I wanted so badly to come on here tonight and talk about this masters program at the university that I’m angling at, thinking to myself that hey, I can do this, I can hold down my career, nail this degree…
And then reality came crashing in on my little world. Now it looks like I might not able to do either. A lot of who I am is tied up in what I do, and to lose that?
There are no words.
XXXXXXXXXX PUBLIC SCHOOLS SUMMARY OF BUDGET ISSUES
Key Background Issues
1. As a district, we have been living beyond our means. In 2004-2005 we are projecting $1,690,000 worth of reserve spending.
2. As a result of budget decisions for 2004-2005 and the use of class size funding in the summer of 2004, based upon current funding levels, we cannot sustain our current level of staffing.
3. Average province wide salary increases are outstripping increases in provincial grants (2004-05: 2.8% vs 2%; 2005-06: 2.5% vs 2%).
Translation? I’m screwed. And if not me, than someone very much like me, and no matter how badly I may want to, I can’t — I won’t — wish this on anyone.
this sucks brother o’ mine. but like it always does, i’m confident it will all work out one way or the other. there really is no other option. it has to work out. sending you hugs! -me!
It’s things like this that make me actively hate the government here. We are the richest province in the country, free of debt, and as such in the best position to build a strong educational system to insure the futures of the children of the province. But instead of doing the smart thing, they cut funding.
Now, the good news is that I just heard Ralph Klein and his buddies saying that it is their goal to build the strongest education system in the world in Alberta. That seems like a really odd statement to be coming from those characters, but it’s encouraging none-the-less.
Here’s hoping for the best!
I know that this is a raw subject here, for obvious reasons, and as usual I agree that there needs to be more funding for education in the province, but I also see point #3 as a relevant one.
It occurs to me, and you’ve said it before yourself, Matt, that the ATA is contributing to screwing over the younger generation of teachers by holding on to their jobs with revolutionary fervor and pushing the wages up in the face of the flat-out _certainty_ that the money won’t come from the government, thus serving only to punish people who are new to the profession.
That being said, of course, there is no reason to maintain the current level of funding when there is as much money in the bank as we have. I hope that the long push to pay off the debt has not caused the government to forget which notches of the belt they tightened. It is promising, although subtly, that the government is beginning to acknowledge that post-secondary education has different needs than the primary system, and has actually made them two portfolios.
At any rate, good luck. I know you don’t wish being cut upon anyone, but I, for one, do not want to see you get the axe. In a true meritocratic system, you would not. (See previous comments about ATA)