Thursday, October 31, 2013

                                          Out of Whack
     
     Finances out of whack, with a projected 140 million dollar shortfall,
Fairfax County Virginia's School Board wants to bypass the Supervisors and tax residents itself,
     The only current alternative proposal: furlough days, larger class sizes...
Relegating "pet" programs and select, "superfluous" staff to the shelf!

    But what if the focus was kept on learning?
 That is, after all, what educational institutions are supposed to be for!
    Instead of slicing funding from academics...first, why not...
 Shove top of the line tech toys - and siphoning sports - out the door?

    If you've ever been waited on by a teen or young adult working at a register,
 You know they look at cash with scorn and cannot make change in their head,
    Or divide a price in half without a calculator if you have one item of a BOGO,
 The result of glutenous emphasis on glam technology - time to put that romance to bed.

    Sports serve relatively few students; gym grabs them all, like it or not,
 With a childhood obesity epidemic, the right choice is plain to see,
    The latter is a superior public value - and sufficient exercise,
 Jock kids can go beyond that elsewhere - for a nominal fee, sometimes for free.

     People matter more than "props;" Rah! Rah! now...
But such "spirit" doesn't sustain or linger loud in a long life,
     Chasing "simply the best," early adoption while "new" and "improved" is not necessarily better,
All things to consider before wielding the fiscal knife.

     Sometimes old school is good school...back to basics,
Eliminate excessive electives and concentrate on the curriculum's core,
     It takes a village, not one stop shopping, let's not forget the onus on parents and students,
Because responsibility for scholastics - upbringing in general - doesn't begin and end at the classroom door.

Karen Ann DeLuca

Helpless I do not know if good intentions prevail among the elected, among the appointed, leaving me apprehensive that the fate ...