Story Published:
Apr 22, 2010 at 1:45 PM CST
Story Updated:
Apr 22, 2010 at 6:58 PM CST
In a series of Town Hall meetings that conclude tonight at Avery Trace Middle School in Cookeville, Director of Schools Kathleen Airhart is creating dialogue around the continuing budget deficits facing Putnam County Schools. On Tuesday night Airhart addressed a group of concerned parents at Burks Middle School in Monterey.
According to Director Airhart:
- The average expenditure per child for one year of education nationally is $11,000 per child.
- In Putnam county, the average amount spent per student is $7,300 per child.
- Tennessee ranks in bottom 4 or 5 in annual money spent per student in the nation.
- Of the 137 school districts, Putnam County ranks 75th in the state in terms of funding.
Airhart pointed out that in spite of this....“Putnam Countians get bang for the buck. We don’t have the best funding in the state, but my goodness, we have the best scores in the state. We sit in the top 7 in the state for ACT scores, and that’s the ultimate measurement of what students do in our county."
Indicating her belief that these results are a reflection on the teachers in the classroom, Airhart said that she’d attended a meeting with school administrators from all over the country. Many are facing what Putnam County has already faced, and some have made even more severe cuts in their programs.
She said the arts, particularly music and art classes, were prime targets for being cut as well as athletics.
“It would absolutely change how we have education in Putnam County.” said Airhart.
Expressing regrets at what may be in the future, Airhart said that she can’t find any more cuts.
She said that no additional headcount of teachers had been hired in the past three years…even though the student population for the county has grown by 600 children. That level of growth should have equalled an addition of 20-30 teachers across the system.
In addition, the state government has passed new laws around tenure. Historically, after a teacher attains tenure, they would be evaluated a total of two times in the next ten years.
According to the new law, every teacher will receive principal evaluation once per year.
Airhart contends that the principals would be very taxed for time under this system, so Putnam County, along with all the other school systems, are trying to determine the best way to comply with this law without handcuffing principals.
Another change will be lack of new textbooks. Historically, $800,000 per year were spent on text books.
Two years ago, this was cut to $600,000 per year, and last year it was cut to $400,000 per year.
Airhart then contended that in spite of lack of funding, lack of adequate books, lack of teachers the state has mandated significantly higher standards for standardized test scores.
For instance, what used to be in math in 5th grade, is now being taught in 3rd grade.
Given the looming budget issues, Airhart and School Board members will be challenged to find new solutions in the coming year and our community may be challenged to reconsider some of the ways that education happens in Putnam County.
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