Budgetary shortfalls, school district bankruptcies, teacher and administrator layoffs, hiring and salary freezes, pension system defaults, shorter school years, ever - larger
classes, faculty furloughs,
fewer course
electives, reduced field trips, foregone or curtailed athletics, outdated textbooks, teachers having to make do with
fewer supplies, cuts in school maintenance, and other tales of fiscal woe inevitably captivate the news media, particularly during the late - spring and summer budget and appropriations seasons.
Under this policy, some popular high school
elective classes — including courses in women's studies and social justice — could have been canceled before they got underway, because it took a
few years for their popularity to build.