On Monday, February 9, 2015, the leaders of South Washington County School District 833 held the second public meeting (in a series of three) - called "Budget Conversations" - on their proposed $8 million cuts to the district's budget. Included in the cuts are Special Education and Reading Recovery services, elimination of all elementary level band, orchestra and world languages, cutting 60+ teachers which will then cause all classes to increase by (at least) one student, and other reductions to "balance" the budget. The following video is a question asked as to why elementary world language is being cut, but the Spanish Immersion school is not receiving any cuts. The response by Assistant Superintendent Julie Nielsen is one that may have readers scratching their heads:
Ms. Nielsen's response was essentially that the district is struggling to find and retain quality Elementary School World Language teachers, and yet, ironically, they have been able to find enough WL teachers to fill positions in the Spanish Immersion program from Kindergarten through 12th grade. Also, on the job search website, K12Jobspot.com, SWC 833 has a continuous ad running for Immersion Teachers. One would have to ask if they have applicants for the immersion program, that perhaps those candidates would also be suitable to use for the other World Language positions in the district? Or that may just be too much common sense for a district which seems determined to make cuts that hurt the people the most so that the people will give them what they really want: passage of their potentially $200+MILLION referendum next fall. After all, that does seem to be the district's MO.
If you are a Licensed Minnesota Elementary World Language teacher looking for a job, perhaps you should contact District 833's Human Resources department and talk to them about employment with the district. It would seem that they would welcome qualified candidates to their schools since they've had such difficulty retaining teachers.
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