What are our school system’s coming to? Layoffs of 300 DPS employees, parent volunteers teaching band class and forcing certified teachers to take substitute teaching jobs in order to ensure weekly pay. Is that alarming or what? The article located here http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081004/SCHOOLS/810040374/1026/rss06 states that these are only a few of the ways that the school board has chosen to deal with the $408 million deficit that the Detroit Public School district finds themselves facing. According to the article, “To help trim the district’s massive deficit, Detroit Public Schools’ officials this week sent layoff notices to more than 300 employees, including social workers, psychologists, custodians and bus attendants who assist special needs students.” Umm, I don’t know about everyone else but I could come up with one surefire solution that may not solve the problem but would sure help matters a little bit. How about cutting that $280, 000 salary that the superintendent (who doesn’t attend any of the pertinent school board meetings) takes home annually? I mean I’m no math whiz, but her salary alone could help at least four teachers stay employed right? But, I’m sure that this was not even an option whatsoever. Talk about selflessness!!! I’m still dealing with the concept of she could accept this salary knowing that the students don’t often have individual textbooks and inadequate educational resources (i.e., desks and extra curricular activities like phys ed, band, etc.) According to the article, “according to the Detroit Federation of Teachers, hundreds more are anticipated.” One school board member, Reverend David Murray, states that he is “sick about what they are doing to our most vulnerable children. It’s scary.” Scary it is, but what’s even scarier is the fact that too few are realizing this and even they are realizing it far too late. Let’s just do our parts and keep this school district and those students and teachers in it in our prayers.