WHY YOU SHOULD ATTEND THE OCT 16 SCHOOL BOARD MEETING by Tom and Ronit Mecham Oct 14. 2012 | Comments (2)
Why Are We Here at The School Board Meeting? (Oct 16 parent's speech)
(Why You Should Attend The School Board Meeting to Support Reinstatement of Suzuki)
We are here for two good reasons:
One - 'We The People' have a voice. We are here to protect this voice. This petition represents about 300 potential voters. A relevant fact. We are here to claim this power.
The Jamestown Board of Education was "chosen" by only 500 voters. This is the number of concerned residents who actually came out to vote for the existing board!
Music supporters gathered 300 signatures in 2 weeks. This volume speaks VOLUMES. The simple translation of this number is that this group of music supporters has in fact undeniable power to change things dramatically in the way education is carried out in Jamestown. Because there is power behind music and arts in this community it should be reflected in all decisions taken regarding music and arts in public schools. It will be best to take care of music and arts from within the administration. We are calling for music and art supporters to ENTER the administration in all it's levels in any positions of power TO PROTECT AND DEFEND MUSIC AND ART in Jamestown. This is the long term goal for all of us petitioners.
But in the immediate NOW we are here to show resistance to the unreasonable decision the administration have taken cutting Suzuki, a vital music program, out of the curriculum.
Our second reason to stand before the Board is to show clear analysis regarding the Bad Case of Suzuki.
We are here to claim that the Suzuki program was compromised a while ago. Mrs. Nina Karbacka fought it. She could not stop the plan to drain it and we were told we have NO CHANCE. We received advice to not mention Suzuki. Some said the administration prepared for it by cutting out all Suzuki teachers in advance and there are no certified teachers currently in the system. Some said there is no budget. We were told they didn't want to raise taxes. Some said there is money from foundations waiting to be put to arts and music programs in the schools if only the Board asked for it. Some said that we are tied to state budgets and mandates and so forth. Some said the administration would not listen because they work for the global plan to deliberately dumb down America, some said the program didn't produce any prominent stars, did not have much success, that one music teacher can teach, instead of thirty Suzuki students, hundreds of students - the recorder!.. we heard a lot..
All of it is nonsense to us.
So how come the plan to take down Suzuki went forward.. How come it did manage to OVERRIDE many residents' wish?
The main justifier is budget restraints! They say they had to cut it out because of budget restraints. We are here to prove it is NOT budget.
Here are the numbers, judge it for yourself:
According to the administration, the TOTAL School Budget for 2012-2013 is 76 MILLION DOLLARS. The total savings by cutting Suzuki out is 65-70 thousand dollars according to the administration treasurer.. less than one hundredth of one percent. Who are we kidding?
Budget cut of this minuscule size WILL save a community from a financial crisis?
This amount of money does NOT represent a real cut but DOES create REAL damage! Anyone can see.. kind of an upside down investment.. which just makes you wonder further.. WHO are the minds that calculate and plan for us?
If someone in power makes decisions that bring about real damage but no real cure for the problem - He/she/they are in treason.
We are here representing about 300 individuals in the district who would like their representatives to support good programs in the district.
We ask the Board of Education to accept our power as a group of individuals who see great benefit in the Suzuki program in Elementary age. We ask the Board of Education to grant our wish to reinstate the Suzuki program in K to 4th grade in Jamestown Elementary Schools effective immediately.
We ask people in the community who can see the benefits of great programs in the young age to step forward and advocate it to the School Administration.
The long term goal of the Jamestown Board of Education and concerned residents should be adopted today, to add more good programs to the curriculum:
Shakespeare Reading and Drama for K to 4th Grade
Astronomy, Nature and Science for K to 4th Grade
Arts Ceramics and Sculpturing K to 4th Grade
Dance from Ballet to Modern for K to 4th Grade
Chess Club for K to 4th Grade
All belong in good education system.
There is money out there waiting to be tied to and granted for music, the arts and other educational purposes. The Board of Education is the entity which has the responsibility and communication lines to harvest and harness these funds. Let's go to work!
And if the argument is: we are tied by "State" budget, mandates and so forth.. then there is major untying to be done. Disconnect from any entity that gives us money but ties our hands and prevents us from implementing programs we cherish.
We are expecting change soon.
We would like to ask the board to please notify us soon of their decision to reinstate the Suzuki program to it's original format.
Thank you,
Tom and Ronit Mecham
Parents of Aaron and Boaz Mecham,
First Grade students, Fletcher Elementary in Jamestown
We dont want any more cuts in our childrens education, enough is enough our children deserves better
I have not checked in here for a while as I thought it was getting boring, but the last few posts are great quality so I guess Iˇll add you back to my everyday bloglist. You deserve it my friend :)