Texas public schools are facing budget cuts as much as 10 billion dollars in state funding.
There has been many teacher layoffs already. Classroom sizes have expanded, in the number of students per teacher/classroom. Programs that have low attendance are being done away with at many schools.
But what about high school athletics?
Well nothing is safe from budget cuts, not even athletics, especially football. That is hard to hear especially here in Texas where high school football is a sacred past time.
In Texas a recently changed law allows students who play an after school sport to receive class credit for practicing during school hours.
If a child during the school day has an athletic period and the district decides to eliminate the sport they are in, the child must still go somewhere right? That means using additional resources and finding extra teachers for all of these children.
If you have 100 student athletes and one coach and then eliminate that sport, you will need at least four additional teachers to handle that many students. Where do you teach these students? They are used to being on the playing field and now will need to be moved to classrooms. Classrooms that are not available without overloading teachers with too many students.
So are you really saving money by cutting athletics in high schools?
In 2009-10 school year about 24% of districts general operating expenses were spent on extra-curricular activities, including athletics. That comes out to be about $157 per student. Now lets compare that to the $787 per student in academic support programs for underachieving children. There was $274 per student spent on bilingual and ESL education.
Districts are having to cut back on travel and equipment expenses as well as stipends for coaches. Some districts are investigating how to generate more revenue through sporting events. Football is the only sport that is self sustaining. The problem with that is that the money that football generates does not get put back into football completely. The money goes into a general fund to be used equally across the board. Doesnt seem all that fair that one sport makes the most contributions to the general fund and only gets a small amount of that fund to use.
Some districts are considering charging fees for equipment and uniforms as an option. But schools will have to waive these fees for students who cannot afford them. In Texas where almost 60% of students qualify as economically disadvantaged.
As for eliminating programs, schools have to be very careful to make sure they do not violate TITLE IX. TITLE IX prohibits the discrimination on the basis of sex educational programs and activities including sports. They cannot create inequalities. Everything must be fair across the board. So what happens to one sport must happen to all sports.
In Florida in 2009 a group of parents sued a school district when the high school sports assoc. reduced the number of games scheduled for all sports except football. The parents won a large out of court settlement.
So what will cutting sports in high school mean? Hopefully not alot.
It is disappointing that our students have been so poorly directed that they think that education is dull and unattainable and that only sports can provide enough excitement to justify continuing with school.
Saying that high school athletic programs give a student a opportunity to got to college is very deceiving. Only about 1% of all high school athletes go on to play in college. Of that 1% only 1% actually make sports a professional career.
Athletics are important, but they have become the end and not a means. Everyone needs a productive life, that is attainable by challenging every student to the limits of their mental capabilities.
This is very hard for me because I am a former high school and collegiate athlete. I can honestly say that the only reason I had any educational success in either high school or college was due to the sport I was playing. That was a big mistake on my part. There is a place for sports in high school and that place should always come right after education.
Athletics do provide such things as discipline, teamwork, the ablility to work through adversity. But so does every day life if we teach our kids correctly. What I do feel that our society and school system forgets to establish in our youth is a sense of pride. Take pride in everything you do from playing a sport to writing a school paper, to cleaning your car. If you put pride into everything you do then satisfaction is easily found within ones self. The beauty of that is child/young adult experiences that self satisfaction they will want that feeling again and again, no matter what they are doing. So lets start teaching our youth to take alittle more pride in their education and maybe that will be the satisfaction and excitement they need to continue with their schooling.
Please tell me what you think of the cut backs or the whole student athlete concept...Any opinion is a good opinion being silent is like being dead..be alive and say what you think L2
13 comments:
Don't forget the social interaction that comes with playing sports. I'm not a social butterfly, I needed sports to break the ice. Once I was in, I felt like part of a team, I felt needed, like I had a purpose in life. I also met many students whom I would not have been aquainted with if it weren't for athletics. Kids from all over the spectrum who would have never met if it wasn't for a common interest in a sport. I met many students whom I call dear friends even after all of these years. We are telling parents that your child needs to get off the couch and exercise but what are we telling them if we cut athletics at school? School athletics practice 5 days a week while outside recreational sports are 2-3 days max. Athletics teaches more than the actual sport, it teaches teamwork, motivation and drive to excel in anything you do. It also promotes good work ethic which will follow them throughout their entire adult life. I know they will probably not do away with all school athletics, but even the smallest of cutbacks will cost society in the long run...
@Deanna thank you for your comment i appreciate you being a follower and a contributor to this site..As I stated in the original post I agree that sports gives social interaction teamwork motivation and drive as well as work ethics..And I also agree that I dont want to see athletics cut from high schools.. But where do you draw the line and say that the athletics cannot be more important then the education...Just as you did I used sports for the social aspect of it and I played organized sports from middle school thru high school and into college..but you know where I really learned all those things that we stated sports teaches you, the playground outside unsupervised outside of school...you see in my opinion that is where we really learn how to motivate others as well as our selves that is where we learn to overcome adversity that is where striving for greatness really counts...when you are unsupervised and doing because you want to and not being told/coached to..yes i believe we need to tell our children to get off the couch or rocker and off the ipod and go outside..sports in school is every 5 days for maybe 40 mins a day so using for any type of exercise is really not working as well as I believe in school sports only the really good athletes are really putting out 100% effort and everyone else is just coasting..maybe Im wrong there....I am so glad to hear from someone with a different view then me...I am open minded and love hearing different views so I may become alittle more educated everyday. L2
@ACE KILLJOY thank you for your comment we appreciate you following our site..I have alot of respect for your wife for being a teacher it is one of the most underpaid over critized jobs in America. This country has a huge problem they keep talking about creating more and more jobs to boost our economy but at the same time they keep cutting education and teachers..What kind of jobs are we creating? It sounds like they will be low paying jobs that an education is not needed to perform them. Here in Texas a possible 100,000 teaching jobs could be lost. Now there are about 330,000 teachers in the state of Texas. That is 1/3 of Texas teachers could be out of work. Not good. As for other countries turning out pro athletes without spending a fortune in sports education that is true but...In alot of oversees countries when a student at a young age is determined to be gifted at a certain sport they are sent to specialized training facilities..You see those countries dont have to put money into school athletics because once a child has been designated as "potenial" they are trained. Here in the States we currently use High Schools and Unviersities/Colleges as our farm systems to the pros. We do not tag "potential" children or even really develop gifted athletes we kind of hope they just show up out of nowhere..Like I said I hope they do not cut sports out of schools but I must put education ahead of it..I think of a number of different places to make cuts from..That is another blog entirely L2
So I missed the last couple of days and decided to read them... Didnt think I was going to have anything to say on this one but turns out I do! I don't think ANY funding for schools should be cut anywhere. My father in laws wife actually got her job taken away from her a few years back because she was an art teacher and they decided that that should be taught in the classroom by the homeroom teachers, yet decided to keep music and now thats her job... who said one is more important than the other? With athletics, I LOVED being able to be a part of basketball and drillteam. My Mother was a single mother and we didn't have much money for outside sports. I got to play basketball in middle school becaure it was funded. In highschool drillteam there were a lot of funds she had to pay so I could participate and thank God my grandparents were there to help out. ( they also paid for dance recitals and lessons) One thing I DO remember was that we had to keep our grades up in order to participate. Education always was first to my coaches and to my Mom. If I didnt do good in school the things I LOVED most would be taken away from me. I remember not getting to go to practice bc I would skip homework or didnt do so well on a test and when my Mother would find out she wouldnt let me go, instead I got to stay home and study extra! YEAH! I loved the social aspect too and thru the sports I was involved in I got to meet friends(who I am still friends with some of them) that were kind of "like" me and interested in the same thing and most of them also cared about their education. Also I have been a single mother and I couldnt afford to but my children in outside sports but we ALWAYS either went to the park, went for walks, runs, played catch, or would go surfing. Exercise has always been important to me and I think its important for our youth also. This also goes back to the whole middle america talk too though bc if you have "money" the kids can be involved in whatever and sometimes are also learning nothing. My kids would LOVE to play everything out there but we cannot do it all and they have choices to make. I think they learn respect & responsibilities and they learn a lot about themselves and what they are capable of. Sorry my post is all over the place but there are so many thought running thru my mind! I love what sports have done for me and for my children and IF they have a coach & parents who truly care about them they can learn so much. I think its the parents responsibility to instill values and morals and education...a good coach will back the parents! If sports are taken away I think the society as a whole would suffer but education should ALWAYS come before them
@Julie thank you for your comment and for following our site..remember we always have something to say about something...First off I am sorry to hear about your mother in law losing her job..I hope she is doing ok...As I have stated before I hope that no cuts are made at all from any school program. I do think I have a solution though..Do you remember elementary school? I do and I remember playing every sport from baseball to football to basketball and soccer even four square...Now do you know that elementary schools have very little invested in school athletics..Why?Because it is what I call intramural, meaning the sports are played at school between the students of that school...You will still get the social aspect the physical aspect as well as still learning all the things that we say sports teach..You would be cutting travel expenses equipment expenses tournament expenses...There would be quite a savings without having to get rid any athletics..Maybe huh who knows..
Looks like an opportunity that private and parochial schools could benefit from. They don't and won't cut their atheletic budgets. These schools already recruit like colleges in some cases, so this is just another bullet for them. Plus if you have traditional powerhouses like a Carroll for example, they have boosters much like colleges as well. So cutting the atheletic budget will only hurt the little guys.
@DRUNKIN SAILOR thank you for the comment...you are absolutely right private schools will not touch their athletic budgets because a lot of their revenue comes from sports and sports fundraisers...They do recruit already and we both know some shady things go on to get their student athletes into their schools...Private schools are very expensive and I have already pointed out 60% of Texas students are economically disadvantaged...so they could not afford to attend these private schools without "help" from so called boosters...ok fine that is what happens all the time you say...well it just proves my point they we are putting athletics in front education those boosters dont care about their education they only care about their athletic performance and now attention they can bring to the school...Odessa Permian ring a bell to anyone...L2
That would be a great idea to do intramural sports in all grade levels... And my kids LOVE 4 square ;)
@Julie thank you for being am avid follower and contributor here...I think intramural sports has some ground to stand on...Think about the savings on all those things I mentioned before that just might have saved your mother in laws job and it could possibly save ACE KILLJOYS wifes job as well...Now I don't want to just pick on athletics because if they were to make them intramural then so would be the debate club math club every other extracurricular activity would have to be intramural...I see a lot of savings there that could be used to keep our educators...L2
Well if we look at our school programs we can tell being educated is na last resort.I dont believe because a kid can read means that kid has an education.I ask kid's all the time what did you learn today and the response is always the same,NOTHING.Now I was a kid and realize now that I should have been more of a student than an athlete.I was a good football player top in my class and I was givin B's for doing nothing on more than once.No pass no fail as Julie pointed out was not always a hard thing to get around.I got lucky and have a great job but I will be honest most of my education came after high school OSU and a couple of trade school's as well but in my field of work.I run into grown men that can barley read every day and they have a diploma.Sad but true.So what is an education is it a diploma?My little girl is 4 years old now and has been in school for 3 years now.I gladly pay for that but wont be able to pay for private school and I have a good paying job.The problem is a huge one that will take some good old fashion protesting or something out of the box,letting a 100 politicans in an office deside what's best for my kids,your kids,Julie's kids,drukin sailors,dieanna's family.I mean it just does not seem fair is the only word that come's to mind.The only thing this country make's these day's is credit,debt,and angry american's.We just simply need to work from a local level and move outward.We the people of the United States.More to come..........
@ACE KILLJOY thank you for you comment and thank for following us here...I agree with you just because you got a diploma does not mean you got an education...I know too many people that can not read or write correctly or they cannot do simple math..and these people graduated in the top half of the class..I too should have been.better student, I was one of those athletes that thought I was going to college and then turn pro in the sport I played...well I went to college on my dime and did not finish my education there. I never went pro in that sport but I did find a decent career. As far don't pass don't play that was at least something but never really worked. The thing really gets me is this....its not our educators or professors or teachers fault. Right now we have a very high right of foreign students coming over and obtaining excellent educations and then taking back with them the education and job they received in the USA...so how do install that drive into our youth?..maybe unknown to everyone but we are starting change right here right now by open discussions...L2
Great blog site. I am trying to catch up with some of the topics. Itnhas come a sad time in our lives to watch or local, state, and federal government deciding what is cut from our children's lives. I was an avid sports nut growing up and cannot imagine my life without sports. It kept me focused and out of trouble growing up. It is also the root of many great memories and great friends. Sports did allow me the ability to afford college and get a degree to then have a career. I am female and was in school when there was not many professional sports for women, which I knew but also used sports to advance my education and lead me to my current career. There was always the argument thatnthe boys sports got more money, better practice times,etc. Education is the groundwork for our future. We have to have teachers to teach, books,and buildings to make it all happen. Sports does supplement the cost of schooling and also adds to the cost. We already have kids who appear less social and have trouble communicating in the real world due to have theirs brains sucked out by constant testing and gaming...... I think taking away sports would only inflate that issue
@Lynn thank you for your comment…take your time catching up we will still be here. It is sad that at this time in our lives it is a take take and more take from our government with very little given back. Now budget cuts are nothing new in the business world and lets be honest public schools, even though they are publicly funded, are businesses. Like any other business you have to figure out the best places to cut from to save the most money and you must decide what you must invest in order to improve your business. I feel that that cutting teachers wages as well as cutting teaching positions while trying to explore ways to gain capital off of sports is a horrible business move. We just established that public schools are businesses and they are funded by tax payer dollars. So dont the tax payers get to decide where to cut from and what to keep? After all it is our BUSINESS...But that is just my opinion..As far as sports giving you the ablility to pay for college and then get your degree I commend you on that..but you are not the norm, most student athletes in high school do not get that oppurtunity..As I pointed out earlier only 1% of student athletes in high school go on to play in college on some kind of scholarship..Now for those that know me I am very much a sports oriented person and I do not wish sports to be cut out but I would like to see a different way of funding them..High school sports in general actually do not supplement the schools income at. Take track and field or golf or diving those sports bring almost no revenue at all..Now the big three football baseball and basketball? Maybe one of the three actually makes money..I agree with you the we do have too many kids that are less social and hard time communicating in the real world..but sports are not the answer to that problem they maybe a tool to help but they are not the answer..the answer comes from parents family members teachers and friends communicating about everything… I say we keep sports in schools but we need to find a way to fund them without hurting the education side of school…L2
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