I’m going to have to disagree with Windham-Raymond Superintendent Sandy Prince’s recent take on the proposed school budget.

Concerning $1 million in proposed cuts, Prince said, “It’s drastic. This is not anything that any person in the district is happy about.”

He’s wrong on two counts. First, there are tons of people thrilled that the school department is talking about cuts: the recession-weary taxpayers of Windham and Raymond. Teachers and parents, beneficiaries of higher spending, may not appreciate cuts, but the majority of residents do.

Secondly, the new school district has a $40 million yearly budget. That’s massive, and cutting $1 million, a mere 2.5 percent, is not drastic.

While it’s admirable that our representatives on the school board are trying their best to cut $1 million so as to not raise taxes, it seriously shouldn’t be that difficult. To run a handful of schools in two small towns in Maine shouldn’t cost $39 million a year. It just shouldn’t.

If the school board needs some help thinking of ways to cut money out the program, here are a few. These ideas are obviously drastic, and if these were better economic times there would be no need for them. But if the School Board is serious, here are some suggestions:

1. Do away with education technicians. These are the folks who help kids one-on-one in the classroom. They stand by their desk and lend a helping hand when the regular teacher can’t. Not to belittle their role, but that’s the gist of it. “Back in my day,” there was one teacher. I can’t imagine the distraction these education technicians must cause to the rest of the students in the class, as they try to help those one or two students keep up with what’s going on. Let’s get rid of education technicians, go back to having one competent teacher for each classroom, and save a bundle in the process.

2. Do away with busing. Yes, it would be a terrific traffic nightmare trying to get your kids to school in the morning, but it’d be worth it. Carpool, or just drop them off on your way to work. Or let your kids walk. With American children getting fatter and fatter, the good old days when kids walked a few miles to school could be just the cure for obesity.

3. Do away with expensive sports. Keep the classic sports like track & field, basketball, cross country, and soccer where kids don’t need expensive gear to participate. But do away with sports like cross country skiing, downhill skiing, football, lacrosse, baseball, golf, tennis, field hockey and ice hockey. Athletic kids would still have the outlet they need in each season, but the costs of our athletic department wouldn’t be so high.

While you’re at it, don’t pay the coaches. They aren’t doing it for the money, and they don’t need the money. Keep it strictly amateur, where everyone is involved because they love the sport and love representing the school system.

4. Do away with all things computer. The argument that Maine kids will fall behind if they aren’t taught how to work a computer and the Internet is a bunch of baloney. (Steve Jobs and Apple Computer is the real winner with Maine’s school laptop program, eh?) Computers keep changing. What these kids are taught today will have evolved by the time they’ve graduated. Get rid of the electronic toys and teach the old-fashioned way, with books, paper and pencils. It’d be greener and save a boatload of money, too. And the kids will be brighter for it.

5. Close school more often. Save heat and air conditioning. Save on janitorial expenses. If town halls are closing early and operating on fewer days, why not schools? Staffers, teachers and students would probably love a four-day schedule, and it’ll justify why we can’t give them raises for the next few years.

Can you imagine the grief our poor School Board reps would get if they approved a budget with these items? That’s why you’ll never ever see these sorts of reforms take place. Parents are the biggest lobbying force this country has ever seen, and that’s why we have school officials in Windham and Raymond that say cutting $1 million from a $40 million budget is next to impossible.

To embellish upon ABC’s John Stossel: “Give me a (tax) break.”

John Balentine, of Windham, is the former editor of the Lakes Region Weekly.