If you are a teacher, know a teacher, love a teacher, have ever encountered a teacher....Wear pink on March 19th and show your support for the teachers in IL and around the country who will receive pink slips in the coming weeks.
If you've seen the news lately, you know that districts near us in the Chicago Suburbs have let teachers go because the state of IL cannot pay its bills. I am simplifying only slightly. In a letter dated March 17, 2010 from my Superintendent, the district states that Governor Quinn's proposed budget includes a $1.3 BILLION reduction in education funding. In my district, we received notice that IL owes us $570, 817. The impact of this proposed budget on my district results in a projected loss of $1, 111, 075 in state funding for the upcoming school year.
What does this mean? It means that my district is considering possible reductions in full time classroom teachers, early childhood programs, reading improvement teachers, technology facilitators, paraprofessional staff and curriculum work. My Superintendent is a wiz with numbers. She loves her teachers and supports us all the way. She thinks creatively, researches tirelessly, and asks questions of those who know...so I am confident that she will consider every possibility before she and the Board of Education make any tough decisions.
However, tough decisions have already been made for districts like U46, and Naperville. And we all hate it when we hear of someone losing a job, but it seems so much worse when so many small people will be so negatively impacted.
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