http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428 Budget woes are nothing new for our schools, but impending budget cuts really have parents talking. &ldquo;Did you hear?&rdquo; one anxious mom asked me this week. &ldquo;Stockdale High School cut their band.&rdquo; Shocking if it were true, which it absolutely is not, says Stockdale band director John Biller, who started Stockdale&rsquo;s music program when the school opened 18 years ago. &ldquo;Wow, I hadn&rsquo;t heard that one,&rdquo; Biller said on Thursday. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of gossip going around about cuts, but, no, it&rsquo;s my understanding they won&rsquo;t be disbanding our band.&rdquo; Parents worried over whether their budding Mozarts and Picassos will still have creative outlets next year have reason to be concerned, but not panicked. Not yet. The rumor mills were so on fire this week, I called Kern High School Superintendent Don Carter for the final word on the matter. According to Carter, no decisions &mdash; I repeat, no decisions &mdash; have been made in regard to who or what will be cut. The cuts, however, are coming. They promise to be the subject of considerable debate in the coming days as teachers, parents, administrators and union members line up to make their case. It&rsquo;s hard even to imagine the Kern High School District cutting art, music and drama programs in our schools, which, as one veteran music teacher once told me, have always been &ldquo;an oasis&rdquo; in California for high school fine arts programs. And so it has, dating back before I was in the South High School marching band some 35 years ago. It was with that memory in mind that I scanned the Kern High School District&rsquo;s list of &ldquo;items for consideration&rdquo; after its recent unveiling. Some of the items &mdash; like the elimination of the entire athletic program &mdash; were over-the-top extreme, while others nearly leapt off the page as obvious first cuts. By obvious I mean those that come after the glaringly obvious, like the principal partner&rsquo;s day breakfast, whatever that is. After that, the front-runner would have to be home-to-school transportation, a cut that would save the district an estimated $4.1 million. Yes, jobs will be lost and parents will be inconvenienced, but the bottom line is student transportation is a courtesy, not a requirement. And cutting that courtesy will be no excuse for cutting school. &ldquo;Parents and kids can carpool, ride the GET bus and figure out their own transportation,&rdquo; says Trustee Ken Mettler. &ldquo;In very rural areas Kern High School District bus service overlaps those from elementary districts, so we should find ways to eliminate duplicate routes.&rdquo; Again, no decisions have been made, but, keeping in mind what&rsquo;s best for the students &mdash; access to art and athletic programs &mdash; there&rsquo;s another service on the list the students could survive without. Library service. It pains me to say it, but with easy access to the Internet and our beautiful public libraries, on-campus library service is a luxury we can suspend, at least for now. Studies by the National Center for Education Statistics, among countless others, show that students who participate in music and other arts routinely score &ldquo;significantly&rdquo; higher proficiency levels in math and verbal skills and earn more academic honors and awards than non-music students. The arts are as essential to a well-rounded education as math and English. The impact of music, drama and other forms of self expression cannot be underestimated. Kern County educators know this, which is why the arts have been part of our children&rsquo;s lives for so long. &ldquo;The arts is the place where students are free to express themselves,&rdquo; Biller says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s in our creative expressive side that we find our humanity.&rdquo; Budget woes are nothing new for our schools, but impending budget cuts really have parents talking. &ldquo;Did you hear?&rdquo; one anxious mom asked me this week. &ldquo;Stockdale High School cut their band.&rdquo; Shocking if it were true, which it absolutely is not, says Stockdale band director John Biller, who started Stockdale&rsquo;s music program when the school opened 18 years ago. &ldquo;Wow, I hadn&rsquo;t heard that one,&rdquo; Biller said on Thursday. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s a lot of gossip going around about cuts, but, no, it&rsquo;s my understanding they won&rsquo;t be disbanding our band.&rdquo; Parents worried over whether their budding Mozarts and Picassos will still have creative outlets next year have reason to be concerned, but not panicked. Not yet. The rumor mills were so on fire this week, I called Kern High School Superintendent Don Carter for the final word on the matter. According to Carter, no decisions &mdash; I repeat, no decisions &mdash; have been made in regard to who or what will be cut. The cuts, however, are coming. They promise to be the subject of considerable debate in the coming days as teachers, parents, administrators and union members line up to make their case. It&rsquo;s hard even to imagine the Kern High School District cutting art, music and drama programs in our schools, which, as one veteran music teacher once told me, have always been &ldquo;an oasis&rdquo; in California for high school fine arts programs. And so it has, dating back before I was in the South High School marching band some 35 years ago. It was with that memory in mind that I scanned the Kern High School District&rsquo;s list of &ldquo;items for consideration&rdquo; after its recent unveiling. Some of the items &mdash; like the elimination of the entire athletic program &mdash; were over-the-top extreme, while others nearly leapt off the page as obvious first cuts. By obvious I mean those that come after the glaringly obvious, like the principal partner&rsquo;s day breakfast, whatever that is. After that, the front-runner would have to be home-to-school transportation, a cut that would save the district an estimated $4.1 million. Yes, jobs will be lost and parents will be inconvenienced, but the bottom line is student transportation is a courtesy, not a requirement. And cutting that courtesy will be no excuse for cutting school. &ldquo;Parents and kids can carpool, ride the GET bus and figure out their own transportation,&rdquo; says Trustee Ken Mettler. &ldquo;In very rural areas Kern High School District bus service overlaps those from elementary districts, so we should find ways to eliminate duplicate routes.&rdquo; Again, no decisions have been made, but, keeping in mind what&rsquo;s best for the students &mdash; access to art and athletic programs &mdash; there&rsquo;s another service on the list the students could survive without. Library service. It pains me to say it, but with easy access to the Internet and our beautiful public libraries, on-campus library service is a luxury we can suspend, at least for now. Studies by the National Center for Education Statistics, among countless others, show that students who participate in music and other arts routinely score &ldquo;significantly&rdquo; higher proficiency levels in math and verbal skills and earn more academic honors and awards than non-music students. The arts are as essential to a well-rounded education as math and English. The impact of music, drama and other forms of self expression cannot be underestimated. Kern County educators know this, which is why the arts have been part of our children&rsquo;s lives for so long. &ldquo;The arts is the place where students are free to express themselves,&rdquo; Biller says. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s in our creative expressive side that we find our humanity.&rdquo; en-us Sat, 31 Jan 2009 12:00:53 PST <p>i disagree with cutting school library service.&nbsp; at least in certain areas</p> <p>if stockdale high students can access their high-speed internet at home, good for them.&nbsp; if they can hop in their cars and drive to the library, whether it be csub or a public library, or a bookstore to access books, good for them.</p> <p>however, in low-income areas, school is still the only place where many students have reliable internet access.&nbsp; and because in some (many?) low-income homes there can be such a disinterest in education, parents will not encourage, nor will children be self-motivated to go to the public library.&nbsp; unless it's to use the internet, which at times there is a waiting list a mile long.</p> <p>while all children attend school and now have access to school libraries 5 days a week (in theory) in some areas, it is quite an out-of-the-way trip to travel to public libraries.&nbsp; i'm fortunate to have a public library within walking distance from my house; many do not.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365067 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365067 <p>i disagree with cutting school library service.&nbsp; at least in certain areas</p> <p>if stockdale high students can access their high-speed internet at home, good for them.&nbsp; if they can hop in their cars and drive to the library, whether it be csub or a public library, or a bookstore to access books, good for them.</p> <p>however, in low-income areas, school is still the only place where many students have reliable internet access.&nbsp; and because in some (many?) low-income homes there can be such a disinterest in education, parents will not encourage, nor will children be self-motivated to go to the public library.&nbsp; unless it's to use the internet, which at times there is a waiting list a mile long.</p> <p>while all children attend school and now have access to school libraries 5 days a week (in theory) in some areas, it is quite an out-of-the-way trip to travel to public libraries.&nbsp; i'm fortunate to have a public library within walking distance from my house; many do not.</p> <p>It may be hard to believe but yes there are quite afew homes in Bakersfield without internet service.&nbsp;&nbsp; There are bound to be even more as families are forced to reevaluate where their money is spent.&nbsp;&nbsp; I actually have friends whose 2 sons attend Garces and they don't even have a working PC&nbsp;at home.&nbsp; Shocking to many I'm sure.&nbsp; When I was in high school in Texas in the 1970's students who did not pass a class and therefore needed to attend summer school paid for that privilege.&nbsp; I&nbsp;was surprised when we moved here and I found out that summer school was free.&nbsp;&nbsp; It seems to me that unless a student has been quite ill and unable to pass his or her regular school year courses that they should pay for going to summer school.&nbsp;&nbsp; Parents might find it an extra incentive to get their children to try harder if they knew they were going to have to pay for summer school.&nbsp; Those students who wish to take summer school to get a jump start on their next year's schedule should also pay.&nbsp;&nbsp; At Garces students who park on campus pay for the privilege.&nbsp; Maybe the public schools should also charge&nbsp; a nominal yearly fee for parking on campus.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365091 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365091 <p>It may be hard to believe but yes there are quite afew homes in Bakersfield without internet service.&nbsp;&nbsp; There are bound to be even more as families are forced to reevaluate where their money is spent.&nbsp;&nbsp; I actually have friends whose 2 sons attend Garces and they don't even have a working PC&nbsp;at home.&nbsp; Shocking to many I'm sure.&nbsp; When I was in high school in Texas in the 1970's students who did not pass a class and therefore needed to attend summer school paid for that privilege.&nbsp; I&nbsp;was surprised when we moved here and I found out that summer school was free.&nbsp;&nbsp; It seems to me that unless a student has been quite ill and unable to pass his or her regular school year courses that they should pay for going to summer school.&nbsp;&nbsp; Parents might find it an extra incentive to get their children to try harder if they knew they were going to have to pay for summer school.&nbsp; Those students who wish to take summer school to get a jump start on their next year's schedule should also pay.&nbsp;&nbsp; At Garces students who park on campus pay for the privilege.&nbsp; Maybe the public schools should also charge&nbsp; a nominal yearly fee for parking on campus.</p> <p>Study after study shows a direct correlation: strong school libraries = strong schools. &nbsp;</p> <p>Which school library in this district is actually available to its students? You have to give up a lunch hour to use it, the library closes about 15 minutes after the final bell (if you take a bus, that option is out), and up till high school level, the library is run by nice ladies with no library media degree. &nbsp;If the school library was doing its job now, its students and parents would not be overcrowding the public library every day. &nbsp;This district shortchanges its school library on a good day!</p> <p>Furthermore, serious students know about the *hidden* internet: the subscription databases the schools and public library pay for to extend their reach of resources. &nbsp;Most students (they aren't learning it in the ed media center) and public do not have a clue. &nbsp;Their motto: if I can't find it on the internet, it's not important. &nbsp;These same people generally can't find a single thing on the internet, though the computer's right in front of them. &nbsp;Watch people in the library and you will see that this is no exaggeration.</p> <p>Finally, if Marylee looked at her fellow reporter's article, she'd see that the public libraries, which already operate on next to nothing, are heading for the County Board of Supervisors' decimation on Tuesday. &nbsp;As far as libraries and other government services, people demand and demand and demand services but don't want to pay for them. &nbsp;And the Tuesday cuts will punish the have-nots even more.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365105 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365105 <p>Study after study shows a direct correlation: strong school libraries = strong schools. &nbsp;</p> <p>Which school library in this district is actually available to its students? You have to give up a lunch hour to use it, the library closes about 15 minutes after the final bell (if you take a bus, that option is out), and up till high school level, the library is run by nice ladies with no library media degree. &nbsp;If the school library was doing its job now, its students and parents would not be overcrowding the public library every day. &nbsp;This district shortchanges its school library on a good day!</p> <p>Furthermore, serious students know about the *hidden* internet: the subscription databases the schools and public library pay for to extend their reach of resources. &nbsp;Most students (they aren't learning it in the ed media center) and public do not have a clue. &nbsp;Their motto: if I can't find it on the internet, it's not important. &nbsp;These same people generally can't find a single thing on the internet, though the computer's right in front of them. &nbsp;Watch people in the library and you will see that this is no exaggeration.</p> <p>Finally, if Marylee looked at her fellow reporter's article, she'd see that the public libraries, which already operate on next to nothing, are heading for the County Board of Supervisors' decimation on Tuesday. &nbsp;As far as libraries and other government services, people demand and demand and demand services but don't want to pay for them. &nbsp;And the Tuesday cuts will punish the have-nots even more.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>As I&nbsp;see it, the value that a school places on its own library is the value that it places on its own mission and purpose.</p> <p>Concerning our public libraries, I&nbsp;have <em>seen</em> public libraries in some other parts of the country.&nbsp; We should aspire to having&nbsp;local&nbsp;libraries of the same quality.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365115 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365115 <p>As I&nbsp;see it, the value that a school places on its own library is the value that it places on its own mission and purpose.</p> <p>Concerning our public libraries, I&nbsp;have <em>seen</em> public libraries in some other parts of the country.&nbsp; We should aspire to having&nbsp;local&nbsp;libraries of the same quality.</p> <p>This is sad, and just plain SUCKS!</p> <p>The arts in schools always get cut before athletics.</p> <p>Growing up in the tiny city of McFarland, the music program helped me out in so many ways as a youth.</p> <p>As it was we had very little funding back in the '80s, but due to a committed instructor (Lawrence Heckman,) who now teaches in Bakersfield, we were able to raise our own money to get new uniforms and make the trips into Bakersfield to compete in area band competitions, as well as KC Honor Band tryouts - which I was a part of, and once again - THANKS to a great teacher. I can only imagine what he had to deal with trying to squeeze just a tiny bit of money to help fund one of out scholastic musical projects.</p> <p>That early musical education, led to trips all over the U.S., Canada, as part of the Golden Empire Suns Youth Band. I&nbsp;stuck with it all the way through college - BC&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;CSUB, and still play today with buddies I&nbsp;met at those same schools.<br /> <br /> Let's hope Stockdale's art programs don't get cut, so our local young Mozarts, Picasso's, Mary Osborne's, Santana's, Miles Davis', Tito Puente's...get their chance to grow in their chosen artworld!</p> <p>Peace,</p> <p><strong>Matt Munoz</strong><br /> Saxophonist / Lead Vocals<br /> <strong><a href="http://www.myspace.com/mentoburu">Mento Buru band</a> <br /> (Teaching Bakersfield how to groove since 1991)</strong></p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365155 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365155 <p>This is sad, and just plain SUCKS!</p> <p>The arts in schools always get cut before athletics.</p> <p>Growing up in the tiny city of McFarland, the music program helped me out in so many ways as a youth.</p> <p>As it was we had very little funding back in the '80s, but due to a committed instructor (Lawrence Heckman,) who now teaches in Bakersfield, we were able to raise our own money to get new uniforms and make the trips into Bakersfield to compete in area band competitions, as well as KC Honor Band tryouts - which I was a part of, and once again - THANKS to a great teacher. I can only imagine what he had to deal with trying to squeeze just a tiny bit of money to help fund one of out scholastic musical projects.</p> <p>That early musical education, led to trips all over the U.S., Canada, as part of the Golden Empire Suns Youth Band. I&nbsp;stuck with it all the way through college - BC&nbsp;&amp;&nbsp;CSUB, and still play today with buddies I&nbsp;met at those same schools.<br /> <br /> Let's hope Stockdale's art programs don't get cut, so our local young Mozarts, Picasso's, Mary Osborne's, Santana's, Miles Davis', Tito Puente's...get their chance to grow in their chosen artworld!</p> <p>Peace,</p> <p><strong>Matt Munoz</strong><br /> Saxophonist / Lead Vocals<br /> <strong><a href="http://www.myspace.com/mentoburu">Mento Buru band</a> <br /> (Teaching Bakersfield how to groove since 1991)</strong></p> <p>There will be a meeting Monday night and&nbsp;you can bet it will be packed with parents.&nbsp;&nbsp; This report is apparently only the tip of the iceberg.&nbsp; Stay tuned&nbsp;for the next report.</p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365160 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_365160 <p>There will be a meeting Monday night and&nbsp;you can bet it will be packed with parents.&nbsp;&nbsp; This report is apparently only the tip of the iceberg.&nbsp; Stay tuned&nbsp;for the next report.</p> <p>There is an upcoming opportunity for all of you to support the Arts in a local high school.&nbsp; EBHS will be presenting&nbsp;<strong><font size="5"><font color="#0070c0"> &quot;Grease&quot; &ndash;&nbsp;7pm&nbsp; Thursday, Friday and Saturday<o:p></o:p></font></font></strong> in their Auditorium.<strong><font size="5"><font color="#0070c0"> </font></font></strong></p> http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_366437 http://people.bakersfield.com/home/Blog/rightthinking/40428/#c_366437 <p>There is an upcoming opportunity for all of you to support the Arts in a local high school.&nbsp; EBHS will be presenting&nbsp;<strong><font size="5"><font color="#0070c0"> &quot;Grease&quot; &ndash;&nbsp;7pm&nbsp; Thursday, Friday and Saturday<o:p></o:p></font></font></strong> in their Auditorium.<strong><font size="5"><font color="#0070c0"> </font></font></strong></p>