Steel+Valley+Students,+Parents+React+to+Cutbacks

=By Stacy Lee= =//Published in the McKeesport Daily News//= =//6/1/11//= = = = = =Steel Valley students and parents are concerned about the status of education and the school district because of the proposed state funding cuts in education.= =If the state budget is passed, Steel Valley School District will see $2.5 million less in funding.= =Steel Valley school board cut 40.5 teaching positions and 15.5 other jobs April 26. There were 16 various staff furloughed throughout the past month and 40 teachers furloughed last week.= ="I don`t think it`s right because it will make it harder for students to learn in a large class," eighth-grader Jodi Joll said. "Also, some teachers that we look up to might be cut. That helps us get through school."= =Eighth-grader Kristen Moten said she agrees with her classmate.= ="Whenever there`s a lot of kids in a class, it`s going to be harder for us to learn," she said. "Most of us will fool around because we won`t be able to hear the teacher."= =Kristen said it will be even more difficult to learn and adjust to ninth grade if class sizes increase because of the staff cuts.= ="If we don`t have a good education, how are we going to make the future better?" Jodi said.= =Parent Denise Edmunds of Munhall said the faculty cuts will force the district to move teachers to courses in which they are certified, but may not be comfortable.= ="It takes them out of their comfort zone," she said. "How much quality is the education going to be?"= =Edmunds said if teachers have to instruct larger classes, they will be burnt out and tired at the end of the day.= =Eighth-grader Savannah Sargent said she wonders how the future will turn out if teachers continue to be cut.= =Autumn Edmunds, also in eighth grade, said students become comfortable with certain teachers. She said specific teachers offer students extra help with schoolwork in the morning if needed. Edmunds said that might not be possible with the teacher cuts.= =Parent Lori Chontos-Jordan of Munhall said losing the paraprofessionals will affect the way children learn.= ="We have a small class size," she said. "If they double the class size, if you have 30 children who aren`t on the same page, it will hinder the other children who are getting the work. The teachers need to stop what they are doing and explain it to the children who aren`t getting the work. The children who do understand it will be held back."= =Steel Valley has eliminated all paraprofessionals in the district.= =Kristen said she is worried that the cut in teachers will mean less specialized classes and activities.= ="Colleges will look at my record and say I haven`t done enough activities," she said. "I might not be able to get a scholarship or grants."= ="I graduated from Steel Valley and all my kids have gone there," Edmunds said. "I think the quality of education is excellent. I think Steel Valley is a very good school district. The teachers have invested their time into these kids. The kids are motivated to learn. If you keep cutting everything, there`s not going to be anything that motivates them to want to go to school."= =Eighth-grader Jake Miller and his sister Katherine Miller both wrote letters to Gov. Tom Corbett a couple months ago. He said his sister received a response.= ="He just sent a form letter," Jake said. "It was just a run-of-the-mill letter that any student or teacher who wrote him would get to say the cuts would have schools go down to what they were before the stimulus."= =District superintendent Dr. William Kinavey estimated most Steel Valley classrooms will grow by three to six students because of the teacher furloughs.= = Read more: [|Steel Valley students, parents react to cutbacks - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review] [] = = = = =

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