Third-graders toss an inflatable globe across Lynne Baker's classroom. As elbows flail in the air, a scorekeeper keeps tabs on whether the catcher's right thumb lands on water or land. Soon it becomes apparent — by a majority of thumbs — that the world consists of much more water than it does land.
"Emily didn't want to save the world — she let it fall," laughs their teacher as a student fumbles a catch and the globe bounces to the floor.
It was only a few months ago when the students' world almost did come crashing down. Plans were made to close their campus — Sycamore Canyon Elementary School — as a result of budget cuts in the Santee Elementary School District.
When parents and community members raised $50,000 in a fight to save their school, the school board gave Sycamore a reprieve. It remains open, but with reduced services. The library is only open two days a week. Part of the campus is leased to a private school to raise money. There is only a part-time administrator on site.
"It's definitely been an interesting year," says Baker, a member of the Santee Teachers Association. "It was very stressful not knowing if we were going to close or not, and it took a toll on teacher and student morale. I can't imagine what else they could cut that would not affect us in some horrendous way."
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Sycamore Canyon Elementary in Santee has suffered major cutbacks because of budget cuts and declining enrollment, but teachers like Lynne Baker do the best they can with very little. The school narrowly escaped closure this year |
While Sycamore is the most dramatic example, other district schools are also suffering cutbacks in the wake of $16 million in budget cuts over the past five years, including $3.7 million this year, mostly because enrollment at the nine schools has dropped from 8,400 to 6,700 students.
It's estimated that close to half the districts in California are experiencing declining enrollment due to the stagnant economy, high cost of housing and aging of the baby boomers.
Santee has had to cut back on custodial services, eliminate the music program completely and charge parents for transportation costs across the district.
There is fear that Sycamore may be targeted for closure again next year. But for now, STA members who teach at the site, students and community members are savoring the victory.
"We are the heart and soul of this neighborhood," says Wendy Dunnigan, who teaches a second/third-grade combination class at the neighborhood school she attended as a child. "It would have been far more detrimental for the district to close our school than to keep it open. They would have had to put our 300 kids into other schools, which would then have become too crowded."
Dave Chamberlin, a technology and science teacher at Cajon Park Junior High School, worries that choices for students will continue to decline. "Every time someone who taught fine arts, music or electives retires at our school, the program is taken out of the system and replaced with a reading and language arts program," he says. "Back in the old days, we had shop, art, music, drama, you name it. Now they can't fund it. And I think today's students don't have the enthusiasm that kids had in the past, when there was a variety of classes and curriculum. They aren't as motivated when they don't have options."
To keep his computer lab open and preserve his technology program, he organizes an annual "Jog/Walk" that raises thousands of dollars. Without it, there would be no funding for technology.
His students are designing their own highly technical dream homes on the computer, utilizing math, graphing and design skills. They also learn business management skills by billing community members who made pledges during the fundraising event, tracking the money and writing thank-you notes.
"This program would go by the wayside if we didn't have these envelopes with checks rolling in," says Chamberlin, grabbing a handful.
Deborah Hendrickson, who taught music for the past 14 years, is now a classroom teacher at Sycamore.
"There was never a big music program in our district, but at least students had a sampling of what was out there," says Hendrickson. With K-8 feeder programs gone, it's only a matter of time before high school music programs will wither and die as well.
"It's heartbreaking. We music teachers devoted our lives to passing the joy of music on to children."
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Dave Chamberlin protects his technology lab by organizing an annual jog/walk fund-raiser |
"Pretty soon," she says, "there's not going to be such a thing as well-rounded kids. How can you have well-rounded kids if you only give them reading, writing and math — and you squeeze in social studies and science if you have time?"
Students who struggled academically could feel a sense of accomplishment through playing the recorder at an assembly. "Now, no kids except for my kids are going to play them."
"California is in such a sorry state, or should I say is just a sorry state for handling its budgeting affairs so poorly that something as basic as music education is considered expendable," she says. "And I know it's not just music; it's education in general. We are just a few billion dollars short when it comes to providing something every child should have a right to expect, in my opinion. We are not moving forward — we are moving backward. We may have come a long way technologically, but in matters that are truly important to the development of well-rounded human beings, we are way behind."
There was hope until November that the district might stave off further cuts - and restore programs — by passing a five-year property tax increase that would have cost $60 per residential parcel and $400 per commercial parcel per year. While it did receive a majority — 60 percent — of the vote, it failed to win the 66.7 percent necessary under the dictates of Proposition 13.
"We fought hard, and it was close," says STA President Allwyn Gazi, a teacher at Cajon Park Junior High. "Teachers walked the neighborhoods, put out fliers, manned phone banks and did whatever we could."
There is talk about trying again in 2006.
"It hurts to provide just the minimum," says Gazi. "But we are doing a good job here for the resources that we have. I think it's time to have some stable funding for public education. We have cut all the so-called fat there is. I really don't know what else there is to cut."
