Of course, it will be the teacher that get cut, not the administrator in the districts. Instead we allow our school administrators to draw their retirement and their salaries too. Cuts should be made in the district offices and that would save many of the teachers jobs.

We will never be #1 in terms of $ per pupil.

Why not cut the education budget to the point where we in Utah can brag that we spend less than any other state in terms of $ per pupil.

We can at least be #1 in lowest $ per pupil.

We already are #1 in that area.

And it isn't even close.

To start...cuts should come from administration salaries. They always suck up all the money to begin with. We need to think outside of the box. We need to find better, different, cheaper ways to do things. We can't just keep throwing money at this problem. Clearly the money isn't there this year. From there we really need to look at where the taxes are coming from, and assess the process. We just keep raising taxes for individuals and families, my home value, which is still too high, went down, and my taxes went up. There are bigger problems here than money.

One idea worth considering would be to allow each teacher to remove one child from her classroom. All classrooms have a few children who simply drain the system. They did not learn the basic preschool skills of cooperation and how to follow directions. They take 20-25% of the teacher's time. The class has to wait for them over and over to behave before instruction can continue.

I believe these children should be in the care of their parents until they learn to treat the opportunity for an education as a great proviledge. Children who are suspended from school for obnoxious behavior should be suspended for a term, at least. The two or three days currently used for suspension does not provide any deterrant. I think that parents should be responsible for improving their children's behavior at school, not just for the financial cost of educating their youngsters.

Many good teachers would forego a raise to be able to remove just one child from their class.

It seems fairly obvious to me that these rebellious children are not learning much in school anyway, because they choose not to. They prevent us from wisely using our most valuable resource, our teachers.

I have been teaching many years, have several degrees, and make a decent salary (although much less than my engineer friends). What concerns me is the public perception of teachers. I work many extra hours every day (and through the summer), sacrifice time with my own family in order to assist yours, and spend hundreds of dollars of my own money on my classroom. Yet I feel constantly belittled and criticized. I love my job but would never encourage my own children to go into teaching.

Doodles - my husband is a teacher. He has told me that he wishes he could, in good conscience, tell some of his students to just drop out. They don't want to be there, they don't cooperate, and they literally RUIN it for other students. He does a lot of hands-on activities, but has had to resort to worksheets for entire classes due to a handful of students. I think he would relish the power to eliminate one student from class. And don't get me wrong, he really truly cares about his students, but there comes a point...

As for the entire financial problem, I don't know what the answer is. But I do know that teachers don't get credit and respect for all that they truly do. My husband spends countless extra hours working - at home and at school. I help grade papers and tests. We spend our own money to provide materials for the classroom. He's never actually had a "summer off." He equates the teaching profession with that of an entertainer - and he's right. You can't teach someone whose attention you don't have.

And actually, I told my sister-in-law about the proposed cuts. She and my brother (a teacher) live in CA. They recently received letters explaining that in the near future, the district wouldn't be able to make payroll. At least we're not to that point yet.