Thrown Under The Proverbial Bus

Not that this is in any way shocking, but the school budget was voted in last night at $23,299,685 rather than the $24,392,387 that the school committee was recommending. Not only is the voted in amount less than last year, it is less than the previous year and $2,000,000 less than what would be needed to carry over level services from the current year to next. What does that mean? It means that many of the currently in place programs will NOT BE CARRIED OVER in to the coming year. It also means that the additional programs will be cut.

To really sum it up for you?

It means, that once again, the kids are getting screwed.

The $24,392,387 number was the number in place for the current fiscal year. Even if that number had been voted in, cuts would still have been made (just like everything else in the world the cost of doing things at a school increases from year to year).

As someone at last night's meeting said, in this time of cutting back and what is being referred to as "fiscal responsibility" the kids are being the ones asked to "bite the bullet."

Someone else put in to words, quite nicely, exactly how I feel about those who voted this $24,392,387 budget down:

"I don't know how you can look at yourselves in the mirror."

I left the meeting so aggravated that when I got home at midnight and tried to sleep I was tossing and turning to the point that I didn't fall asleep until almost 2am.

I think it is pathetic that the children of this town have to suffer because of the f'ing people in charge just don't give a damn.