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Being the cynic that I am, I'm wondering if your Governor is proposing cutting 163 special ed teachers from the next biennial budget as a way for her to "get back" at Hawai'i voters for not giving her the Republican majority she wanted in the State Legislature?
I mean, of all the places to cut, why would she want to cut something as critical as education, and in such a way that could be in violation of a Federal mandate? You can't mainstream all developmentally challenged students, and every child should be entitled to some education.
Why not make cuts in the bureaucracy? Why not try to come up with some creative way to keep funding the special ed programs without having to raise taxes?
We have a similar fight going on up here; enrollment in the Seattle Public Schools is on the decline (even as our population grows) and the school department's budget is deeply in the red, so they are proposing eliminating 20 elementary and junior high schools to save money. What that means is that more kids will have to be bused out of their neighborboods. Not a good idea.
Miulang
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar.../ln/ln03p.html
I mean, of all the places to cut, why would she want to cut something as critical as education, and in such a way that could be in violation of a Federal mandate? You can't mainstream all developmentally challenged students, and every child should be entitled to some education.
Why not make cuts in the bureaucracy? Why not try to come up with some creative way to keep funding the special ed programs without having to raise taxes?
We have a similar fight going on up here; enrollment in the Seattle Public Schools is on the decline (even as our population grows) and the school department's budget is deeply in the red, so they are proposing eliminating 20 elementary and junior high schools to save money. What that means is that more kids will have to be bused out of their neighborboods. Not a good idea.
Miulang
http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/ar.../ln/ln03p.html