balling on a budget

So...the school district had its presentation of the preliminary fiscal year 2010 budget tonight and it's not too pretty. It is no secret that the economy is down everwhere and nowhere is that more evident than in municipalities across the country. Locally, the governor announced that there will be substantial cuts to local aid from the state, and despite any hopeful economic stimulus packages (read: bailout money for schools) it's gonna get uglier before it gets prettier.

For me, I've been a bit anxious myself as all the news has been circling in terms of layoffs, recession, and such. I know several folks close to me have had to bear the bad news of getting the proverbial boot. Personally, I love my job and the variety and challenge it offers. I'd prefer if my small department was left alone to continue doing the work we do to expose students to STEM careers and opportunities. But I ain't no dummy. Everything's on the table, son. pretty.

The preliminary budget recommendation lists a reductions in staff of an estimated 917 full-time equivalents. Damn ain't even the word. Principals are stressing. Teachers are stressing. Employees and administrative staff are stressing. And students and parents are stressing as well. As both an employee and a parent, I wear two hats in all of this. We had a Parent Council meeting this morning and the budget obviously dominated the conversation. Hopefully, being such a small school will work in our favor to limit the impact on my son and his fellow schoolmates, yet risk aversion is one scary, hairy b!tch. Even with the school closings already in progress for next year, there's no telling what the future may hold. Hell, we had to do our own petitioning just to get some information about when they were going to re-open the neighboring pool. Simply doing things in silo won't work alone. Expanding the number of zones from 3 to 5 and reducing transportation costs are just the tip of the iceberg.

Anyways, I just felt the need to quasi-vent and quasi-pontificate about this economy stuff. Trickle-down economics ain't no joke, yo. I'll have the resume ready for rapid fire if I need to dust it off and holla at some folks, ya dig? Regardless, we gonna keep pushing our agenda to stimulate and capture the attention and minds of youth interested in careers in technology. They are our future change leaders who will inherit our mistakes if we don't step up our game to do right by them. Speaking of which, I ran into Sister Tina today and she did he usual wowing of the crowd with a very inspirational and motivation speech about her son and the Peace Institute. I didn't know she'd be there, but it was goood to see her as always. We spoke briefly, but essentially the young professionals have to be more proactive in addressing the issues and concerns of our community. Whether it is related to the schools, politics, business development, or public safety; we cannot afford to keep resting on our laurels. I've seen a lot of great energy lately (from friends, co-workers, and stranges alike) and I've been burning the oil on several personal projects of mine (entrepreneurship, politics, board service, education, & photography), so here's to a 2009 full of substance and impact. Word.