Bah. When has Thornton funding ever been distributed at the recommended levels? Educators at all levels have been complaining about this worst-kept secret for years. Cuts in this money means that school districts will get a worse screwing than they've been getting ever since Thornton was devised.

So on top of the 38 million dollar hole we have another 5.6 million in cuts? I think a lot of hard working citizens of Baltimore are going to be without a job. Many of them have kids that attend public schools.

By cutting at North Ave, we still affect the kids, even if not directly. Isn't City Schools the third largest employer in Baltimore? Think about it.

May be the City council can donate their raises to the school system to offset this cut........

Nearly all of the cuts at North Avenue involve either people being redeployed to the schools, or having job titles changed, effectively demoting people without changing their duties (but still giving them the commensurate pay cut). I've commented elsewhere here my concern that this could ultimately affect the quality of support that the schools get from Central Office.

I've heard many people tell me that this is their last year. People who I never thought would lose their enthusiasm for the job are disheartened, and many--even a few who are considered rather high up on the ladder--are feeling that they aren't having the positive impact that they once had. I realize that when there are philosophy shifts, there's going to be an adjustment period, but this is starting to feel like we're being nibbled to death by ducks.