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'EFFORT
SURPLUS' IN THE FACE OF BUDGET CUTS
written by
John Strong, Niagara
County Community College
 Across
the nation the squeeze of "Wall
Street's biggest crisis since the Great
Depression" (New York Times, April
'10) are being felt by virtually every
section of the economy. Public sector,
private sector, not-for-profit charities;
you name it, they're feeling it. The
CDC reported that the nation's birth
rate dropped by 2% in 2008. Researchers
attributed the decline to the economic
downturn and a related loss of jobs
and job prospects. As we're all keenly
aware the nation's unemployment rate
topped 10% for the first time in a quarter
century. In the wake of such a financial
catastrophe it is no surprise that those
of us in education would feel a related
budgetary crunch. Compound this, for
those of us in physical education, with
the pre-existing 'relevance crunch'
and you get a vocational nightmare!
Many of you
out there in cyberspace are aware of
the conflicting interests of health
and physical education's growing profile
in the wake of those looking for answers
to the obesity epidemic; while our importance
is diminished by policy-writers who
strive for more tangible returns educationally.
We feel diminished by boards that seem
all-too-willing to cut our programming
and subsequently our jobs in the hopes
of increasing time and funding for improved
literacy, math, science, and the holy
grail of 'the next big innovation in
technology.' We've provided study after
study to prove that there is actually
a connection to physical activity and
cognitive function, and that ironically
by cutting our programming the alternative
ends are not well served.
If exercise
"improves blood flow and spurs
cellular growth," (Dr. John J.
Ratey, clinical associate professor
of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School)
then why would we erase it from the
very environment in which our students
are trying to grow intellectually? Why
would we eradicate programming that
teaches our citizens of tomorrow to
be active and stay active when they
are already showing a greater pre-disposition
to type II diabetes than any generation
of recent memory? Are these policy-makers
and number crunchers not aware that
they are fiscally planning for a future
in which today's student becomes tomorrow's
physically bereft programmer, draining
his own financial reserves to satisfy
his growing health problems? Do they
fancy a thinker who may be able to read
the prescriptions he's taking to control
his various morbidities, but have no
idea as to how he could have avoided
them through proper nutrition and enjoyable
activity in the first place?
I find that
I am very confused by this spotty logic,
as I'm sure many of you out there are.
I find it confusing that in this tenuous
environment I am asked to go 'above
and beyond' in terms of my programming
and efforts in the hopes of making my
learning environment more beneficial
to the students; while at the same time
what I produce or support may not be
maintained (let alone appreciated) if
I am summarily dismissed. I find that
my attitude of 'students first' does
not jibe with an environment that begs
'results first.' I find that quantity
seems to supersede quality for those
that view only the bottom line.
So what am
I to do? Should I, to steal a sports
aphorism or two, - punt? Throw in the
towel? There are prevailing winds of
cynicism afoot and I can't help but
wonder how much easier my work day would
be if I raised the main sheet and sailed
away to calmer waters.
But I didn't get into this profession
to float alone, and I am hoping those
of you reading this article didn't either.
Are there any readers out there who
coach or help out with your child's
sports team? How much do you make for
that? 125 smiles a season? Any of you
out there provide in-school programming
or intramurals? What's the compensation
for that service? 57 'thank you's? And
how many of you have spent non-office
hours advising students about how best
to proceed with life's next big challenges?
Going rate for that is 1 warm, fuzzy
feeling, I believe.
My truth,
not to be confused with 'the truth,'
is that I get just as much energy from
that 'positivity' as I do from the lunch
I'm able to purchase thanks to the money
that I am paid. I'm not trying to say
that I can pay my mortgage with 'pats
on the back' but I am trying to make
a case for maintaining efforts in the
face of a budgetary downturn. One's
natural inclination in the face of adversity
may be to shrink up and conserve energy,
and in so doing draw less attention
and 'play it safe.' The problem with
this is that I, as a physical education
professional, cannot 'afford' to play
it safe. I've got little boys that I
have to come home to and explain the
important work that I was doing today
may make their teacher's of tomorrow
better role-models. I've got the burden
of looking at my face, while I shave
it, in preparation for a day that I
intend to spend living, not surviving.
Part of my
truth is that physical education is
not simply an academic discipline that
teaches one the way to homeostatic physical
health, but ultimately an instructional
guide to the machine that is our bodies.
How do I stay cardiovascularly fit?
How can I maintain an optimal weight?
How can I excel without winning? How
can I win without cheating? How can
I attain a goal? How can I maintain
a relationship? How can I live better?
My expectations
here are not self-aggrandizing in nature;
nor are they so lofty as to believe
I'll turn an eternal pessimist into
his counterpart. Rather, I'd simply
like to pay homage to those of you out
there that are giving more of yourselves
than your paycheck may seem to ask.
Your efforts are worthwhile, not because
your peers respect you, awards may find
you, or your résumé's
may build; but because students will
remember you. They will use your lessons,
no matter what their ultimate vocations,
to inform their decision-making process.
They will tell your stories and carry
forth your spirit. They will pay you
the ultimate compliment of imitation
in acts of charity and volunteerism.
My expectation,
in this time of budgetary cuts and fiscal
calamity, is to pay you a compliment
and say "thank you." Thank
you for giving more of yourself than
your community or administration may
rightly ask of you. Thank you for not
giving in to popular sentiment of 'contracting
with the times.' Thank you for continued
diligence in the face of lessening appreciation.
And thank you for following your truth
in a time when 'the truth' seems to
be anecdotal.
If
you have comments, please share them
in the NASPE
forum.
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