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An increasingly harsh reality in education finance is that teaching jobs are still being slashed. Even as schools consolidate and districts are expanded, more kids are being led by fewer and fewer teachers as federal aid for teachers becomes increasingly non-existent. Many states cannot generate revenue appropriate with increased staffing and teacher cuts are leading to the elimination of art programs, gym programs, and home economic classes. Only the core subjects are surviving, and a child wishing to learn an instrument in band had best find a private tutor.
The first option of a governing board or superintendent charged with teacher cuts is to coax older teachers into retirement. Often times, teachers will accept a severance package and early retirement so as not to force the firing of a younger teacher. Though payday loans can be used to bridge the gap between paychecks, it is rare to find a teacher who has no money concerns.
The other group of teachers feeling a brunt of the cuts is education technicians, or teachers who work one on one with students who require help to get through a school day. When it is deemed through a state ordered evaluation that a child needs a one to one aid then a school is tasked with hiring that help. When budget cuts are made, however, these teachers can often be the first cut from the school.
Some school districts have considered measures as drastic as a four day school week to save 20 percent of expenses by shaving a day. Regardless, it always seems there is money being cut for schools instead of going in.
