Curriculum in Today's Economy
By: Esther Wilkison
In times like these, your primary concern may be to keep the doors open, keep your teachers paid, and find ways to boost your enrollment. Things that used to be considered a necessity may now be going by the wayside, as there seems to be no financing. How can a Christian school stay effective and stay financially afloat in this economy?
Cut What Can Be Cut
With paper and ink costs soaring, you will save a bundle by finding ways to eliminate the often excessive use of copy machines and printers. One way to do this, of course, is to go electronic in things like weekly class newsletters, report cards, correspondence, and billing. While this may take some upfront cost and a technology learning curve, it will be worth the investment. It cuts down on paper and ink costs, as well as postage.
Another way to save paper and ink costs is to invest well in your curriculum so that your teachers have the tools they need and therefore do not need to run copies of additional papers. When teachers are creating or heavily supplementing materials, the cost at the copy machine, both in time and money, quickly adds up.
Take a look at transportation costs at your school, as well. If you have buses, could routes be more efficient? If fewer students traveled to away games, could you take a van instead of a bus?
In all areas, bring your students, parents, and teachers on board. They need to know you are not going to skimp on what matters most to meet the mission of your school. They can be some of your best allies for creativity in cutting costs and funding projects.
Be Creative With Staffing
When class sizes dwindle, you may need your staff to diversify. One way may be to combine classes. While this option scares many, it does not necessitate a lowering of educational quality. In fact, combined classes can be a marvelous tool to meet student needs.
Of course, your teaching staff may already be stretched to the limit. If so, it may help to give parents a tuition break in order to get their help for serving as teacher's aides and as supervisors for recess and late stay. This would free up some of the time your teachers need to keep up with additional preparation and grading.
Give Students and Parents Responsibility
When there seems to be an endless supply of paper and pencils, there seems also to be an endless demand for these items. However, when students have to be responsible to bring their own, they can often make such supplies last longer.
It's human nature to take more care of what we personally own. Therefore, it makes sense to make students and parents responsible not only for school supplies but also for textbooks. Many schools have stopped collecting a textbook fee and investing hours in collecting, caring for, and storing textbooks. Instead, they are giving parents a way to order their textbooks through an online site linked from the school's Web site. Parents and students are more motivated to care for the books, as the replacement cost is their responsibility.
Keep on Track
When you're tightening up the budget, there is one important factor to keep in mind—your mission. Your ultimate goal is to provide the children you serve with the best Christian education you can possibly give them so that they will grow up to be wise, godly adults. The right curriculum is like the track that will take you to that goal.
While your curriculum should never mandate what happens in your classroom, the right curriculum provides the guide your teachers and students need—a guide not only to subject matter, but also to Bible integration, hands-on experience, critical thinking, and discovery learning. While it is tempting to try to make do with textbooks that come cheap or free, cutting costs here can seriously undermine the cause of Christ in your students.
No matter how tight the budget, you want your teachers to be successful in their teaching. Therefore, they need not only the right teacher's editions, but the right student materials and teaching visuals.
Of course, you can find textbooks with a price tag that seems more attractive, but the real test of a book's quality is not whether it contains the adequate amount of facts and figures but whether it teaches truth. Does it contain factual errors? Does it fail to teach critical thinking skills? Does it approach learning from a wrong perspective—a godless worldview?
If the answer to any of those questions is "yes," then that textbook does not belong in your classroom, no matter how inexpensive it is. Why? Because the minds and souls of your students are worth far more than money. There are other ways to conserve and cut back without compromising the integrity and quality of the Christian education you offer.
Your school can survive—and thrive. You can get through this rough spot, and the next, and be stronger for it. And the wise, godly people who graduate from your school will be better equipped to love God, serve others, and help their generation build a better future.
Esther Wilkison is a national consultant for BJU Press, www.bjupress.com. She lives in Greenville, South Carolina, and travels frequently to speak to Christian schools around the country.
