Birmingham School District is currently planning on spending an estimated $78,256 on a new district website and $49,000 on a trip to Boston for 70 teachers to learn how to use the technological teaching aid Ignite!
The Highlander recognizes the need in this day and age to take the education of Seaholm students into the 21st Century. However, falling back into the 19th century is at risk if the district continues to choose shooting for the stars over, say, laying off one less teacher, replacing a few old textbooks that have been here for longer than the C hall, or (and this is just a suggestion, from a friend to a friend) put some money towards balancing the deficit the district is facing.
Sometimes the biggest enemy of ‘good’ is ‘great’--by spending so much money on trying to be great, to be better than we currently are, the district is losing sight of the fact that if we spend outside of our means, Birmingham will no longer be able live up to its reputation of one of the best public school districts in the state.
The need to stay financially solvent outweighs that of the need to stay cutting edge. The administration is letting dreams of grandeur get in the way of simply staying alive as a district.
Priority numero uno needs to be keeping our head above the everrising tide of debt that has the district doing the doggy paddle trying not to be swept away by the waves, not trying to make sure we’re wearing super cool clothes while we drown.
As a healthy alternative to spending a total of approximately $128,000 things that are nice but unnecessary, The Highlander suggests the following:
- Either live with the current website (which is honestly not that bad at all) or else upgrade the website for less than one and a half times the amount of money a teacher makes in a year.
-Instead of spending so much money on trips to learn about the Ignite! program, live within our technological means (which, to be honest, aren’t being tapped into too much). For example, encouraging or requiring the use of valuable recourses such as Twitter, Youtube, or the countless online encyclopedias that the school pays for but are not used by most sends us into the 21st century without spending $49,000 on trips to Boston.
The district is in huge financial trouble without splurging as much as it is. Though the money is going to places that are beneficial for the district, the most beneficial thing for the district to do is to pinch its pennies—especially if the district is going to ask teachers to take a pay cut.
