The economic crisis has affected us all in some way. Some of you have had a family member laid off from work or you have been laid off yourself. Rising gas prices are making it expensive to go anywhere. Property taxes go up while values go down.

The school system is one place feeling the budget cuts more than others. Teachers and staff are being laid off left and right. School districts are scrambling to find ways to cut money while keeping as many staff as possible. However, sometimes it’s just not possible. In fact, last year 38 staff members, including some teachers, were cut from the North Kitsap School District.

One of those teachers was a good friend to me and many other students at the high school: the Spanish teacher. Even someone who may not have any classes with her would know her as a nice teacher around campus. She was the kind of teacher you could bump into and have a conversation with, even outside of school. She wasn’t the only person cut, just one of many. It’s sad that our school district is losing employees like her.

Although we are still young, the students at Kingston High School know know the cuts are wrong.

“I think that it’s a disappointment that they are cutting from the schools,” Kingston student Rachael N. said.

‘“School is a vital thing to keep funding because education should be the No. 1 concern of this country, or really any country.”

It may be that the cuts are inevitable, but there are places that should go first before schools feel the heat. School is the foundation of a new generation. If schools aren’t funded enough to effectively educate students, then we are building a weak foundation and setting ourselves up for failure in the future. A building built with a weak foundation cannot stand and it’s no different with people. If our youth are undereducated, there will be nobody qualified in the future to run the government and the businesses that keep the economy afloat.

It is vital to better fund schools and keep equipment and libraries up to date. Without working computers or updated books, the information required to learn will be unavailable to students. Keeping class sizes down is also important; if classes get too big, that cuts down on the individual attention that can be given to each student. Without the individual attention, those who need help will fall behind and have a very difficult time catching up if they are able to at all.

These budget cuts are serious. It is impossible to avoid them, but that doesn’t change the fact something needs to be done, and soon. If things keep going at this rate, who knows what will happen to the public schools within the next 10 years. Will there even be public schools here 50 years from now?

It’s unfortunate that the majority of those being hurt by these cuts can’t do anything about them, because they are younger than 18 and still in school.