The history of educating children began with a simple concept, the teachers, the students, the schoolhouse.
Over the years, other supporting services have been added, such as the cafeteria, the school bus, administrative staff, but the nucleus in educating boys and girls has remained the same. And that is how it should be, after all, you cannot have school without students and teachers, but you can without a central office.
So for us, the teachers and school employees of the Caddo Federation; when we see the school house is not the priority of our school board and our administration, when we see budget cuts and employee reductions are focused on the school house while ignoring other areas, when decisions being made are not legally sound, we are obligated to speak out.
When we see a school board and an administration make cuts that we believe impact quality public education while at the same time refuse to avail themselves of funding sources such as the property tax roll forward which would impact a homeowner with a $150,000 home an average $38 per year and the majority of homeowners much less, while adding over $5 million to our general fund, well, we find that unconscionable.
We at the federation believe that the opportunity for a quality public education is a civil right, a human right.
After all, public education is the publics' education. All community members are impacted by its success or failure. So when the decision makers lose sight of the most important factors in providing it, we believe it is time to stand up. We hope you do too.
I'm Jackie Lansdale, President of the Caddo Federation of Teachers.
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