K-12 Budget Cuts in Colorado

The Denver Post ran a story today entitled "Deep education cuts loom." The subtitle read "The state could slash up to $450 million from K-12 and higher ed."  As Governor Hickenlooper faces a $1 billion budget shortfall, public education officials are predicting major changes to K-12 education in Colorado.  9 News last night guessed that up to 6,500 teachers may be laid off.

Why not cut another place of the budget?  That's tough considering the financial commitments of the state of Colorado.  The $7 billion general operating fund is 97 percent committed to just five areas: K-12 education, health care for the poor, human services, prisons and higher education. Levels of spending on health care, human services and prisons are, to some degree, protected by federal law. The only thing left to cut is education.

There is fear for many teachers and school officials in the days before Hickenlooper's big announcement this coming Tuesday.  But what are parents thinking right now? As pressured public schools already face increasing class sizes and cut funding for programs, parents eager to give their children a quality education will start looking elsewhere.  My guess is that many concerned parents will start exploring options in charter schools and, increasingly, private schools.

What is a Christian to do about this?  For the myriad of devoted Christians within the public school system, they will need to do more with less, a common challenge for all those in both the public and private sectors who faced daunting times in this past recession.  For those within the Christian school movement, this could be an opportunity.  Dissatisfaction with public schools usually means increasing numbers for private schools.  However, administrators and leaders within the Christian school movement would be wise to "mourn with those who mourn."  Christian schools have the curricular liberty to build service events into their school days. Many of these service events and initiatives should focus their efforts on public schools, and scores of students in them whom God so loves.