In the recent school merger, there have been numerous cuts in the budget causing many Shelby County employees to lose their jobs. At Houston High School, many clerical workers and teachers have already been notified that they will not be returning to work next year. As a student body, let's help save some of these positions and let the school board know that the best school in Shelby County cannot function properly without these staff members.

Across the globe, the concept of education is extremely varied. In some countries, simply literacy is considered an education, while in other countries, only degrees from the most highly respected of institutions merit an education of worth. Within the merger of the MemphisCity and ShelbyCounty schools systems, there are schools that fall within both of these situations. Educational reformation is undoubtedly needed for some of these institutions, however other schools have been able to function with high performance and need little to no reformation within them.  To take these points into consideration, and to reflect upon what is occurring with the Memphis City and Shelby County merger – some establishments that lie under the authority of these school systems are now forced to consider drastic changes to their long successful ways of education. As the students of HoustonHigh School, we will not stand for the decisions of the combined board to dismiss some of our most qualified and effective faculty and staff.

Houston High School is one of the best institutions in the state of Tennessee. Houston is repeatedly listed in numerous news outlets as one of America’s best high schools, and holds numerous awards for academic competitions as well as athletic competitions and records. Houston is able to maintain these various merits due to cooperation and leadership within the student body that is fostered by the knowledge and opportunities granted to us by our teachers. To dismiss some of these educators is to bend to the shallow principle of quantity over quality. In this imperfect world we live in, especially with the mountain of educational obstacles that the whole of the state of Tennessee must overcome, as combined student voices – we deem it wise to hold onto what is already working. That is, we demand to keep our teachers who have proved themselves highly qualified in their fields and have imparted upon us, as students, both knowledge and character, and we demand to keep our counselors and office staff that have dedicated their work to aiding in the educational paths and projects of each student.

As esteemed journalist Walter Cronkite once said, “Whatever the price of an education, the price is cheap compared to that of ignorance.”  We, as students of HoustonHigh School, in the spirit of the great Mark Twain, will not let our schooling (more specifically, in this situation, the school board) interfere with our education.