The most common thing that Americans and Texans alike love to complain about is the economy and how expensive everything is. We complain about the price of gas, eggs and how interest rates keep rising, and then we accommodate our budgets and go about our lives. However, the price is also rising to keep schools open and teachers employed, but for this, we are not accommodating.
Despite inflation in the US rising 23.45% in the last six years, the budget for public schools in Texas has not been raised since then.
“Funding for public schools from the state of Texas has been frozen since 2019 and monetary support has not kept up with rising costs and inflation,” principal of Vista Ridge Dr. Morgan said. “There isn’t much we could have done. However, we are consistently looking for ways to save money as a district and be more efficient as a campus.”
Despite there being nothing Morgan or other admin at the high school level could do to prevent these issues, they are still having to deal with the consequences of others’ actions. The task of deciding who will stay, who will be terminated, and what programs continue while other students are left with nothing to do, all of these decisions now fall on admin.
“At Vista, we had to reduce our teaching staff by 11 teachers and reduce our Assistant Principals by one,” Morgan said. “This could potentially increase the size of student numbers in some classrooms next year. We have an amazing admin team and teaching staff who are ready for any changes.”
Having to drastically change the staffing numbers so quick will have an impact on the inner workings of our school. The current average student-to-teacher ratio is 20:1, but with these new budget cuts the average ratio will increase to 22:1.
“I don’t believe this is an issue that could have been fixed by any one department or campus,” Leander ISD Chief Communications Officer Crestina Hardie said. “The budget challenges we’re facing are the result of factors beyond the control of individual schools or departments. Currently, facing a $21.4-million budget deficit. Without additional funding from the state, these challenges have continued to grow, making district-wide reductions necessary. We will continue to push for change while doing our best to serve our students with the resources available.”
Things will need to change, and change fast. The damage has already been done and cuts already been made for the near future, but we can still prevent further tragedies as large as this one from occuring again. The fundamental way students are taught and schools are run will need to change, and Hardie is ready to make these changes.
“In the long run, this will mean more work, not less, for everyone. Leander ISD Superintendent Bruce Gearing, Ed.D., encourages us to do better with less. I truly believe that’s possible,” Hardie said. “It will take a tremendous amount of courage and strength. It will require us to reimagine, rethink, recalibrate the way public education has operated over hundreds of years. Have you ever thought of what school will look like 10 years from now? What learning environments will ignite a child’s passions to reveal their purpose? To experience progress, we must experience adversity. This can be a defining moment for us as a community that features our resilience as we create a sustainable future.”
Besides students, some of the people who will be most heavily affected by these budget cuts, are teachers. Many are afraid for their jobs and the livelihood of themselves and their families. They come to school everyday and continue to work hard to inspire their students, without knowing if they’ll still be here in a few months.
“I feel like teaching electives is always nerve-racking because that’s where the budget gets cut first,” CTE department chair Mrs. Dossey said. “You have to keep all of the core english, science, math, and social studies electives, so when people don’t understand what the CTE classes do, we’re an easy target. On the other hand, if teachers are cut and programs aren’t, we’re stuck teaching multiple classes that have nothing to do with what we teach now.
