Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor,
Since I started kindergarten, I was constantly informed how important staying in school was. No matter how tough the work got, stay focused and graduate. Teachers, to my knowledge as an elementary school kid, were like gods. They seemed to know everything, and with each day, my horizons were broadened. However, I never had the chance to resist schooling. There was no such thing, in my family, as quitting school and not doing my best. Education was the key to becoming successful in life. Yet if this is true, why is education the first thing to be cut during the process of creating the state’s yearly budget? Education should not be the state’s first target when cutting the budget down because these young kids are our future. Success had become harder to reach, and for once, the kids are not to blame.
When reading the Northern Star, I stumbled across an article regarding the education cuts happening throughout Illinois. The article “Programs Cut to Help Balance the Budget”, by Thomas Verschelde, focuses mainly on the programs being cut in the Sycamore School District 427. But in the bigger picture, according to WQAD,” from preschool to high school there will be a 4.3 percent cut, which equals about $11 million”. With that, an estimated 17,000 teachers are expected to lose their jobs, according to the Huffington Post. Not only will a number of staff be cut, but also after school programs. I feel that after school programs are the easiest target for the Board of Education to cut, because they may not seem as important as the general education classes. However, as class sizes begin to increase, how will students receive that individual help they need?

I personally relate to this article because I work at Sycamore Middle School for a program called Teen REACH. Every day after school, the kids which participate in this program receive help on their homework and have a chance to obtain the help they may need in a particular subject. The proof of these students’ success is directly through their grades. They all show improvement, whether it’s a slow or immediate progression. How is this program, along with others that are similar to this in other schools, not important enough to keep? There is no way for a child to excel if they are left behind at day one.
However, I understand that several things were taken into consideration when planning for the new year. Education isn’t the only thing taking a hit. Income tax is expected to rise, along with a spending cut in Human Services and the Health Department, according to the Sunshine Review. But where are all of these cuts leading to? Hopefully a debt free America, which looks highly unlikely in the near future. “There are signs that state finances will start to stabilize after next year, but recovery will be slow.” (Center on Budget and Policy Priorities) Governor Pat Quinn shouldn’t necessarily be our first target. Illinois is clearly doing everything they can to pull us out of our $13 billion deficit, according to MSNBC.