In these times of economic downturn in our country there are many difficult decisions that have to be made in the various segments of our society. A lot of those decisions are painful to make and affect the lives of many of us and our fellow citizens directly and ultimately all of us indirectly. Some of them unfortunately affect the very livelihood of those most directly involved as it may mean the loss of a job, restructuring of a job situation, or having to relocate in order to find a job.

This is the case in both the public and the private sectors of our economy with the economic woes of one affecting the status of the other. In fact the success and stability of the public sector is for the most part directly tied to the success and stability of the private sector. If business and industry in our country are suffering so will the various levels of government that depend on tax revenues from those sources to continue providing services to the public.

You might say it is somewhat like taking a stone and throwing it into a pool of water that is perfectly calm. Of course the exact spot where the stone lands will be the spot in the pool where the calm is disturbed the most. But beyond that point every square inch on the surface of the pool will be affected to some degree by the ripples that are created from the splash at the point of entry. The bigger the rock, the bigger the splash will be and subsequently the larger and more forceful the ripples that make their way across the remaining surface area.

Although it is a nation wide problem it really begins to hit home when some of our local governments and our state government begin to assess what services will need to be cut so that they can stay within the limitations of their budget which has been reduced because of shortfalls in tax revenues. One of the areas that touch almost all of us in some way is the state educational system which is currently facing a six per cent proration of funds in the 2009 - 2010 year after suffering through what amounted to an 11% reduction in the 2008 - 2009 year. And that doesn't even take into consideration what kind of shortfalls that may be looming ahead in the 2010 - 2011 budget.

With revenue shortages like those it is obvious that those responsible for making the best use of the dollars remaining will be looking at every program area for places to eliminate cost. Realizing that the primary function of the Education Department and every school system that falls under its auspices is to provide a good education for the children of this state has to be the primary concern and priority number one. Because, without a good education we all know the future of our children would be at risk.

That means that the savings will have to come from areas that would be least likely to directly affect the basic education process. Some of those might be; eliminating or drastically reducing training and continuing education opportunities for staff, putting off improvements in technology, reducing the amount instructional supplies and materials that can be purchased, postponing needed repairs and reducing routine maintenance to physical facilities, eliminating certain staff positions that when filled enhance the students learning opportunities but are not absolutely critical to providing a basic education, and completely doing away with extra-curricular activities such as athletics and band.

For some who aren't charged with making the decisions on where to start cutting it might appear to be a simple process. Just start with all those things that fall outside the purview of the traditional classroom.

With that as a guide one of the most likely areas to be chosen first by some would be eliminating or drastically reducing all the extra-curricular activities with athletics being on the chopping block first. The biggest problem with that is once you take away the extra-curricular activities, particularly athletics, you are taking away one of the greatest assets a local school has for building and maintaining community interest and support, establishing school unity and pride, and keeping some students enrolled who might not initially see the importance of an education but get one anyway because the opportunity to participate in athletics or other extra-curricular activities kept them in school.

I can't tell you how many very successful men, who were coached by my father during his tenure as a coach at Thomasville High School, have come up to me through the years and told me that had it not been for athletics and the influence he had on their lives as a coach, not only would they not have gotten an education but they wouldn't be where they were at that point in their lives. Many of them even speculated that being able to play athletics and the life lessons they learned through the process may have been the key to them not winding up in the penitentiary or worse.

Let's hope that as solutions to the funding crisis in education in Alabama and other states across this nation are sought, that some remedies can be found that would not call for the drastic reduction or complete elimination of extra-curricular activities such as athletics and band. Because without them I fear we would not only eliminate an area where life lessons, which can not be obtained in a classroom, are being taught but we may see the drop out rates increase and endanger the good supportive relationships schools have with the communities within which they are located.

Until next time….be safe