Save Our Schools: TSC

Recently, the state of Indiana has had major budget cuts... more specifically, in the Department of Education. This has affected public schools all across the state. So much, in fact, that school districts have had to unexpectedly undergo much larger budget cuts than they were expecting. One of the corporations that has seen the most turmoil is Tippecanoe School Corporation (TSC) in Lafayette. Being from Lafayette, this really hits home to me. Although I went to one of the other corporations in Lafayette, this is affecting many of my friends. Last Friday, the school corporation gave out 167 Reduction in Force (RIF) notices. On top of these, they also sent out many Displacement notices to teachers. This is roughly 20% of their teaching staff. Now, let me lay this out for you:
Because of this, the remaining teachers in this corporation will now:
1. Will have much more students in the classroom, depending on the amount of teachers cut in each building/department.
2. Because of the greater amount of students per class, each teacher will have a larger workload at the same pay.
Of course, students don't get any benefit, either. Students will now:
1: Get less courses offered to them most likely, because of the reduction of teachers.
2: Because of the teacher to student ratio, students will not get the attention that he/she deserves or would normally get.
It has also been reported by many students' most appreciated teachers have been cut due to their "lack of experience" while the teachers with tenure and don't seem to show much interest have stayed.
What is this showing our students? That just because someone has been there longer automatically means they don't have to worry about losing their job and can just give up? I don't think we need to be showing our future this at all. The people that do their job and do it well should be the ones that stay, regardless of how long they've been there. Also, with teachers that don't give a crap, there will be more students that will begin to think, "Well, my teacher doesn't care, so why should I?"
Now, don't get me wrong. I'm certain that there are teachers that have been teaching for a long time and still remain to be great teachers and inspiration to their students. And I'm certain there are some bad newer teachers as well. But think about it. Parents generally want the best for their children. This is definitely not the best option for them, at all.
The corporation could have handled the money situation a lot better than they did. They went to an extreme with this one. They were advised not to cut teachers, and what did they do? Just that. Almost all of the cuts they are implementing are directly effecting the students, with the cutting of teachers, courses, and programs that have a large amount of students participate. This is not the student's fault, so why must we directly punish them? That's right, we shouldn't.
Both of the high schools in this corporation are also in the process of adding a new wing to the building. Unfortunately, the need for new classrooms has now been basically depleted, since there will be less teachers to fill the classrooms. Plus, think of the cost of adding a brand new wing to a school. Yeah, it's no where near cheap. Imagine how many jobs could be saved if the new wing was not built or postponed. The only problem with this solution is where it falls in the funds. The building funds falls in a completely different budget, and as of now, it is not allowed to transfer money from one budget to another. If this was allowed, who knows if they would even consider it...
I really hope this school corporation gets their act together. They have been a great asset to our community and have generally been seen positively in the public eye. I would really hate to see them go down the tubes, so to speak.

I'm not asking for much. All I ask for is for the students in this school system get the education and attention they deserve. After all, these children will be the ones to lead us someday.
If you are interested in learning more about this, please follow these links:
Save Our Schools: TSC facebook group!
Cuts Begin for TSC Sports Programs
Programs pay fee to use TSC facilities
Facebook Page Could Help Schools
Also, here is proof that this is happening in other states as well:
Kansas City, MO, closing nearly half its schools