Miami-Dade County schools’ questions have finally been answered: Governor Rick Scott recently declared a $1.75 billion cut to the education budget currently provided to all public schools in Florida.
On May 20, Principal Howard Weiner revealed the strategies that he will utilize to structure the incoming 2011-2012 school year.
“Student enrollment is being taken into consideration,” Weiner said. “But you have to remember that the less amount of students your school has, the less money you receive in your budget.”
Broward County announced that any teacher working for less than two years will not have their contracts renewed. Superintendent of Miami-Dade County Alberto Carvalho announced that no teacher will be laid off for budgetary reasons.
According to Weiner, Honors and Advanced Placement courses will still be available to all students next year.
While the administration attempts to make budget cuts without affecting academics, students still worry over whether or not their clubs will continue next year.
If the budget forces the school to cut clubs, Weiner and Activities Director Angela Lima will jointly decide which clubs to cut.
“Mrs. Lima and I will work together to see which clubs have activity going on within them and base our decisions off of student interest,” Weiner said. “The cutting of any student-based area will be solely determined off of the students’ interest.”
Debate will be offered as a club instead of a class next year to help alleviate funds, much to the surprise of junior Lee Seifer.
“Although I am disappointed that debate will no longer be offered as a class next year, I understand the harsh reality of the current budget crisis,” Seifer said. “However, the claim that debate is being cut due to a lack of student interest is questionable because debate this year has actually increased in student involvement, hence why debate, for the first time in my high school years, was expanded into two classes in an attempt to accommodate for all the students and their interests.”
According to the annual study of state educational systems produced by Education Week, Florida received an ‘F’ for school spending in the 2010 Quality Counts Report. Florida is officially ranked as number 50 in the country on educational spending because it spends the least amount of money on public education K-12.
Journalists like Renier Diaz of The Miami Herald believe that virtual schooling will solve many of the issues concerning budget costs as well as student learning and class reduction. Many teachers and administrative staff oppose the theory of virtual courses as a permanent “classroom” mainly because it does not offer the same environment in which teachers believe a student should be taught. Virtual classes also threaten the number of teaching positions required.
“A major part of school is the interaction between students and their teachers. Virtual school would eliminate the possibility of invigorating discussions,” counselor Harry Nerenberg said. “It’s good if students have at least one virtual course, but to have your day filled with only online courses isn’t the way to go.”
Whether or not Palmetto decides to take on more virtual courses to reduce class sizes or establish a strict student enrollment plan, the faculty and staff will do whatever is possible to make the 2011-2012 school year successful.
“I hope Mrs. Lima and Mr. Weiner take the time to really look into what it is that they’re going to be cutting from the curriculum next year,” junior and Leo Club President Natalie Freedman said. “As a club president, I know how much each organization is capable of.”