Streator Cuts Staff, Art, Music, P.E. in Schools

There is something just wrong about cutting art, pe and music. When the powers that be look at things, are they also looking at Administration. Those positions are usually the highest paid. What about the football program at the high school level. If that was cut, how much funding would that provide for other things??? Not to say that it's not an integral part of school, but when you look at what's the primary learning things in a school career, I think the things that Art, Music and PE add are bigger in the big picture than high school football. Cuts have to be made and they are never easy, but with a community like Streator and the things that are needed for a well rounded school experience, the things they are cutting are pivotal pieces for many children. Take extracurricular sports and put them into more of a "club" sport atmosphere where it doesn't take funding from the schools, but puts it back on the community to be creative and look at different ways to fund them??? Streator is a really good little family community and seeing things like this coming for the community is frightening for the long term negative impact it could have. It's time to get creative with the cuts and look at the heavily padded areas rather than the teaching staff and programing? Once you take something away, how do you add it back in??? It may be easy for me to write my comments, but I just hope that the community as a whole rallies together to put their students first...they will be the ones that are your leaders before you know it. They are the ones that you want/need/must equip to be hard workers and leaders for the future. You want them to be contributing members of society with a strong educational background. You are investing in your future as much as your children's when you put funding toward basic educational programming. A child who is well rounded by being exposed to the arts is essential. The PE piece of it is senseless also as you look at a society of obese children. PE is a prime time to teach our children about healthy lifestyle choices and how to have them. Exercise, good nutrition, etc are all a part of it. For some children, it may be the only exposure to healthy lifestyle choices that they receive. Please think about your children's futures with all these cuts. Work to find solutions for the budget crisis. Pray and work together to keep the Streator Educational System in tact!!!