Doing More With Less

With tough economic times, comes the challenge of doing more with fewer resources. This is certainly true in public schools. We are experiencing a reduction in financial support from both the state and federal levels. While reducing support for programs such as Title I, the federal government continues to hold on to what, in many ways, are unrealistic goals for No Child Left Behind.

In Colorado, the state legislature and Department of Education continue to place demands on the local school systems while decreasing their financial support for those school systems. The stress resulting from pressure at both the state and federal level manifests itself at the local school district level. With this decreasing resources, we are forced to reduce staffing levels in order to maintain balanced budgets. The first positions that typically get cut are the support positions such as custodial, maintenance, and instructional assistants. While the promise of federal stimulus dollars has postponed the immediate pain in some cases, this federal fix is temporary and unless the funding structures at the state level change rapidly more jobs will be lost.

In spite of this, good people keep working harder and longer with less support simply because they believe that what they are doing has a positive impact on students and the future of this nation. These individuals are the true patriots of a free system.