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At Churchill High School, potters’ wheels sit unused inside a dark room. At a number of schools in town, stages are dark because reduced funds have shuttered performing arts programs. And at most of Eugene’s elementary schools, students get music instruction for just a quarter of the year. Continue reading
Eugene public schools have been hit hard by budget cuts. Since the 2008 financial crisis, 4J has made more than $32 million in budget cuts and spent nearly $37 million in reserves. It’s difficult to conceptualize what such continuous loss in school budgets means. To supplement the anecdotal evidence, EW is publishing this column to draw attention to the cuts, compare current conditions to that of past school years, and highlight programs that attempt to fill some gaps. Continue reading