Public should be involved in cuts at our schools

To the editor:

While Cape Girardeau School District superintendent Mark Bowles should be commended for his attempts at fiscal responsibility, I disagree with two aspects of the current cost-cutting process.

First, we are too quick to undercut the most integral point in the educational process: the teacher-student relationship. When you increase the student-teacher ratio, education suffers. Bowles asserts we are not reducing staff. But by next fall the high school social studies department will have lost a position and a half. It is also my understanding that some elementary positions are going unfilled. Attrition is still staff reduction, and staff reduction in the classroom weakens education. Classroom educators know this is true. Meanwhile, a position is being added to the district administrative staff.

Second, cuts that affect educational quality should be discussed specifically and publicly. The community should not be excluded from the debate over whether or not to reduce fine arts instruction at the middle school, stop offering advanced-placement government courses or increase class sizes throughout the district. Perhaps district patrons would rather sell the beautifully furnished new board office and house the district administration in a trailer behind one of our schools instead of increasing the size of their children's classes.

If we are indeed "the premier school district in the region," then we must lead by example. We must show that it is possible to cut costs without weakening the integrity of the student-teacher relationship or excluding the community from the decision-making process.

DARYL FRIDLEY

Cape Girardeau