As fears continue to ramp up about the Nevada budget situation, more Chicken Little Stories creep out. Of course, we're going to lose teachers and policemen and firemen, because logically that's the first thing you cut in education, law enforcement, and emergency services. You never start by trimming fat- you always go for the beef in the center.
The media immediately does us the disservice by publishing the worst stories they can find and enflaming our fears. They talk about how lack of personnel in prisons has led to attacks, how cuts in education will lead to an end to fine arts, etc. These are the same old arguments that are made everywhere in every generation. They never cut deans or counselors or hall monitors, they always go after the people who get the job done and ask those who remain to do more with less.
Some of the comments in the articles are interesting. Like in the second article, I also know people who work for schools where they cut teaching positions in science and math. Why don't we hear about administrative positions that are being cut? One of the problems in Nevada is that education has never been very important until now. Why should you go to college if you can earn $70-$100K per year parking cars or bartending? The environment of Nevada's economy has dissuaged and devalued education, and now we see some of the fruits thereof come full circle.
I see the same arguments about how money will hurt their education. Honestly however how many of the students are there to learn? They are there for sports or friends or because there's nobody at home anyway. Even those who come to class are not really present; they are texting, emailing, or chatting with people whose bodies and minds are far from the classroom thanks to the cell phones and internet. They choose schools often for sports teams or reputations rather than academics. Notice that for my entire life, they have never cut football, because football brings in money for the schools. Nobody I know goes to the academic bowls because those are boring.
Just like Chicken Little, the media, the students, and other people stir up excitement with claims that the sky will fall. I have previously argued against these spurilous conclusions, having myself graduated from one of the worst reputed high schools in the state. Education is just as much the responsibility of the learner as the teacher, and since they are children, some of that responsibility falls to parents. You cannot throw your kids whil-nilly to the wind and expect teachers to make the successful. You get out of education what you put into it. Since the money spent and the efforts of parents and administrators are not focused on education directly, it comes as little surprise that we're not getting much bang for our buck. However, that will not necessarily change if we cut funding or give them more.
The bottom line is that we don't know what will actually happen. Everything now is putative and planning by administrators. I find it kind of ironic that there were CEOs who agreed to work without pay, but administrators won't take pay cuts. Anyway, all the stories are done to inflame fear and get us all up in a tizzy about what might happen. You know what might happen? You might die tomorrow. Better not leave your house. Good grief, if we were worried every time we stepped out the door that the sky might fall on us, we'd never get anything done. If your only reason for fear is that something might happen, dismiss that fear and take courage.
If the sky is falling, do something about it. If there's nothing you can or are willing to do, then drawing attention to it will just get everyone upset for naught. The clarion call ought to be for better teachers and less administration, because in a classroom where the teacher is king, a teacher can command respect, focus, and accountability, which are things education no longer seems to produce.
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