Eastern Scott School Corporation attacks the budget crisis
head on
By Bernie
Peterson, THG staff writer
Every state has suffered
from the downturn in the economy the past couple of years. Many people have
been laid off from their jobs as companies cutback to increase profits during
the recession. As a result, there is less tax revenue taken in to pay for
programs funded by the state. The largest proportion of state budgets go to
their public education systems, so it is these systems that have been hit the
hardest by budget cutbacks.
Education in Indiana has
been affected more than any other state by the recent recession due to cutbacks
in manufacturing, one of the staples of our state’s economy. This has forced
local school superintendents to stretch a dollar further than ever before.
No school corporation has
met this challenge better than Eastern Scott School Corporation, headquartered
in Lexington, Indiana. Second-year superintendent Ray Clements and his staff
have not only been able to keep Eastern Scott in the black, they have lowered
insurance rates for teachers while giving them a 6% raise and have begun an
extensive renovation of all school buildings in the district.
How has Eastern Scott
succeeded where others have failed? “Priorities,” says Clements, “The
administration realizes that the majority of bitching and complaining we have to
hear on a daily basis does not come from the state department of education or
the parents in our community, it comes from the teachers. We do everything we
can to keep our teachers happy so our stress level is minimized. This has made
us all a happier bunch.”
A happier bunch they are.
Aside from benefits listed above, teachers at Eastern Scott also have a recliner
in their rooms so they can relax during their planning period, valet parking,
catered lunches, and the best classroom technology money can buy.
Clements cites the most
recent annual faculty survey as proof of the success of his programs. “Staff
moral has increased five fold, 97% said they love teaching as a profession, and
98% were ‘extremely happy’ with the administration. I would put these numbers
up against anyone’s not only in the state but in the nation as well.”
There is some controversy
in how Eastern Scott has paid for the raise in teacher pay and benefits. The
first thing Clements did when hired was fire the entire custodial staff. “You
wouldn’t believe the thousands of dollars we saved making that move while at the
same time decreasing the number of discipline problems in classrooms by 84%. We
have replaced the janitors with students on in-school suspension. You don’t get
too many repeat offenders the first time they have to go unclog a toilet loaded
to the brim with diarrhea or wipe puke off a classroom floor.”
Another requirement for
every student in the system Clements instituted upon his arrival at Eastern
Scott was his “Paying with Plasma (P.W.P.)” program, a way of making money he
learned about from his 21 year-old son. “Tommy told me he was making $50 a week
giving plasma at college so he would have some drinking money on the weekend. I
just did the math; 800 students times $50 equals an extra $40,000 a week in our
budget. That is a lot of money for a small system like ours.”
Clements’s actions have
angered many parents in the community. “Education should be student centered!
What Eastern is doing is a fiasco. They are failing the children of our
community by taking advantage of them to pay for staff perks,” says concerned
mother Misty Mooney, “It is a travesty of the worst kind! These kids are our
future. We will have our day in court!”
When confronted with the
thoughts of Mrs. Mooney, Dr. Clements took it all in stride. “If these kids are
our future as Mrs. Mooney says, then I sure as hell am going to live in the
present. Have you seen most of them? You got a few winners and a ton of
losers. Why not give our resources to people like our teachers who have made
something of themselves? Why spend it all on a bunch of bottom feeders?
Anyway, I dare them to sue me—with the extra money our system has been saving I
can get Johnnie Cochran to represent me!”
