Let’s consolidate and save education dollars | LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Published 11:39 am Saturday, July 21, 2012

To the editor:

Every year around June/July schools in Kitsap County contemplate cuts in education: “BI school district looking at cuts …”

During the 2010/11 school year a teacher with a BA and 30 additional credits made $43,635.

During the years 2012/13, the pay was reduced to $42,806.

Rather than nickel and dime the working staff into poverty, I would like to see the Kitsap school administrators and school boards to work toward real savings and radical changes: Combine all school districts within the 23rd Legislative District into one school district, one administration, with one superintendent; keep the existing school board if deemed necessary.

Washington is balkanized into 295 independent school districts, 295 administrations, 295 superintendents, 295 physical offices. Is that really necessary? Is a teacher’s teaching affected by how many supervisors he/she has? How are European or Korean schools structured and taught?

We spend 40 percent of our education dollar on administration. That seems much too high. Again, what is the ratio in other industrialized nations?

JAMES BEHREND

Bainbridge Island