Editor:

It seems whenever budget cuts happen, they look right to the arts programs and the teachers. I think eyes should go elsewhere; administrative costs. The administrative office, I am assuming, their budget combined is more than the teacher’s budget. The kids are the purpose of the school, not the people making the “decisions” for the kids and the staff that are directly involved with the students!  They are cutting teachers from 1.0 FTE to .60 FTE. Teachers make a impact in each student’s life every day — administrators do not. 

Why is arts the first thing to be looked at to be cut? If we have to cut, let’s equal it out. The arts host way more students than many sports program. A play production, band and/or choir takes way more than a sports team. In reality the kids who make the sports team at school are the ones that are playing all year round with club.  Club is very expensive, therefore, you are actually excluding a large number of kids from sports. Arts is inclusive of everyone, not just the ones who can afford it. Arts includes the outgoing, the introverted, the sports kids, the non-sports kids, and the kids who just want to try something new. With all that the kids endure of being bullied and not being accepted, you want to cut programs that actually accepts everyone and keep the ones that exclude a large number of students.