Budget Concerns

As many of you are now aware,the projected budgetary shortfall for OCPS next year is as much as 240 million. I attended a rally after school today, waving signs at the corner of Mills and Michigan. I've written as many e-mails and letters as I can. Short of crawling into the brains of lawmakers, I don't know what else to do.

To be completely honest: My job next year is safe, although it will probably be more difficult to do it well. (This year has been hard as it is.) I have a contender in this fight, though, because the future of our state is directly related to the generation we are now educating. If I didn't believe in what I did for a living, I would have quit a long time ago. I think you all deserve to have a good education, with cultural opportunities and decent class sizes. Please stay aware of what's going on.

Mr. Godfrey is having his students do a research paper for his econ class about the budget issue. I will be gathering some info for you to use as resources and would be happy to be an interviewee if you need it, but I cannot post that information on this site due to proprietary challenges. If you go to the homepage for Orange County Public Schools, though, you can find the district's perspective on the issue, including the intriguing statistic that lottery monies would only open our schools for one day in OCPS. You can find the link here: www.ocps.net. I will have more detailed information available in my classroom tomorrow for any interested seniors.