<p>So is anyone else having major budget cut issues in their schools? Not even budget cuts issues but maybe even changing in schedules and stuff (Like the 4x4??) I like in Northern Virginia and we're having some MAJOR budget cuts in my county and many many teachers will be laid off. Here are some of the things our superintendent is proposing to do next year:</p>
<p>-Students will have to pay $92 per IB/AP/Cambridge exam
8[I will be SO SCREWED, as I am a Diploma Candidate for IB next year and have 6 exams to take.]
-$100 to play high school sports, $50 for middle school sports
-Elimination of transfer busses for transfer students
*[EXCEPT those who go to TJHSST...not fair]
-$200 for a parking permit
*[Right now it's $100, last year it was $50, the year before $30...]
-Elimination of road and range
-Elimination of many teaching positions
*[career consulers, kindergarten aides, etc.]</p>
<p>And the list goes on...it's so sad though. The fact that we now have to buy our education. I'm afraid I won't be able to go to a good college now if I have to pay for these many things. Anyone else having these problems in their county?</p>
<p>Besides the teaching positions you mentioned, none of that is that bad. Most schools don’t subsidize the cost of the exams, and a lot of schools have activity fees anyway to help contribute to the cost of activities, including my own, and they have for awhile. The $200 dollars for a parking permit sounds quite expensive, but if you live in a busing district, and the school is already spending all that money to bring you to school and back each day, then it’s your problem if you want to drive so badly. What’s road and range? Do these cuts actually reduce the number of services or opportunities available to students? It doesn’t sound like it does so in that bad of a way, so you are pretty lucky.</p>
<p>I consider myself lucky too, there were state funding cuts in NJ, but my school board had been doing a really good job of keeping a tight budget over the past few years. We have lost a few positions so far, but none that directly affect the quality of our education. They still have a small budget gap to fill. But school districts operate a lot differently in NJ than they do in VA, here, every town has their own school system and you don’t get to pick where you go to school (I’ve heard that in VA there are specialty schools?).</p>
<p>Yeah we have huge cuts here in NJ because of our Republican governor -.- What’s worse is our county is one of the worst ones hit. Our funding is now reduced by a lot and there’s a high chance that our taxes are increased to the max. We’ll probably also have to pay like $30 just to join a school club now or $100 for a sport. And our school’s probably going to be freezing all the time because they have to cut back on gas bills. <em>sigh</em> yup, thanks so much gov. christie. -.-</p>
<p>Our school is set to make a ton of major cuts next year because my moronic school district has depleted all their funds to the point where the state is yelling at them to save money before they get their butts kicked. (woo run on)</p>
<p>Thankfully, I will be graduating so it hardly affects me!</p>
<p>Actually, your situation doesn’t seem too terrible; you’re not actually buying your education until you have to pay to enter actual classes themselves. Just because you have to pay for sports or parking does not mean that you are now “buying” your education.</p>
<p>We’ve got huge budget cuts here in Nevada, and yet my school still found a way to spend >100k on Smartboards which the teachers don’t use. So i could care less about budget cuts, won’t stop me from becoming educated.</p>
<p>I heard my district is going to stop paying for AP exams, which is not a good thing, considering the level of poverty in my district. I’m expecting a huge drop AP participation.
I’m crossing my fingers that I get a job/paid internship this summer, or I’m screwed.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, this just has to happen right before my junior year.</p>
<p>Well as for the NJ state funding cuts, I know it’s really hard on everyone, but the bottom line is that there is no money. While it would be better if the state could just keep giving schools all the money they need, it is better that they stop and do something about it sooner rather than later. Local taxes will go up, but maybe the state will actually be able to have a budget that can be afforded and we won’t have to deal with government shutdowns and the like. And besides, if I were a taxpayer, I’d be much happier to pay higher local taxes to my municipality than to see my state income tax increased, because I’d get to see my tax dollars benefiting people in my immediate surroundings, not getting lost in random bureaucracy.</p>
<p>Omg, smart boards are like useless, i seriously don’t understand why we need to waste hundreds of thousands of dollars on them. They sometimes don’t even work. A white board and projector is more sufficient. My district is wasting all our money on this lame contraption. Smart boards are basically virtual white boards.
Mike1234, you sound like you’re from a wealthier district, but in mine, I don’t think people are very happy that they’d have to pay the maximum tax rate and the very high property taxes. Most ppl in my district leave once their kids graduate because of these high taxes.</p>
<p>My district is also going to have to take the 4% maximum increase this year, and people are unhappy, especially since our property taxes are extremely high too… as with most of NJ. But while I think high property taxes are another important issue to take care of, right now the money has to come from somewhere, and personally, I just feel like if I were paying taxes, I’d rather have the money I pay managed by a mayor and superintendent who I know are very tight about everything, instead of giving more money to state government that hasn’t done right with the money I would have already paid. So I think this is a good approach. Though I do understand in the long run well managed state services can be more efficient instead of a million different police forces and school districts covering a few miles, this is just how I feel about things given the situation right now… well managed consolidation could result in lower property taxes in the future.</p>
<p>Wow, my school’s cutbacks seem like nothing compared to yours. The entire school district has cut 3 days (no pay) from the remainder of the current school year. They’re going to cut one administrator from each school and pink slip a bunch of teachers/librarians. Summer school’s gone except for P.E.-- changed to online classes. Bus prices have gone up way high. Nothing isn’t really known yet.</p>