In the wake of the economic downturn, educational systems in the 50 states have been facing dramatic cuts or reform, or both. In Kansas City last week, the school board there narrowly approved a measure (5-4) to close nearly half of that district’s schools in an effort to consolidate and reduce a projected $50 million shortfall. The approved plan calls for closing 29 of the district’s 61 schools. About 700 of the district’s 3,000 jobs, including 285 teachers, are expected to be cut.
I don’t know if it is because I have reached a certain age and look back over a longer sweep of time, or because my children have reached a certain age and I see things differently through their eyes, but I’ve really begun to notice how much things change. I’m only 45 years old, but more and more when I tell my 6- and 8-year-olds about scenes from my childhood I find myself having to explain how things were back then.
By April 15, more than two-thirds of Vermont households will have filed an application for an income sensitivity adjustment to their property taxes. The income sensitivity program is one of the fastest growing parts of the state budget, and probably cannot be sustained in its current form much longer.
There are four Canada geese on the opposite side of Otter Creek as I write this, standing on the tiny frozen edge of what was once an enormous sheet of ice. They look fat and proud of themselves, having weathered another winter and made it home to Vermont.
I’d like to report that these happy harbingers of spring have brightened my day, as they so optimistically survey their warming domain and search for nesting sites.
But I can also peer out the window and, in addition to the geese, see my snowboard lying forlornly on the deck in the 50-degree sunshine.
