This Economy has presented some tough choices to all of us. Similarly, it has presented a very tough $3 Million challenge to the Novi School System.
The crux of this issue seems to be the High School Schedule change. The change keeps teachers in the class room 83% instead of 75% of the time. That is an increase in individual Productivity of 10.6%.
Increasing Productivity – That sounds like a way forward in a recession.
Let’s look at the individual student schedule. Under the new plan students are in class for 996 class hours per year with no additional school days. Under the current plan (4 X 4) we are talking 936 class hours. That’s a 6.4% productivity increase.
Increasing Productivity – That sounds like a way forward in a recession.
At the April 20th informational meeting there were a lot of individual statements and few individual questions. The most common question asked was “why now? Why can’t we have a couple years warning? Well I’m sure many of us would have liked a couple years warning for our jobs, mortgages, and investments, but we didn’t get it. Looking forward is what is important now.
The only question is, there’s a $3,000,000 bubble, where does the money come from? The alternatives seem to be to take away things at the elementary school level. In other words reduce the benefits of the schools who historically lead the pack in MEAP scores in the Novi School System. Schools that have historically met AYP progress goals.
Punishing the Productive – That sounds like a dead end in a recession.
Is that the lesson we want to hand to our next generation?
I’ll take a plan that increases productivity while saving dollars anytime.
We could have had some warning if the administration had paid attention to the economic indicators and the people. This isn’t rocket science, we’ve been in a recession here for 9 years. So, it is a valid QUESTION. There is also little reduction at the administrative level. Those who sit in the ESB have very little to do with educating our children, but are paid very large amounts of money–several salaries well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. They should have seen this coming. No they didn’t. They should not be trusted with anything.
Remember, everything was wonderful–so let’s build more space on schools so we can’t maintain it today with staffing or operational funds. The paint is barely dry on the new gyms music rooms and art rooms at 3 elementary schools.
The truth is everything isn’t wonderful. Give me a captain who will tell me about the storms and steer away or through them, not uninformed dreamers telling us the skies are blue and the seas are calm, and then scrambling at the first gales.
Don’t forget to VOTE NO on May 5th.