I went to school under the Liberty County School System from the first grade until I graduated high school. Although I graduated, the school system is still part of my life because my younger siblings that are still attending school under the school system. Although school wasn’t always fun, I thoroughly enjoyed my time going to the Liberty County schools I went to. In the past two years though, it seems like the Liberty County School System has been an absolute mess. This is extremely disappointing to me because education has been such an important part of my life and the teachers I care about, some of my friends, and my family are all being affected by what the school system has been doing.
On the local newspaper’s Facebook page, Coastal Courier, there was an article written by Tiffany King that was posted about the interim school superintendent was being paid $800 a day. According to the Coastal Courier, he is also being paid $2,000 more for living and transition expenses. The Coastal Courier says that this interim superintendent started working on June 1, 2017 and will be ending by August 31, 2017 or until the new, official superintendent is finally chosen. Coastal Courier did the math and according to their calculations, this interim superintendent will make about $52,000 during his time working for the school board. When I heard this news, I was absolutely floored by how much an interim superintendent for the Liberty County School System can make in just about two months. A lot of people don’t even make close to $52,000 a year and they are barely making it by.
Another thing that bothers me about the interim superintendent being paid $800 dollars a day is that it seems to me that the school system is not putting its money where it is most needed. There are schools in the Liberty County School System that need some remodeling, new textbooks, supplies, such as paper, tissues, Germ-X, and other necessities, and other materials necessary for learning. In many cases, teachers have to pay out of pocket for these things because the school system did not put enough money into their budget to allow teachers to buy these things. I have heard plenty of teachers complain about how they don’t have enough money in their budget to get supplies for their class and even having to find cheaper alternatives for many things.
What is extremely upsetting to me as well is that I know a lot of hard working and dedicated teacher that don’t even get a raise for years, yet the school system has the money to pay a superintendent $800 a day. This may be surprising to some people, but being a teacher isn’t as easy as it seems. Teachers have to put up with so many things such as grading tests and assignments, dealing with students who could be disrespectful, making lesson plans, going to meetings, teaching, dealing with policies both from the school and school board, helping students who have trouble with school, and many more other things. This is a lot of work and it is very saddening seeing that they don’t get the recognition they deserve a lot of times. I have had some absolutely amazing teachers in my life that have inspired me and went above and beyond to make my future brighter. These are teachers that don’t get paid even close to $800 a day though. These are teachers that put their heart and soul into their work and still do what they do regardless of how they are treated because they love their students. I know all teachers aren’t like this, but the ones that are deserve a raise and more money in their budget for their classrooms.
Instead of the Liberty County School System putting about $52,000 into paying an interim superintendent, they school put it into what the students and teachers need. There are students who can barely afford school lunch, teachers that pay out of pocket for school supplies and schools that need help. The school system’s suspicious actions, corrupt operations, ridiculous previous superintendent, and terrible use of money within the past two years or so has left me very disappointed. The fact that the school is doing things like this at the times where President Donald Trump and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos make a huge budget cut on education really makes me worry about the future of students in Liberty County. The school system really needs to prioritize what is important and that is the education and future of students. It seems to me that they are more worried about making money in their personal bank accounts though. Shame on you Liberty County School System.
