West Contra Costa Costa County School District released the names of schools they are closing and/or consolidating. Understandably, parents of the kids attending these schools are outraged.  But with the school district facing a multimillion dollar cut, they have little choice. (I guess)

Why is it that private companies like Ford and Chrysler are able to stand before Congress and ask for billions of our tax dollars but a school that is supposed to be looked over by the State is getting the shaft?!? Is our government that diluted to think that helping a business that has made decades of bad decisions is better for the country than making sure we raise educated kids? Maybe there is something I am missing but it sounds like common sense to me.

This got me thinking about my own backyard and if Concord and the Mount Diablo Schools District is about to announce something along the same lines. Our district is having problems too. Based on the “Approved Reductions” for the school district, our kids are in for some hurt too.

• Reduce contributions to summer school. – Will only be providing remediation class as well as classes for students to make up credits.

So no more high speed kids are going to have the opportunity for continued education for a higher GPA.

• Reduce 1.5 FTE staffing assigned to Mt. Diablo High School. – Mt. Diablo High has been allocated additional staffing for years to add or maintain elective or enrichment classes.

Ok. if this means getting rid of Home Economics then fine, I get it. But isn’t a second language considered elective or enrichment classes? How about Computer Science?

As far as the proposed staff cuts in your maintenance crews, you hope the heating and A/C isn’t going to break but what if it does? How much does it cost to hire a bunch of contractors when they go down vs. have a guy on staff?

As much as I hate seeing the school district being picked apart piece by piece to cut costs, I am glad that we are not in a situation where we have to close schools. So I hope this is enough to weather the storm but my gut says no.

In fact as I type this I was just alerted to the fact that California has the 3rd highest unemployment rate in the US.

Popularity: 3% [?]

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