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MI: Education vs. Sports - Might be wiser to cut sports

24-May-2011  Mlive.com, Kalamazoo, MI

I love sports. I love playing, watching, coaching, discussing and even arguing about sports. When I have any free time at all, my two young children and I find places in the house or outside to kick around the soccer ball or play tackle football. Sports are a part of my everyday life and I take them very seriously.

But as a public school teacher and member of this community, I also take education seriously.

Right now, we are being told we are in the middle of a budget crisis. The effects of it are real and our local schools are going to take a big hit. The current numbers of cuts being discussed are approaching $900 per pupil. This will affect all school districts; some more than others.

Many districts are discussing cutting benefits and salaries of teachers. Many more districts are realizing they have to cut teaching positions and, in turn, increase all class sizes. And this cut does not even take into consideration the reality that many school districts have been cutting back and downsizing for the past 10 years on account of budget cuts. It seems as if everything is being trimmed and nothing is safe — except sports.

High school sports seem to be a “sacred cow” in this country that few are willing to criticize or cut. While I agree that sports are amazing and can pull a community or a diverse school population together, it is unfortunate that sports often receive top billing over education within a school district. I do not feel as if many school districts are over spending on sports, though.

What I am saying is that it makes no sense that teachers have to write grants to obtain technological tools to use in the classroom to benefit the learning environment. Or that teachers have to spend their own money to buy books for literature circles. I do understand that many sports teams are constantly raising funds to buy new uniforms or to get new conditioning/weight equipment.

But the general operating expenses for sports in many high schools is still where the bulk of the money is spent; salaries for coaches, transportation to and from events, refurbishing helmets and shoulder pads after every season, paying for security at games, upkeep of the fields/courts/diamonds, etc.

I am writing this as a high school teacher and a coach of two varsity sports. If we are being given the option of increasing class sizes, not updating technology and cutting teacher salaries, or cutting the entire sports program, I vote we cut sports.

I know that sounds extreme, but please, think about it for a few moments. The goal and mission of a public school is to educate the child.

Sports and other extra-curricular activities are beneficial and something that can have a lasting impact on many students. But participation in sports is not and cannot be the goal of the public school.

We are in the middle of a budget crisis and we must face the harsh realities for what this means for us — all of us. I love sports and I do not want to see sports cut. But if we are truly facing a $900 per pupil cut something has to go. And I would argue that teaching our students how to read is more important that teaching them how to make a lay-up.

Rob Bradford resides in Kalamazoo, teaches at Loy Norrix High School and is an assistant football coach.

Comments:
1.  Your arguments are well articulated and the point is a solid one. The unfortunate issue with this line of thinking is that most people who are going to comment on your piece are going to talk about how teachers (like the two of us) are greedy, union lovers, who are unable to teach children as well as they did 20-40 years ago, and if we would spend more time focusing on education and less time forcing our liberal agendas on our students then the system of trickle up economics that is currently in place in or society (that is making these tax cuts necessary) would suddenly begin working the way it never has and never will. :(

2.  Only if we could get Granholm back, she was awesome and the state was highly respected as one of two "nanny states" with our sister state, California.  Do you have any idea what the athletic budget at your school is in % to the entire school budget? Probably two or three %, that's going to solve the problem?

3.  Actually there are some points missing here.

• Many schools are "Pay to Play" and some have to both pay AND the parents transport the kids. Often some parent with a minivan transports several players and gets no $ from the school. Some sports actually bring in enough money to maintain the gym or field they play on.
• Coaches in Michigan rarely get paid a teachers salary, or even an administrative assistants salary. Many are teachers and coaches, so I'm sure the writer knows this.
• Kids who play sports have motivation to maintain their GPA, even if their parents don't have much money. Some are motivated enough to gain scholarships to college.
• Of course some sports don't make diddly and if kids really want to play them they will probably find other ways - Courthouse, Soccer Zone, & other Travel teams. As opposed to cutting the whole program, why not make adjustments?

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