Question for public school teachers and administrators...

"using nothing but the current budget restraints" Therein lies the problem. The school districts are doing exactly what the federal government does. They are placing the burden on future generations. The methods are different, but the result is the same. They are paying teachers crap and wasting money on computers, laptop, golf carts, and all sorts of unnecessary garbage that we neither had, nor needed when we were kids. Meanwhile, teachers are given no supplies, not chalk, not paper, not pens or pencils. Oddly enough we DID have all these things when I was younger. So, they stay within the budget by paying teachers crap while promising them these ridiculous pensions that they can't possibly afford, thus laying the debt on future generations. To lay it out, I'd start by going through the books and determining what are we paying for that are NOT necessary and not related to educating. Teachers and students do NOT need laptops at taxpayer expense. If the school has laptops that are bought and paid for, sell them. Review all contracts with vendors for supplies, computers, internet, etc. Check with competitors for better prices. Most government agencies choose vendors based on what they offer, not on what they cost thus allowing their chosen vendor to set ridiculous prices. Some are even dumb enough to TELL the vendor what their maximum allowance is guaranteeing that they will spend that entire allowance. Parents are the real key to educated children. The best teachers in the world are helpless if they have a kid for a few hours and he spends 70% of his day at home watching TV or playing games with no parental involvement. I think parents should be rewarded. Tax incentives could be provided to parents who volunteer their time to help at school and in the classroom. This could be a big benefit to stay at home parents who have the time and the desire to be involved. There are already private schools that have success with such programs giving tuition breaks to parents who volunteer. Parental involvement, I believe, is the number 1 reason kids perform better in private schools. The teachers there are typically less qualified, less experienced, and get paid less, yet their results are consistently better than public schools. I would also recommend bringing in administrators and principals with private school experience. The reason being that private schools have much smaller budgets. That type of experience will be invaluable since private schools can't just ask for more tax dollars when they go over budget. They really have to work to keep students in their schools. These are just a few ideas. It's been proven consistently that simply throwing money at schools NEVER fixes the problem.

My school district can quit paying hotels $66,000 per year to hold conferences in luxury hotel rooms. If the almost 300 schools in the district are good enough for the students, they should be good enough for the principals. If space is the issue, why not hold it in the auditorium, or, if necessary, the football stadium?

I am not a teacher. But here is my idea. Expand homeschooling. It is a very effective method of learning. Since students not only get 1 on 1 help, they can easily diversify and explore different subjects they like. If the parents want to do it and have system, let them. It is a fact that homeschooled children do better academically than those crammed in the school system. Socialization is not an issue because there are many quality programs available for kids. Activities at the Y are just one example. But there is soccer, baseball, football, etc. All of which you don't need to be part of a school to sign up for. I will note that it is not the right fit for every student. So, the determination would have to be made between the parent and child.