There’s not enough money, surprise, surprise, and much of the discussion is about what to cut.
What to cut, where to cut, and how much to cut.
But that should not be the focus of these discussions. Sadly, few of our leaders are asking the two really important questions.
First: What do we need to give Michigan students in order for them to succeed in school and become properly educated citizens who have a shot at success?
Second, how do we use education as a development tool so that Michigan can be competitive in the future?
How do we provide the kind of education at all levels that will make high-tech, new economy employers come here?
If we don’t find satisfactory answers to both those questions, Michigan flunks the test, maybe for all time.
Cassandra Ulbrich, the youngest member of the state board of education, did say something sensible yesterday. “We need to be respectful of the fact that people are suffering in the state,” she said.
“But at the same time, we need to recognize that our state is at a crossroads and decide what kind of state we want to live in. Do we want to live in the top ten or the bottom ten?
There’s no doubt that we are headed for the bottom unless we provide our citizens with superior educational resources. In fact, we are well on the way there now. Michigan now ranks 37th among the states in per-capita income, and may fall lower still.
Yet school funding, especially perhaps funding for higher education, is in peril this year. The governor has vowed not to sign any budget that makes further cuts to education. But Senate Majority Leader Mike Bishop has vowed to prevent any tax increases.
Those two promises are mutually exclusive, unless they also agree to close all the prisons and let the inmates go. Something and somebody has to give. The state has a two billion dollar deficit that has to be balanced, and there are only three ways to do that.
Cut spending or raise revenue, or do some of both.
What is most dismaying is that nobody seems to be behaving in a serious and responsible way. As I have said many times, cutting spending for education itself, or doing anything that makes it harder for Michigan citizens to get an education, is crazy.
But I am not pleased by what I see from the so-called defenders of education, either. They mainly seem more concerned with protecting perks and benefits than they are with the students.
Union officials in Detroit are today bitterly protesting the layoffs of 225 central office staff. Given the Detroit Public Schools’ abject long-term record of corruption and failure to educate, it’s hard to see why any of them should expect to keep their jobs
What we need to do is take a hard top-down look at public education in this state from a cost-benefit perspective.
And we should start by asking why Michigan needs 552 local school districts – and start consolidating them where that makes sense. The state’s broke and the system is broken -- but we can turn that into good news. If, that is, we take this opportunity to fix it.
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