Letter to the editor
While apocalyptic language is usually not helpful, it does seem that our School District is on the verge of collapse. We can’t keep up with the books: the audits keep revealing that. We can’t keep up with the buildings: social media keeps revealing that. We can’t keep a Superintendent: the Board keeps proving that. We can’t keep teachers: the overcrowded classes and growing list of kids with long-term subs keep proving that. We can’t keep the students: the mass exodus to charter and private schools keeps proving that.
There is no reason to believe the next Superintendent will fare better than the last seven. Every year we fail to keep up with our infrastructure needs, the cost of those needs increases. Every year we give educators 1% raises, it is harder to catch up to inflation the next, and we signal to every existing teacher and every college student that Alachua County doesn’t value teachers. Every year we fail to get behavior under control, we lose more teachers who can no longer take the verbal and emotional abuse and more students whose parents take them to those same charter or private schools to escape.