Budget Cuts Hit UHS

Words such as “Budget Cuts” and “Riffed” have been thrown around Urbana High School for a couple of weeks now. There is a reason for this involving the current state of UHS. But many people in the school probably (hopefully) already know this. It is usually thought of as negative topic, even by the people that made decisions involving this event. Of course I am talking about the decision to riff a few teachers and abolish some after-school programs in the school.

But what exactly do these particular words mean? Well, being riffed, even though many times confused with being fired, is not quite this. Being riffed is being let go due to complications with money. If a staff member is getting riffed, they are not being taken away from that particular job because of lack of a job well done, but because the school or business is forced to say ‘good bye’ to their employee due to budget issues.
“It’s really hard to see such quality teachers go,” said Lex Keller. “Most of the teachers let go are at the beginnings of their careers as teachers, only a couple years older than our seniors. They are easy to relate to because they were sitting right where we are recently, and remembered what it was like. They also still have a drive to pass on their knowledge to their students.”
When asked, “Should the teachers get riffed? What is your opinion?” Student Noah Gehrmann says, “ They don’t really seem to have a choice. It’s not really up to me and I don’t really know what is best for the school, I’m just a student.”

The words “Budget Cuts” mean exactly what they sound like they mean; cutting the budget of what is spent for the school’s teachers and programs. A student at Urbana High School, Mark Peterson says, “Rob Blagojevich put our state into a lot of debt so that the schools aren’t getting nearly as much money from the state as they should be. Of course, a lot of the money the school receives goes towards paying teachers so they are able to cut down on their expenses by cutting certain teaching positions.

Keller says, ”The school is getting rid of teachers who would have had decades more time at the school. However, there has been an amazing offer by the school for students to be a part of the group that interviews the possible new employees. We can now be part of the future of the school by taking advantage of this option.”
And I really could not have said it better myself. We don’t have a say. What is done is done. We could blame people like our principal or Rob Blagojevich, but who are we to say that this is any one’s fault, especially if we do not share the same jobs as these people do. It is difficult to know who is to blame for the budgetary cuts that will result in losing good teachers and good programs. However, the consequences are negative for students, teachers, and the community.