Return to school reveals tight budgets

Due to the recession many schools have had to seriously cut back their budgets. At the start of this school year Connecticut had 1,200 less teachers than last year. Schools like East Hartford had cut close to 40 teachers just to meet a 4.2% reduction in the budget. This means that the amount of students in each class has to increase. New Britain will be increasing classroom sizes for the eighth year in a row. Hartford had to cut 250 jobs, 100 of them teaching positions, and even closed a middle school. Schools statewide are doing whatever they can to cut back. They are eliminating bus routes, cutting back on electives, dropping sub-varsity teams, and are even starting "pay to play" sports teams. School principals are really starting to feel the stress of trying to balance the use of resources between those who need additional help , and kids who are doing well. While some schools have had to make more severe changes than other, every school in Connecticut has been forced to make changes in order to stay within their budgets. Many are more concerned that next year the budgets will only be cut lower.

Sources:
http://www.courant.com/news/education/hc-recession-schools-0831.artaug31,0,4818899.story