Re: School District Cuts

[ltrwritr@moscow.com (Mark Rounds)]

Ms Jordan, and other visionaries:

I wanted to write you and thank you for your comments regarding the proposed
school cuts.  As a parent, I am anything but bored with this subject.

 I think that Moscow wants to support and do well by its teachers, as
evidenced by the comments I have heard/read.  My personal opinion is that
the levy failed so miserably because there is a lack of trust in the
administration.    The bus garage, air conditioned administration offices,
and Joseph Street playing fields have all been unpopular with those to whom
I have spoken. They appear to  serve as evidence of misplaced spending when
salaries for teachers are static, at best,  and school buildings are
woefully inadequate.  

In Ron Force's letter, I noted the number of administrators has doubled
while the number of teachers has increased approximately 10%.  I think the
comments by Betsy Goodman about the number of students per CLASSROOM teacher
are appropriate and serve to enlighten an area of misinformation.  

Has anyone read the outcome of the survey taken by the school district
earlier this spring?  Were the comments about district administration
totally supportive, or did they reflect the outcome evidenced by the levy?  

I am also confused about the proposal to close West Park.    Early this year
I heard the proposal to close Russell, and then the proposal to close both
West Park and Russell and build a new school large enough to accomodate the
students from both.  Is our enrollment now down enough that we need to
eliminate those classrooms?  Or are we sacrificing academic ability, class
size,  and classrooms in favor of other things such as administration and
athletics?

Thanks again for all the consideration, and discussion.  It helps to hear
different viewpoints, and to know this is not an `abandoned' issue!  Susan
Rounds