CAT Tracks for July 31, 2011
FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY

Okay, Madam CAT President read my morning missive entitled "Better to Laugh Than Cry"...

...and she ain't laughin'.

Truth be told, she ain't cryin' either.

Madam CAT President is hot under the collar, as in PISSED!


BACKGROUND:

During the annual Spring blood-letting (i.e. RIF, in which something like 23 employees were let go), several were told by various CSD administrators that they would surely be back...that the District could not open its doors, much less offer a viable education program, without recalling many. You are being let go they were told "because of the uncertainty of the funding." Madam CAT President was given this same explanation.

Those who related these assurances and those who received them surely believed. They have seen it happen over and over and over before. Yes, a few employees never make it back, but most do.

And...

Just this month, the BOE/FOP called back Larry Baldwin, Pam Carlton, Sarah Garrett, and Charlotte Lovelace. (BTW: It took two attempts before Baldwin and Lovelace were recalled and word from inside is that the FOP ain't happy about it...increasing, as it does, the CJSHS certified staff from 16 to 18.)

But...

By Madam CAT President's count, the District is still down 10 teachers and 1 administrator from last year.

Madam CAT President regularly gets inquiries from those souls in limbo...assured recall, still waiting. Even I got one such inquiry yesterday...from a person who read my post about the "CSD Staff Day" scheduled for August 4th. I was forced to deliver the same message that De De has honed: "Still no word on your recall. Unfortunately, you are completely at their mercy."

In short, these former employees have added "assured" to their CSD #1 dictionary...right below "ass-u-me".

And, all the while...

...the powers that be gaze lovingly at their fat savings account at the First National Bank. As of June 30, 2011, the District Treasurer's Report showed $3,708,277.30.

I would venture to say that Century, Egyptian, and Meridian don't have anything like that slush fund...hell, maybe all three combined.

Of course, those area schools offer more educational opportunities than Cairo School District Number One. Educating children is evidently still a priority in other school districts. They have not yet discovered "the Cairo truth"...that "MONEY is JOB 1".


What REALLY pisses Madam CAT President off is the helplessness of the situation. (I have CAT Tracks as a vehicle for venting my frustration, helplessness, hopelessness. Madam CAT President has two sons, two dogs, and a cat...kicking not allowed.)

But...

After listening to CJSHS Principal Zena Madison's eloquent and successful appeal to the Cairo BOE for a part-time Band teacher, De De was given renewed hope that, maybe, just maybe...

De De lined up a couple of other teachers to make the trip to the Special FOP Meeting in Goreville last Friday, with the intent of echoing the need to provide a music program for CJSHS (especially since almost 60 students had expressed an interest in preregistration.) De De also planned to make an appeal for the reading program at Cairo Elementary.

Last year, there were two reading teachers at Cairo Elementary School. As of today, the plan is to have NONE...ZERO!

Now there is a rocket science move.

There is no more important educational activity at the elementary level than READING. If a student cannot READ, s/he will fail in every other educational endeavor. A decade from now - if there is still a Cairo School District Number One - the powers that be will be casting stones at the CJSHS teachers for "failing" the children. They will be calling for remedial reading programs.

QUESTION: Ever try to teach a high school student to read?

The time for children to learn to read is as early as possible. When they get to be teenagers, forgetaboutit.

So, De De and company were ready to hit the road...to appeal for an educational program that would serve the needs of the children of Cairo School District Number One...

...and the FOP canceled their "Special Breakfast Meeting". There are currently no meetings of the Cairo BOE or the Cairo FOP scheduled before the beginning of the 2011-2012 School Year. Apparently, what you see, parents of school-age children in CSD #1...is what you get.

No art, no band, no music, and no reading program.

I would call this a decimation of the school district, but decimation is a reference to eliminating 1 of every 10. As I said above, the District has eliminated 10 teachers...out of 50; the District has eliminated the equivalent of 2 administrators out of 5 (no assistant at CJSHS, no dean at CES.)

I googled for the term that represents the elimination of 1 of every 5 positions, but got no hits. May I simply suggest...D-E-V-A-S-T-A-T-I-O-N.


And...

...the sad, sad irony of all of this.

The BOE and the FOP will sit back next year and lament once again the students who left the District...taking their ADA (state funding dollars) with them.

Well, hell...again, it's not rocket science. If surrounding school districts offer art, band, music, and reading programs...as a parent, would you not look into pulling your children out of CSD #1 and sending them elsewhere...

...by hook or crook?


If one were paranoid...

...one might ask if this is not the grand plan.

If you will recall, then new Superintendent Leotis Swopes tried to give Cairo High School to Meridian. I gave him hell for it, but mostly because of his unfounded racial attack on the CJSHS faculty.

In retrospect, it was probably the only "contribution" Leotis ever made to CSD #1. The Meridian BOE was so taken aback that the plan died.

I say this because...

It was really the FOP's plan to get rid of Cairo High School...a plan that they continue to float every year, but goes nowhere because Leotis burned the bridge to Meridian.


But...

...paranoia aside, the bottom line is in the name FOP - FINANCIAL Oversight Panel. Their "JOB 1" is finances...M-O-N-E-Y. It is their J-O-B to watch the money...to make sure it grows. One would hope that their background as educators would make them dual-focused...provide a good basic education while eliminating wasteful spending.

However, there's that "accountability" word. In today's education reform era, "accountability" is the be all, end all for everybody...students, teachers, administrators, school districts, and, yes, FOPs.

There is one big difference in these aforementioned groups. For students, teachers, administrators, and school districts...success or failure is measured when the scores come in from that one all-important annual standardized test. Teachers may get fired, administrators may get fired, school district may "fail" and be forced to restructure or close. (Yes, I skipped students. There are no immediate consequences for them...they are the so-called innocent victims of the alleged self-serving adults.)

But...

...the Financial Oversight Panel? They are not measured by achievement, their accountability lies in the bottom line of the accounts ledger.

If Cairo School District Number One dries up and goes away, the Illinois State Board of Education will swoop in, close the CSD #1 savings account at the First National, and thank the Cairo FOP for a job well done!

Shoulda seen the puffed up chests this past month when it was announced that CSD #1 had received full financial recognition from the State of Illinois.

Cairo School District Number One...

Bears repeating:

"MONEY is JOB 1".


POSTSCRIPT:

Back in the day, the "rule of thumb" for school districts was to try to end the year with somewhere between a 5% and 10% surplus. (Just as with household budgets, a little "rainy day money".)

I just did some calculations using the District budget summary for the year just completed. CSD #1 had revenues last year of $8,887,343. Using my aforementioned "rule of thumb", CSD #1 should strive to have between say $450,000 and $900,000 in the bank at the end of the year.

So, pray tell...

Why is Cairo School District Number One cutting its Fine Arts program and its READING PROGRAM when it has $3,708,277.30 sitting in a First National Bank savings account?

What's with the extra $3 million???

Something is very rotten in Cairo School District Number One...