Wednesday night at my parents house, I caught an advertisement with which I took exception. It featured a series of small children, who were clearly prompted in what to say, complaining about the proposed budget cuts. "How could you cut teachers so that companies can continue to keep their money?" one of them asked. That is a crying shame and a manipulation of children.
One of the strangest things about this is the premise. Cut the companies to educate us, so that when we graduate there won't be any companies to hire us because they won't have any money. I'm also fairsure the children or their parents were compensated, which means in essence they sold their children and sold out their children to make a little money right now.
Interestingly enough, the Clark County School Board, which manages education where I live, voted unanimously this week to cut 1000 teacher positions. When you look at the numbers, the net effect is to increase class size by three students. Strangely to me, there were 1800 positions cut, 1000 of which were teacher positions. How many administrators were cut?
Many of the administrators don't belong. When I was in High School, ironically enough in this same school district, they showed me just how useless and backwards the process was for administrators. After my US History teacher showed us the movie "Glory", which is Rated-R, to a class full of 15-16 year old kids without notifying our parents or asking them if they were ok with it, I complained. He was promoted to dean. Now, that's maybe not what happened, but that's what I saw as a teenager. Conversely, my AP Calculus and AP Composition teachers, who were absolutely stellar individuals, were both denied their applications into administration. There is also a dean over at Rancho HS in charge of discipline who looks like a tatooed thug. Him I have seen with my own eyes, and how can a man who cannot discipline himself be an example of discipline for the miscreants in his school?
For many of the young people, this is a null sum game. They see there is a finite amount of money in the world, but they bicker and whine if we apply the bell curve to them. Surely a 92% cannot be a D in a class of brainiacs! It is if there is a limited supply of A grades to assign! That was the case in my Organic Chemistry Lab- the professor gave only one of the 18 of us an A, but by the time we got halfway through the year, I was willing to accept anything as long as I didn't have to retake it.
For these people the world is flat. They require companies to 'take one for the team' but are not willing to do so. These fat men in tall hats are those General Buford mused at Gettysburg would talk about how valiant Meade's failed charge would be if Meade didn't take the high ground. It's ok to redistribute as long as it's not their loss. Don't believe me? Watch this video:
They worked hard for their grades. People work hard for their money. Maybe you don't think it's hard work, but you don't really know that do you. Watch Dirty Jobs or Undercover Boss and you'll see how hard some of these people really do work. They earned their money because someone decided it was worth that much to hire them.
Contrary to the children's pleas I mentioned earlier, scholarship and school learning will not collapse if we cut money. The solution is always money for these folks. Learning hasn't really been occuring in schools for years. I am what I am in spite of the Clark County School District, and not because of it. I had engaged and empowered teachers, involved parents, and internal discipline. You simply can't force people to learn who do not value it, no matter how much money you throw at them or how many No Child Left Behind laws you pass. You are holding people accountable for affairs of agency in other people. That never works.
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