Cut Education Now, Pay Later: ‘What Does This Kind Of Negligence Do To Our Students?'
Leila Chakravarty, a seventh-grade math teacher in the Los Angeles public school system, measures the cost of austerity cuts to education not in gym size, class size or even pink slips, but in kids.
"There are plenty of days when I know someone needs help, and I simply cannot get the time to talk to him or her one-on-one before the bell rings," said Chakravarty, who noted that she has taught as many as 37 children in a class. "What does this kind of negligence do to our students? You know you're failing them. You know you could do more."
Unlike a scaled-back police or fire department, the harm caused by tighter school
