Properly funding and operating a public school system is never easy even in the best of times. It's especially tough when widespread economic woes -- falling revenue, rising costs or a combination of both -- force reluctant officials to cut costs to balance the budget. Whitfield County Schools, like many systems in the region and nation, now face that problem. Rather than run and hide from the public, though, officials there will hold a series of meetings to explain the challenges facing county taxpayers, school officials, educators and students.
The meetings, of course, won't solve the problems that confront county schools. The forums should provide, however, a welcome transparency about problems and the future of public education in the county. Indeed, the willingness to meet publicly with school patrons and taxpayers in what officials pledge will be an open meeting is welcome. That's particularly so when many officials at all levels of government reflexively turn to secrecy rather than openness when confronted by difficult issues.
Whitfield officials will provide an overview of the county schools general fund budget, the capital improvements budget and the projected $30-million in combined funding cuts and increased costs for the 2012-2013 school year at each of the meetings. They'll also discuss what options are available to cope with the problem to the school system -- and taxpayers. Each of the meetings will allow time for questions from attendees. That should prove to be the most valuable part of the meeting.
There will be considerable talk at each of the meetings about the cause of the budget crisis, though it is a matter of record. A more than $10-million funding cut was imposed by the state as part of an austerity program. An education special purpose local option sales tax, which had been funneling about $12 million annually into school coffers, expired, though it could be restarted. That discussion should serve as a prelude to what should concern all Whitfield County residents -- talk of how to deal with the cuts in a way that does the least damage to public education.
The first meeting is tonight at Westside Middle School in Rocky Face. It will be followed by meetings at Valley Point Middle School in Dalton on Thursday; at North Whitfield Middle School in Dalton on May 8; at New Hope Middle School in Dalton on May 10; and at Eastbrook Middle School in Dalton on May 17. All start at 6 p.m. Each should attract standing-room-only crowds.
Cooperation, based on mutual interests rather than the assumption adversarial positions, better serves all parties involved in any discussion about the future funding and operation of public schools. In Whitfield County, officials are willingly -- and bravely -- inviting the public to play a role in finding an acceptable resolution to a knotty problem. It's an invitation that should not be refused.