National Guard Can’t Save California’s Schools

[Modern School]

New California schools chief Tom Torlakson declared a “state of financial emergency,” saying, “The law won’t allow me to call in the National Guard, so I’m saying to every Californian: ‘Your schools need your help and they need it now.’”

Well, they certainly need help, but not for the reasons the Ed Deformers love to claim (bad teachers, bad unions, etc. ad nauseum). $18 billion has been cut from education over the last three years in California. There will be another $2 billion lost next year just from declining tax revenues, and Torlakson estimates that $11 billion of the current $28 billion state budget deficit applies to education.

The numbers certainly look bleak, but bombastic metaphors won’t solve the problem. How could the National Guard help our schools, anyway? They need money, not soldiers. Or was Torlakson actually concerned that there might be civil unrest over the impending cuts? If so, then the law would allow Jerry Brown to call in the National Guard.

to read more, please visit http://modeducation.blogspot.com/2011/01/national-guard-cant-save-californias.html

[tularetom]

1. It's a joke, sort of.

Not a funny one, I agree. But I'm pretty sure he didn't actually entertain the possibility of calling in the National Guard.

[madrchsod]

2. $143,812,600,000 -california`s contribution to the wars since 2001

http://costofwar.com/en/state/CA/

mulitiply that by at least 4-5 times and that`s the true cost of these wars the people of california are paying.

[YvonneCa]

3. Why would a person want to 'read more' ...

...of this? This is just silly...