A Lesson in Self-Sufficiency at Some Schools

We've heard about the fallout from California's budget crisis, especially as it applies to public education there. The billion-dollar budget cuts have meant that at the K-12 level, kids will be crowded into classes with less money for proper resources, as teachers continue to get laid off. At the college level, Cal State institutions are having to turn away qualified students for the first time in their history.

Without solutions coming from the state government, All Things Considered reports that schools in Oakland, Calif., are coming up with their own answers to the financial crisis. The cost of buying animals for an elementary school science program in a district the size of Oakland's could cost $80,000 a year. This East Bay city has managed to cut that figure down to $8,000 — by raising the animals themselves. At Chabot Elementary, they are raising crawfish, aquatic snails and pill bugs, among a zoo of animals.

This isn't the first we've heard of schools figuring out financials for themselves. In Tacoma, Wash., the Nashua Telegraph reports parents at Lowell Elementary raised $16,000 to save the jobs of three teacher's aides whose jobs were to be cut.

It's commendable that parents, schools and students are taking measures to save public education. But a note to government: The time it takes to create cost-saving solutions and raise funds for school takes time away from educators and students' most essential tasks: teaching and learning.

Photo courtesy of Ben+Sam, via Flickr.