The State of Education

We are pretty lucky (if you can call it that) because we live within the boundaries of one of the school districts that consistently ranks in the top 10 in California. However, as I'm sure the entire world knows, California has fallen on difficult times. It is not just California, though, the entire globe is struggling right now but, humor me, lets focus on the great state in which I reside, California.

So, California ran into some difficult budget issues this year and had to balance the budget. I know everyone has to give in these situations but it does not appear that everyone is giving. The state government reps know which side their bread is buttered and it's not the education side. To balance the budget, our wise senators and assembly persons elected to cut more money from the public education budget. Why is it that California is the 5th largest economy in the world but is dead last in the funding of its education system? Can we not see that if we continue to cut funds and resources from the very hand that continues to feed this state that we may be an impoverished nation in the not too distant future?

I find it amazing that we can fund building projects, roads, and even earmark one BILLION dollars for truck drivers to take their trucks green all the while depleting the budget for education. Don't get me wrong, the environment is very important and I get that if we use up all our resources it will not matter whether anyone had a proper education because there will be no one here to know but, we could be educating the future to help solve these environmental problems. We choose not to though, that is what amazes me.

Budgeting is tough for every one in these hard times but it is all about priorities. We set priorities at home to determine what we spend our money on and our priorities are our children. I think anyone who has children would agree that we would rather give our children the last bite of food and starve ourselves. Are our legislators blind to this? Are they really acting in our best interests? I really have to wonder.

Okay, what brought this on? I drove my children to school this morning and the teachers at their school who have received pink slips are all lined up in front of the school in pink shirts and the ones that have been spared are wearing black. With my kids in the car it took all I had to not break into an all out bawl. It really choked me up. Our district like all others in California is facing some harsh cuts and it is hard to see that happen.

I think we need to rethink how we spend our money in this new era. Reform in many areas is calling, education being one of them but, not the one receiving the most money. Maybe what we need to do is to have a survey on the next ballot where the people rate the importance of spending in various categories, it might be an eye opening experience for all.

I apologize for the rant, not the importance of the topic, though. Maybe with all of our great minds put together we can come up with some feasible solutions to turn this system around.