As the federal government shutdown loomed and then was averted, an offensive little meme creeped into my Facebook queue: the "Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011." Not offensive is the idea that Washington politics ought not interfere with getting paychecks to our soldiers. Offensive is the cheap patriotism of casual typists aping the language of John Wayne or Rambo. Offensive is the absence of comparable outcry over the same inconvenience that other valuable public servants might experience if we keep playing budget chicken.
And on the local level, offensive is the fact that the firing of 22 teachers in Yankton arouses no similar outrage. Well, wait: the Displaced Plainsman is outraged at the "carnage." But those folks losing jobs in Yankton aren't nice people with families and bills to pay. Just like the superfluous teachers who are retiring from Madison's schools whom we won't replace with new hires, those teachers aren't essential to the continued functioning of our democracy. They're just an inconvenient expense who, as LK points out, happen to lean Democrat too often at the polls. We've got to balance that budget, no matter what!
Related: Congresswoman Kristi Noem is disappointed that Friday's budget deal didn't bring deeper cuts. However, she is not sufficiently disappointed to ask for deeper cuts in the U.S. Forest Service. Heavens no: she wants more federal money from that program to fight the pesky pine beetle in the Black Hills. She'll spend more on beetles, but expect her to support gutting the Pell Grant program further than the $16 million she's already voted to take away from South Dakota students. Heck, Kristi doesn't need a college degree; why does anyone else?
Update 15:10 CDT: But wait: even as she's playing to Fox with gripes that the budget deal doesn't cut enough, Rep. Noem is asking Uncle Sam to send more money to fund South Dakota school districts. Didn't F. Scott Fitzgerald say something about holding two opposing ideas in your head as a sign of a first-rate intelligence? Of course, he might have been cracking up when he said that.
Weep for your children, folks, because there's no do-over for their education. The years they lose through over-crowding, under-funding, and program elimination will never be made up. It's one thing to go into adulthood poorer financially than your parents, but to be poorer educationally is a handicap that no child should labor under. And South Dakota will suffer for it, because these children are your next generation of workers, educators, leaders...
Amen, Eve. Most likely this whole effort(budget crisis) is part of an agenda to do away with public education. Again the the me mentality takes preference over the we(part of a community. Keep in mind, in the Lord's Prayer, is the word "us" used or the word "me".
Well stated Eve. The dismay of the Republican budget continues. My hope is that in the near future these people will be held accountable and become unemployed representation from their districts. I have a very difficult time even watching this leadership on the news. I have seven grandkids that are getting short changed.
Cutting the education budget is like porn for Noem. She and her staff love it.
If the teachers who lost their jobs and the ones who kept it join together maybe they can make a difference. A teacher is one of the more recognizable faces in a community. I think they should speak out.
WOW! 22 teachers is a lot of people in a community of that size!
I will enjoy seeing SHS in Brookings tonight. I hope she can share her opinion of politics.
Nothing pays off like education, yet so many are simply distracted by the deluge of entertainment sources that they can only look up long enough to notice that they have to pay their taxes. "Why would I need an education? I've got broadband!"
From the article:
“The unfortunate aspect of this is this is just the first round of cuts,†Gertsema said. “By law we had to notify the teachers by April 15, we are still looking at additional cuts to the non-certified staff as well as programs in the district.â€
Well... Cory... looks like you won't get a chance to weigh in on this in Madison no matter how the election turns out. If we have to make cuts and notify teachers by April 15th... I would like to know how Madison is going to proceed with our budget shortfall. Are we really not going to replace the retiring teachers?
Interesting page from Yankton School District.. lots of great information on opt-outs, school funding, etc. -- Much of this applies to Madison.
http://www.ysd.k12.sd.us/optout/
Cory... do you or does anyone else know where we can find information like this. It appears taxes have been cut significantly since 1994. We need some graphs like this for Madison, especially for all the "No New Taxes" people. Looks like in Yankton the property taxes are the lowest they have been in some time.
http://www.ysd.k12.sd.us/ysd/subpage.aspx?YSD=WebPointID%3d938%26NewsStoryID%3d0%26__TimeStamp__%3d12%2f31%2f9999+11%3a59%3a59+PM
Yankton has some great resources. Good finds, Ashley! I'm pretty sure our own school district's website offers no such clear and easily accessible information (one more thing I'll push for on the school board). I wonder if we might find what you're looking for on the state's property tax website?
Worth noting: those Yankton graphs show the levy per thousand in taxable value. So those trendlines don't mean folks are paying less on their final tax bill. They pay less per thousand dollars of value, but their houses and ag land are worth many more thousands of dollars than they were in 1994. It would be another mathematical exercise to plot that levy against rising property values and then factor in wages and inflation so we could see if what families are paying now is a lower proportion of their household income than it was in 1994.
22 teachers laid off sounds like there were other budget issues with the school district. Almost like this area is trying to cover up their own fiscal recklessness by blaming Pierre or DC for their own missmanagement.
It isn't just 22 teachers - three people are retiring and they are not being replaced. They eliminated 2 ESL positions. They eleminated all grade school and middle school activities. They aren't done yet if the opt out does not pass.