School Funding Crisis

Almost every day there is a story in the media about the government taking some punative action against some government workers union. The shit first hit the fan months ago when the Republican governor of Wisconsin took action against his state workers unions. The result was the disappearance of the Democratic state senators so a vote could not be taken along with statewide demonstrations that could easily have become riots. Things have seemed to calm down for now, but the public is tense and things could explode again. The action by Wisconsin was followed by similar actions by several other states; leaving many state workers feeling like they were under siege, with most of the public animosity directed towards the teachers unions.

In my state, Illinois, the mayor of Chicago--by way of the school board-- canceled the teachers scheduled 4% pay raise resulting in the Chicago Teachers Union president comparing the rank and file to slaves. (Can anyone say hyperbole?) Had the mayor and governor been Republicans the city would have been burned to the ground the next day, but since they are Democrats nothing of consequence will occur. I feel it’s doubtful that the union will strike, and for the sake of the students I hope I'm correct. With 70% of the school budget going to salaries this is probably only the beginning of the government attack on the teachers union. With a +$700 deficit to close more cuts are certain.

Two weeks ago I was at a gathering of family and friends where the topic of the teachers pay raise came up. The group included tea party members, ultra-liberals, and everything in-between. I was shocked to find that all but one individual were soundly against the teachers. Even the unabashed progressives agreed that the teachers were paid too much and the unions had gone too far. The sole person in favor of the teachers’ position was herself, a public school teacher. The consensus was clear—unions were once necessary to insure workers rights, but were now out of control and had to be reined in.

The public school teacher argued that teacher pensions were not out of control because people didn’t think of them correctly. She proposed that the teachers’ pension debt was like a mortgage—it may seem large but does not have to be paid today, but in small installments over time. You could tell that she was instructed what to say, probably by her union, and really didn’t understand her own analogy. As I pointed out, your mortgage doesn’t increase by 3% every year along with medical payments. The pension situation is unsustainable and has to be changed. Unfortunately, teachers will probably never get what was promised to them.

This leads me to the three things that are to blame for the present education funding crisis; (1) unions that over the years pushed for higher salaries and more benefits without regard for how the state would pay for them, (2) an educational system that pays teachers based on how many years of experience they have rather than the quality of their work, and (3) the misguided attitude that more funding is always the answer to why students don’t achieve. Teachers will argue that a small increase in taxes could set everything right.

Using the most recent demographic information the +$700 million school deficit for the next school year corresponds to approximately $320 per person in the city—approximately $1300 per family of four. The median city income being approximately $75,000 and assuming an overall tax rate of 40% each family of 4 would have to pay 3%of their take-home pay just of close the school deficit. How many people would be willing to take a 3% pay cut so teachers could have their 4% pay raise? Try selling that one to the general public.

Blago Guilty!

Critical Thinking Activity

Propose a real-world example that correcponds to the series of cartoons below.

Values

Reported in many newspapers, the “Hooters” controversy in a Pennsylvania middle school has made national news. The comment below was posted by a more “progressive” reader in response to a woman who said she was a parent of one of the students and expressed outraged at the actions of the school chaperones.

“Really, please, you are the reason the world has sex addicts. Your post was so absurd and ridiculous I could not get through it. It’s a restaurant, not a strip club, your 14 year old will be fine, what do you do when he is at the beach? Or maybe you don't take him because of all the so called sinful things his raging hormones might think. So he might get a chubby now and then, might jerk off...so what it’s perfectly normal....sexuality is a part of life and they are learning it early in school.”

What strikes me as most offensive is the way the legitimate concerns of the parent are dismissed so condescendingly by the writer. I would not be surprised if she had no children of her own.

I am not usually characterized as a sexual prude, and I have been to Hooters, but taking a group of 8th graders to lunch at Hooters as part of a school sponsored field trip is irresponsible—period. I was amused by the cowardly statement by the district superintendent who said he wished the chaperones had made a different choice, but no parents had complained. The decision by the chaperones was wrong and should have been confronted as such, whether any parents objected or not. I am fairly certain that such a decision would never have been made by one of my colleagues. If it had, I am sure my principal would have treated such a poor decision privately with an appropriate reprimand and publically apologized to the parents whether they complained or not. It would have been treated as a serious lack of judgment, not an unfortunate mistake.

The quote below is from a woman who was trying to defend Representative Anthony Weiner for his recent bad actions. She is trying to minimize his responsibility by blaming it on the women he texted.

“Everyone always blames the man! What about these women who send lewd pictures of themselves to entice these men who already have this problem. They send them these lewd, half naked pic's and talk dirty, sexy, and everything you can imagine to these men to get them to do these things, ( send nude photos, talk nasty to them ) and then all of a sudden they decide to go public with it. I myself think that is very low grade. If you didn't like where it was going on you should have put a stop to it before it got out of hand. I (BLAME) the women too, if not more. They can put an end to it anytime their little heart desires, but no they keep playing the game, and then decide to cause a public scandal with what has been going on for 3 yrs. Why? Why bring it out now? All you did was ruin a man’s life, granted he was a big part of it, but after all "HE"S A MAN” You women have to learn to live with the fact that "ALL" men have a strong sex drive, and your teasing them just makes it worse!!!”

What this says about our society is significant as well as a little distressing. Taking both of these comments into consideration two things are clear; (1) Anthony Weiner should have spent more time at Hooters when he was 13, and (2) he could still get reelected in his district.