Response to "ASTI Size Increase" by Amber Chan

     As many people know, major budget cuts are affecting all of California and many other states of the United States as well. In California, one of the cities in which the budget cuts affect the most is Alameda. As a student of Alameda Science and Technology Institute, I know how this is physically affecting us. I found a post from Amber Chan's blog and would like to respond to it.

"As many of you know, there have been major budget cuts this year, and the Parcel Tax did not get passed, so a lot of the funding for schools has been drastically lowered, and we do not have as many funds to pay for textbooks and teachers.  Many of the schools have been planning to shut down soon and merge with another school, and grades for the school to be changed.  I heard that Encinal High School and Lincoln Middle School might shut down... the grades in Alameda High... would be changed so there are seventh and eight graders too.  Also, they have plans to shut down about half of the elementary schools in Alameda... Because many of the schools might get shut down, and most schools are losing privileges and teachers" -Amber Chan

     In addition, Chipman Middle School was closed this year and is replaced with a charter school that does not follow the district. Encinal High School will be closing next year. All students that wish to attend a public high school would have to attend the last public high school in Alameda; Alameda High. The amount of school days for Alameda have so far been cut five days but there will be more cut later.
     I think that this budget crisis is just unfair for all students and also teachers. Just because California does not use their budget well, they have to cut school budgets and other important funding for public and heath services. Why couldn't they have cut spending on prisons or the military? They are not extremely important at all. Why can't they only have a few large prisons located on a island so that it is hard for them to escape. If there were more cuts there, there wouldn't have to be so many huge effects on the school system. The government should understand that the future is much more important. The future depends on children and if their learning experience is cut, the chance of success goes a little bit lower. This increases the chance that America or at least California will end up in the worse economy and a decline in technology as well.