To the editor:

With the approval of the revised employee contract, the first of two steps preparing for massive teacher layoffs were completed Monday at the general meeting of the Henry County Board of Education.

The second step, currently posted on the School Board web site for public review and comment, is Board Policy GBKA - Professional Personnel Lay-Off.

The proposed changes will make laying off teachers in the immediate future easier, and layoffs could start as early as February, with Board approval.

Please read the proposed changes, Do not take anyone’s word on this –– not even mine.

American history has shown that neither business nor government officials will take preparatory steps like this, unless they intend to use them. Government always reacts to a crisis, almost never taking preemptive steps to prevent one.

Why has the School Board taken these drastic steps?

Local tax revenue has declined 21.76 percent, according to School Superintendent Michael Surma at Monday’s meeting. Mr. Allie quantified that at about $25 million. This means that our proposed school budget is short on funding, if those figures hold true.

Another source believes that when Gov. Sonny Perdue presents his budget this week, the cut in state funding for education in Henry County will be $45 million, or more.

If the projected shortfalls come true, the total would be $70 million, about 1,077, or more, school employee jobs. Most will be teaching positions.

Starting in 2002, Gov. Sonny Perdue has reduced funding for public education each year. Since I started tracking funding for education, the cuts have always been greater than projected.

Henry County Schools has been blessed, and cursed. Our School Board has shown fiscal restraint in the past, and kept expenditures minimal. The curse comes in the fact that there is almost nothing left to trim, except employees.

We could extend the distance schoolchildren walk to school, out another half mile, adding another 5,000 walking to school each day. Another option would be to declare a temporary moratorium on all extracurricular activities.

With these cuts, we cannot expect to maintain the current quality of education that we currently have.

We can change this, but it will require the citizens of Henry County to do more that just read the editorial comments.

You could start by contacting one of Henry County’s nine legislative delegates, and the governor.

BRUCE KENDALL
Stockbridge