I was raised to believe that education is precious. Sacred. "No one can take it away from you." I have memories of my uncle Jerry never failing to ask me every single day, "What did you learn today?" How that question irritated me! I now ask Judah Mordecai the same question hoping he will take this as an indication that education is critical. For him to understand that a tidbit learned is an investment in his future. As I continue to push this concept in to the forefront, parents have to balance the growing contradiction that school systems, state legislators, and Capitol Hill lawmakers project.How do we, as a nation, answer the following question that a 5th grader asked President Obama while he was pandering to get elected?
"Why is education being cut if America really cares about the future of its youth?"
This young lady is onto something. Right?
We have seasoned teachers being forced into retirement, furloughed, and pay cuts occurring routinely throughout the United States. We also have superintendents communicating the 'don't be too comfortable' in your job security to teachers.
"Unless Georgia’s revenue picture rebounds dramatically in the coming weeks, I would anticipate next year’s State funding of public education may be even less than this year’s...My best advice is to be extremely cautious in your personal budget decisions. You have my promise that I will do everything I can, in concert with the School Board, to minimize the impact of any additional State funding reductions on our valued employees." -A Georgia school system superintendent
My Message
The greatest asset to mankind is his ability to be educated.
And yet, this nation allows a downturn in the economy to affect something that should be sacred.
As you are reading, there is some talk about the Atlanta Falcons building a new stadium. Guess who Arthur Blank, wealthy investors, and some state leaders want to help foot the bill?
The tax payers.
I would rather my taxes be increased to keep a good teacher from getting a termination letter.
Where are our priorities?
Written by Brian E. Payne. Inspired by another night awake thinking about the State of America.
3 comments:
Reader Response:
Nothing is sacred anymore. I am a teacher in a Georgia School System, and there have been cutbacks and more to come. Thanks, Brother Brian for this commentary. More are needed to our congressmen, congresswomen, president, and more about,not just teachers, but people who are losing jobs, can not find jobs, and all of this mess. Things in America should be better than this. The words that my brother used in his commentary came from my school system. Imagine, my superintendent telling us that we should spend our money wisely. He apologizes and promises to do everything in his power, but his salary is over 192, 000. Yes, one hundred ninety-two thousand dollars. That is enough to pay for almost 10 first year teachers in some school systems across the country.
The full letter is below, but I will leave out the name of the person. I do not want to get fired, but it is public knowledge if he sent it to all workers in our school system. It is a set-up to let us know that the rumors we have been hearing about being furloughed or cut in pay or leave without pay is coming in Jan. 2010. It is just an easy letdown, but I guess with education, we must do more with less resources or less, and expect the same outcome in our public schools . Pray for our schools, leaders, and students. What about our inner city schools where we have so many discipline issues, and I am teaching character, manners, etiquettes before the learning. Yes, I am "pouting." I am sure others are having hard times, but our educational system is slowing deteriorating behind the scenes as we argue healthcare reform, homelessness, hungriness. No, I can not solve all of the world's issues, but education is the key to everything, and if we cut valuable resources, we are "cutting ourselves in the throat." I though I would never see this day.
-SP
Muata responds to SP:
Stop lying: $192,000 a year?? To run this low scoring educational system? With the current scores someone needs to be fired!
-Muata
SP responds to Muata:
I am not telling a story. He does make that much. We have about 15 elementary schools. 10 middle, and several high. Yes, he needs a cut to help out our educational system. God bless. I must get back to work. I have lunch duty for a couple of hours. LOL
-SP
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