They want to save an ailing district with students not reaching their potential, but they don't want to pay for it. You need to spend money to be sure you have quality teachers and resources to help underserved communities rise up to meet the levels of other students. They will never have a chance if they get the bottom of the barrel of everything--which they will if budgets are slashed, class sizes increase because of lack of staffing, special education support is already lacking, electives in middle school are lacking, and of course, the arts will be the first on the chopping block just like they always are. STEM not STEAM because the arts don't count. Some kids come to school because of the arts. Without them, they may drop out. Good luck improving the district by eliminating funding on what's important. Some of these programs come free or at reduced cost to the district, but they would rather pay more to have a teacher at regular salary with benefits. Talk about mismanagement of money.
I realize the preschool was taken over by the county because of some wrongdoing there, but the district could have helped fix it. Now at least they don't have that expense.
And people wonder why it's hard to find teachers to apply for the jobs in Ravenswood. My child's school went through 3 music teachers in 2 years.