Save Tucson’s Schools. Cut the Sports Programs.

by David Safier

Today, I’m not wearing my Tax-And-Spend Liberal hat. Rather than saying we should fund every worthwhile educational program in our schools, I’m going to play the pragmatist and deal with things as they are, not as I wish them to be.

As things are today, Tucson Unified only has so much money. The District is in debt. It needs to find a way to save money while doing as little damage as possible.

So. Before TUSD considers closing schools or cutting librarians and counselors, it should eliminate all those costly sports programs where school teams play against each other in highly organized, almost-professional leagues for city and state championships.

Do away with all the coaches. Stop buying all those uniforms. Stop paying athletic trainers. Get rid of the administrative position of Athletic Director. Eliminate the costly bus transportation to and from games. Stop paying grounds crews to manicure our playing fields. Turn off the lights that we use for night games.

I don’t know how much this would save, but as an old high school teacher, I can tell you, a lot of time and money goes into the sports program.

We’ll keep P.E., of course. P.E. is an important part of the school curriculum. But as for that costly, non-essential, non-academic, after school athletic activity – it should be the first thing to go, before the District cuts a penny elsewhere.

Comments

[mariana]

This is the best idea I've heard in years. Just think about all that athletic glamour going down the drain, the athletic scholarships going to academically deserving kids, etc. This is Cultural Revolution! Don't take me wrong, I'm not against sports, I played volleyball for about eight years, my mother won several sailing cups, my father coached the national handball team (the european kind), my daughters played tennis (sorry, no cheerleading); we all went to college on academic merits.

[Curtis]

I strongly disagree. Sports, band and other extra-curricular activities have an important role in education. For many kids it is one of the few things they have that keeps them coming to school.

I agree that athletics have become to important in society, but to summarily dump them from our schools would be throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

And colleges will always give athletic scholarships, dumping athletics from the high schools in Tucson would just mean that fewer kids from Tucson would get to go to college.