Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard says he is creating a steering committee to help rethink and bring rigor to art and music education throughout the district.
City School Board members and Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard listened to another round of protests last night from about 30 parents, students, and teachers regarding the 2009-2010 budget.
The budget, which has already been approved by the School Board in a 4 to 3 vote and by City Council in a 7 to 3 vote, will eliminate about 190 teaching positions. Brizard has stated repeatedly that most of the positions will be eliminated through retirement and attrition.
But as many as 88 teachers may not be rehired in the fall.
Parents and students are concerned that fewer teachers will lead to larger classes; School of the Arts students have been particularly vocal.
"The School Board doesn't seem to understand exactly what these cuts will mean," said Katy Rebholz said.
Rebholz, 17, has been a student at SOTA since she was in sixth grade.
"One of the cuts is our social worker," she said. "It is a major loss because she is the only person in the school who can step in and help students in the way that she does."
School Board members, like members of City Council, received a petition with signatures from more than 1,000 people.
Yesterday, Brizard wrote an e-mail to "friends, colleagues and partners of Rochester City Schools" expressing his gratitude to City Council for passing the district's budget.
Concerned about being described as "anti-art," he said that he is creating a steering committee to help rethink and bring rigor to art and music education throughout the district.
He has also frozen the Superintendent's Employee Group's salaries, as well as his own salary, through 2010.
It does not appear, despite this latest round of protests over the budget, that Brizard intends to back away from cutting teaching positions.
To a teaching staff that exceeds 3,000 professionals, the cuts, Brizard said, are minimal and necessary.
Comments for "EDUCATION: More protests over cuts to RCSD teaching positions" (5)
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jw said on Jun. 20, 2009 at 9:16am
Doesn't he realize that just because someone leaves the district or retires that the position he/she held is still not filled??? DUH, that's still a loss of a person and a LOSS OF PROGRAMS! Our kids are being cheated out of a quality education. Don't just freeze you salary, Brizzard!! CUT IT!
Crescenzo Scipione said on Jun. 20, 2009 at 3:46pm
What has been consistently left out of this issue in much of the press it's gotten is that no cuts are necessary at all.
The Rochester City School District received $17.4 million in stimulus money from the Federal Government for the explicit purpose of AVOIDING LAYOFFS! Instead of using this money the way he was supposed to, Brizard has decided to put that money in a bank to sit and collect interest.
And while School of the Arts has been very vocal about this issue, it is not just about arts. The cuts in this budget will actually have a far more detrimental impact on other schools in the district that are less privileged than SOTA to begin with. Fewer teachers = Larger classes. Larger classes = Lower graduation rates. So these cuts will hurt stuent achievement when many schools in the district already have very low graduation rates. The RCSD graduation rate is 52% (including the high numbers from SOTA and School Without Walls, and Wilson) and these budget cuts can only make things worse. This is a very simple truth to understand. Mr. Brizard understands this, he simply doesn't seem to care about it.
And this business about a steering committee for music and art is nothing more than a political placation designed to make him look better in the hopes that students and parents will back off and forget about this issue. The ONLY solution to this issue is to take the $17.4 million that's sitting in a bank right now collecting interest and use it to restore the cut teaching jobs. This is the objective, plain and simple. No middle ground, no compromise.
Chiara said on Jun. 21, 2009 at 11:56am
I am worried, too, about how the loss of elementary school music and arts programs will negativly effect School of the Arts. An auditioning 6th grader needs to have skill and potential in their art form to get in. We students at SOTA pride ourselves in being one of the most diverse schools. With these cuts, I envision a more segregated SOTA. I fear that a student's economic status may be a discriminating factor in the audition process. If there are not sufficient arts programs at the elementary school leval, I feel like it will be the students who take private lessons getting into SOTA, not an economically and socially well rounded group of individuals. I fear SOTA becoming more segregated in the years to come, and that is not okay. All students, in high school AND elementary school, deserve the opportunity to participate in a school-based art and music program that is well developed and well funded. The students at SOTA will tell you that arts help bring our community together, and we now see them being stripped away. I sense the disintegration of our school. I wish the City Council, the School Board, and the community at large would realize the perilous reprocussions of that.
Jill said on Jun. 24, 2009 at 10:42am
I too am worried about SOTA with the loss of elementary school music and art. These programs help develop the mind and help the students use different parts of their brains, thus aiding in their academic studies. I agree that the cuts in the lower grades will adversely affect the students' auditioning potential for SOTA. IN addition, I fear for all the district schools in the short-term, but more so in the long-term, because these cuts will actually LOWER student performance, and increase behavioral issues. We should all watch two upcoming programs on WXXI -TV channel 21 Wed. June 24 9 p.m.: The Music Instinct: Science and Song, and Tuesday, June 30 8 p.m.: NOVA - Musical Minds. Both programs will cover music's affect on the brain and the mind. Perhaps we should encourage Mr. Brizard and the School Board members to watch the programs as well.
inside track said on Jun. 29, 2009 at 11:57am
i have been over and over this. i am affected. i have the inside track. wanna hear the funny thing??? the district is HIRING!!!!! roberts wesleyan grads RIGHT NOW under open contracts. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is the verified truth.
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