BoardBuzz has seen the devastating results of lay-offs in our school districts including: larger class sizes that do not facilitate the type of interaction and specialized instruction for many students and teachers; the loss of specialists for intervention programs such as reading and math coaches and after school tutoring; and discontinued extracurricular programs that help provide a well-rounded education program for our students.
Take for example Virginia, where Gov. Bob McDonnell is recommending $731 million in cuts over the next 2.5 years.
Virginia’s proposed budget cuts will trickle down to each of the local school districts.
The largest school district in Virginia, Fairfax County, has announced it is planning to cut hundreds of education jobs and reducing full-day kindergarten, foreign language immersion, sports, music programs, and social workers and guidance counselors. Additionally, class sizes could increase and new fees are being considered for athletics and for Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate tests.
Hi. I am the grant-proposal writer for an a cappella group from Boston called “BALL IN THE HOUSE”, and I am researching data re: the effects of cutbacks in music and the arts on students in middle schools and high schools in general, and in particular statistical data on the numbers of students negatively effected by the lack of music programs in school. If you have any information you think I might use, I would greatly appreciate it if you would email it to me.
Gratefully,
Jeanne M. Engels