"School officials across New Jersey said on Wednesday that they would most likely have to lay off hundreds of teachers, increase class sizes, eliminate sports teams and Advanced Placement classes, cut kindergarten hours and take other radical steps to reduce spending after 58 percent of districts’ budgets were rejected by voters on Tuesday, the most in at least 35 years."
<
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/22/education/22schools.html?ref=nyregion>
Voters, whipped into a rabid froth by their conservative governor, rejected increased funding for schools all across the state of New Jersey. This is a scenario that is being played out all across the country. Without the continuance of stimulus funds from the Obama administration, schools are being forced to take school financing to the voters. These aren't, for the most part, finance issues that are aimed at increasing teacher pay, or building new football stadiums. These are finance issues that address issues of simply maintaining the status quo, keeping class size small, repairing buildings, retaining art, music, language and other necessary programs.
Yet the voters take a look at their own individual financial problems and, with the help of misleading officials and pundits, decide to vote these financial issues down. Some are simply knee jerk anti-tax people, some have bought into the myth of the "greedy unions", others simply don't like, or see the need for education. But for whatever reason, the vote down these necessary funds.
While teachers and other school staff will suffer, the worst crime about these rejections are that it is our children who are going to pay the heaviest penalty. They won't be exposed to as much art or music, they won't be able to learn a different language, they will be stuffed into overcrowded classrooms where their chance for reaching their full learning potential drops dramatically, they will be denied the benefits of physical education and team sports. We are already saddling our children with a tremendous financial debt, but now we're going to do so without giving them the benefit of a full education.
This is happening across the country, and has been for decades. Most school districts require that any school finance issue has to be passed by a super majority of voters. Thus, while the local school board can whip up enough support to form a majority, it is all too easy for their opponents to find enough votes to reach the magical 41% level. Thus, schools are constantly running short of funds, having to enlarge classrooms, having to cut programs and staff. This has been the sad reality since I started school in the sixties, and it has only gotten worse as time has gone on.
This method of funding our schools has simply got to change. I realize that we pride ourselves on being a democracy, but on the issue of school funding we have taken democracy too far. Is there any other profession, any other area of country that relies directly on the whim of the voter to obtain funding? No, there isn't, so why do we continue this practice when it comes to what we refer to as one of our most important jobs, education?
If we truly want our children to have a great education, if we truly want to invest in the future of this country, then we have got to stop this practice of leaving education funding up to the whim of voter. A good first step would be dropping the requirement for a supermajority in voting for education funding. Better yet, set strict funding formulas according to an education spending policy that actually provides enough funds for the present and future growth.
If we don't, we are consigning our children to a future that is much less than promising.