Budget woes shouldn’t cut teachers

Monday, February 8, 2010 - 10:32 PM

Emily Katseanes

Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed in his State of the State address to make local levels of government more responsible for their schools. That’s a great idea, but what Gibbons is proposing is removing the “mandate from Carson City.” All this means is that schools will be left alone to decide how to cut their budgets. What the school districts need to do is avoid fixing the budget in ways that will hurt teachers. All that will lead to is shortchanging of students.

With caps on class sizes removed, bigger classes may be the first solutions to be considered. But in bigger classes, teachers are less likely to be able to help kids individually, meaning problems, from simple misunderstandings to learning disabilities, could get overlooked. It may not seem like a big deal, but each one of those small difficulties will build until it’s a big problem. After all, a pearl is just a tiny speck of muck with layers upon layers of calcification.

Another bad option is cutting or freezing teachers’ salaries. Even with a big class, a sharp teacher can tell the difference between a mistake and a learning disability, and a passionate teacher will integrate different kinds of learning styles into a lesson to combat disabilities. But by shortchanging the educational system, even the most passionate teacher will get burnt out and the smart ones will leave to become better compensated in another field or state.

Gibbons’ solution — the Education Gift Certificates at state buildings like the DMV that allow residents to donate money to teachers’ salaries — treats an entire system like a plastic jar by a cash register.

And though Gibbons didn’t mention it yesterday, the same cuts could affect colleges, too. Hiking college tuition is going to prevent a whole swath of students from attending college, including middle or lower class students or nontraditional students. One of the best parts of college is talking to and working with people from disparate backgrounds. By making college more expensive, part of that will be lost.

What the budget crunch does is change schools from places of creativity and self-expression into babysitting factories. It won’t hurt the students who fit in easily and are self-motivated, but it hurts students who are fidgety, mouthy or impatient.

I have always been one of those students. I talk out of turn, occasionally refuse to do homework, whine about assignments, beg to have class outside in nice weather and openly mock concepts such as “imaginary numbers.”

But as annoying as I must have been, I had great teachers with enough patience to work through my impatience. They encouraged participation, engaged me with creative assignments and challenged me to understand those dang imaginary numbers instead of giving up.

Without those enthusiastic teachers, I may not have gotten everything out of school that I have, including internships in New York City and studying abroad in Italy. I became a columnist and a tutor (which allowed me to help dozens of kids up their SAT scores to get scholarships, offers from Ivy League schools and sports eligibility).

In fact, as graduation approaches, even knowing all the Karma and Ramen noodles I’m going to have to put up with, I think I may become a teacher myself.

Teachers can send checks of gratitude to Emily Katseanes. Reach her at ekatseanes@nevadasagebrush.com.