Where Do We Go From Here?
Where do we go from here?
From my first two blogs, you should have the impression that I have issues with the budget cuts in education. Yes, revenues may be down due to a variety of reasons but it seems like education is the first place to cut. I would look a little harder at some other budget lines, salaries and government waste and inefficiencies.
There are some positive points to the down economy. Because the demand for many products and services is down, companies are more willing to negotiate prices. The vendors are hungry. Ohio has been able to get 30 new school buses for the price of 37 (that is three FREE). This is because the manufactures are sitting around doing nothing and are thankful for any business they can hang on to. Use your negotiating skills.
A major controversy is the distribution of income to support school systems. In many states the major source of income comes from property taxes. Many argue that this creates inequities because the wealthy districts get more funding than the less fortunate districts. Some states are looking at distributing the revenue to colleges, universities and school districts based on certain standards and achievement goals. So if your program does not meet the expectations set down, your revenue share will be cut and redistributed to one that is meeting or beating the expectations/standards. Will this create grade inflation? Will this change the attitude and behavior and expectations of the administrators? How can this affect the education process? Will we be so focused on meeting the new initiatives to make sure we get our money that we will forget about the values and morals of why we are educators? I look for opinions to these questions.
Neil Shnider, MBA, CPA
Executive Director
