a danger to society to the point that they are excluded from these labor assignments. I have seen inmates working with the mail at the DMV! Cobb is a huge county and is well maintained. I would like that to continue. Schools need to cut costs and this is a reasonable way. As a matter of fact, they could help maintain the many parks and greenspaces too. We taxpayers voted for more greenspace and got it.
These inmates would not have access to the inside of the building or the students. Also, people who have community service could be used too.
Ole Guy
April 4th, 2010
11:53 am
Former Teach, I’m with you on the ESOL thing. It’s absolutely absurd that we first accept illegals, and then bend over backward in tending to their(among many other things) language short-comings. Even those entering legally should…as with obtaining any license: pilot, driver, etc…demonstrate a minimal skill level/grasp of the official lingo as a condition of admittance.
I’ve spoken to many American expatriates in several countries…they, and their families, learned the local lingos on their dime, often times, by simple integration into the local economys.
As far as I’m concerned (and I am quite certain many others would agree), ESOL is a program we can do entirely without. Kids have an enormous capability of simply “picking up” these things. Once the kid has mastered conversational skills, I might agree with tax-supported classes in grammer/proper usage, etc…BUT NO WAY ON BASIC TRANSLATIONAL SKILLS; TOO MUCH SPOON-FEEDING ON PUBLIC EXPENSE; THAT’S GOT TO STOP!
Former teacher
April 4th, 2010
1:45 pm
Ole Guy, you are right. ESOL classes are absurd. Why do American children have to provide proof of residency, but illegal immigrants do not. I just don’t understand the rationale. America is doing more for the illegals than their own students. CHILDREN OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED TO ATTEND PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THIS IS A DISSERVICE TO TAXPAYING AMERICANS.
C. Smith
April 15th, 2010
1:14 pm
Let’s think a moment here. How much of our family budgets go into the sports and entertainment industry here in the state of Georgia? The Atlanta Braves, Falcons, Thrashers, Hawks, not to mention theater tickets for all other forms of entertainment that families with children patronize should be taken in account for the support they give to the community. Now other than giving out “T” shirts and plastic souvenirs of team insignias, how much do these multi-billion dollar industries put back into what’s most important- our kids- our schools! Posters of favorite sports players hang on our kid’s bedroom walls, CD’s and DVD’s are played over and over with our kids knowing more about these celebrities than these celebrities know about our kids, our families or our lives! (How about those celebrities who live here in Georgia) Economists see American families as mere “Consumers” including many in the Sports and Entertainment Industries” and I strongly feel they need to know that now more than ever, we need their support. Everyone pulled together for the earthquake in Haiti, well what about all our families in Georgia who are now homeless! Families have lost their jobs and their homes! The Banks who hold mortgages and won’t work with families ought to be ashamed of themselves- have they forgotten what community really means-they’ll advertise that they do- but do they really? While economists keep reporting that the economy can only get better once the “consumer” begins “consuming” again!…Are they for real?? Our homes and families are falling apart and they’re concerned about us increasing our consuming level to what it was?? Well, I’m not a consumer 1st! I am a wife, a mother of 4, a step-mother of 2, a full-time student, a daughter, a sister, a friend to my neighbors, and I care that the Cobb County School Board had to make those very hard and difficult budget decisions last night! It shouldn’t have even gone that far! How about all those other state and local budgets using up end of the year overages just so they can “justify” asking for the same amount of money for next year’s budget? If end of year monies become available, then why can they not be allocated to where they can be used the best? Couldn’t any overages been sent to the Education Budget during times like these?? Since when did we as Americans ever give up so quickly and for so much! I challenge our sports teams and players to rally together along with other leaders out here in Georgia- I call it HALF-TIME – It isn’t over ‘til it’s over and I believe it isn’t over! It’s only just begun for Georgians, our families and our kids! Let’s get our best and that means everybody together and come up with better priorities- Our families and our kids are our future- they’re what makes the heart and soul of Georgia a better place to live in and together we can make it happen. We have great businesses and organizations out there talking leadership. Well, let’s put some action behind our lip service! Some that I personally know and have been apart of is: Dale Carnegie, Junior Achievement, American Legion, Cobb County Schools, Kennesaw State University, PTA, AVID – We have the Chamber of Commerce and a whole bunch of great people-so let’s just see what we can come up with when we all pull together!
Right
April 22nd, 2010
10:10 pm
Ok kids i keep hearing that the school systems want to think outside the box then why don’t they do so? 40 plus in a class that is just dumb better to just cancel school and teach all the kids how to steal. What they should do is
1st add a 5 cent tax to everything you buy that goes straight to the county school systems
2nd use the cheaper means of getting work done ie community service and such
3rd and most of all CORPORATE SPONSORSHIP with all those captive audience members i bet companies can’t wait to have a pepsi cola gym or a AT&T science lab.
the people in charge should use their brains for once this is about the future not about your selfish want to stay in power or get bigger raises by cutting other peoples jobs and kids futures