Being 80 years old, public school was long ago. Due to the World War II military service of my father, I attended several schools. In working on a charitable project for some local schools, I looked at teachers’ lists of items students should provide. In my day many of those items were provided by the schools.
American taxpayers paid for reconstruction of the world after World War II. Now they aren’t willing to pay to educate our youth, including teacher salaries, textbooks, school maintenance and classroom materials needed to support teaching plans for classes.
Teachers aren’t at fault for funding problems faced today. Taxpayers are too willing to allow the future of the nation to be determined by inadequately trained youth who are competing for jobs that don’t require a good education. We need to match the generations that provided educations that allowed us to be a scientific and technical leader of the world.
George, if you are the business man I think you are, I agree with you as to the resistance to funding anything for the community good by the current self absorbed “I have to have it all” taxpayers. However, in your day and my day, it was my parental duty and my obligation to make it to school prepared for class, to study, and to be well behaved. I recognized, if I wanted to have more than my parents and the finer as well as the simple things of life, I had to view school as “my job.” You’re right in as much as in year gone bye, the underachieving kid could always get a job in manufacturing or construction. The kids cannot do that now.
Great post A32.
The taxpayer is not at fault. When school levies or building bonds come up they are seldom denied as long as they are reasonable. The public pumps billions more than ever into schools when they say they need more money and they are short. The results? Constantly deteriorating education. Teachers whining because a student must pass a test to graduate saying the test is unfair!
Someone should ask Mr. Robinson why we have this funding shortage. If he asked me I would tell him that democrats he supports like Kilmer and Seaquist voted to cut education funding so they could save a social welfare program for illegal aliens. Mr. Robinson should ask Seaquist and Kilmer how voting to save this program is in the best interest of the parents in the 26th district.
$1.9 million was cut from the PSD so Frank Chopp and Lisa Brown could buy votes in King County from the SEIU and advocacy groups that support illegal aliens. Again, tell me how this helps the kids in the 26th.
The next time you hear a democrat like Seaquist and Kilmer say they support education challenge them of their votes that cut education funding. Seaquist will tell you it’s the district’s responsibility to raise money by passing bond measures and property tax increases. He won’t tell you that the democrats in this state have cut school funding by 10% in the last eight years. Rob Mckenna has pledged to restore this funding. Now that’s hope and change I can support and vote for.
Great letter George.
Great letter George, but it rubs the wingnuts raw when someone tells the truth.
The author has to be a nut. The only thing taxpayers should be blamed for is stupidy. They allowed the state a federal governments to pour billions into a failed government school system.
Blame the taxpayers, are you kidding? I blame:
unions
liberals
socialist
bad teachers
lazy parents
and a broken educational system.
Money won’t fix it. it will take school choice, vouchers, charter schools and decertifing the unions.
More money is not the answer. Lets do what Indiana has done and allow vouchers so parents have a CHOICE how their tax dollars are spent on education. Parents are leaving public schools in that sate and will do the same in WA state if they get a choice.
I for one will not support one more cent of my money going to a broken ed. sysyem that they turn around and give the forced union dues back to the democrats to keep them in power.
Blame the taxpayers??? Get real..
taxedenough has no clue about what it will take to improve our public school system. All the ideas he/she proposes have been tried in various places and have failed or made little or no improvement.
No single condition change will be the answer, but all of them will be more expensive. The “no more money will make a difference” argument is false.
Publico, competition is the answer to a better product. If Ford built the only car we would still be driving the Model T!
Hey George, how about if you start paying income taxes on 100% of your social security income and sending that money to your local public schools?
After all the Tacoma School District only spends on average a meager $13,000 per student per year, in other words, thats only $265,000 for every classroom of 25 students.
Surely they could use more money and I am sure you would be happy to sent in 28% of social security income to your local school. The teachers will thank you once they finish striking.
False premise = “resistence to funding anything for the community good”
For many years the teachers have extorted money from the taxpayer’s with nothing to show for it, and all the while using the children as hostages..
The public is finally saying ENOUGH!
Publico: You ARE referring to left-wingnuts–right?
Experience teaches–via private schools and almost all foreign nations–that there is an INVERSE relationship between school funding and student performance. Spend less: get more?
How much money do you think it would take to turn this ship around? We keep hearing if we pass the levy our schools will fluorish. Levies almost always pass and our schools aren’t fluorishing. So what dollar figure will overcome parents who don’t support their child’s education?
Amazing that so many experts write in with so many solutions. Where are they when my teacher-daughter needs enough chaperones to take her 7th grade class to the History of Flight Museum? I get the call and go and I have NO kids in the school. Where are they when the 13 year old girl needs a place to sleep because her father is abusing her? How about sending some lunch money for the lunch pool? Coats for those who have none when it gets cold. Soap and a tooth brush for the teen sleeping in the back of an abandoned car? You folks with all your criticism of teachers and our educational system make me want to puke. Without that terrible teacher you wouldn’t even know how to write your nasty letter to the editor.
Olemag, Well as for the 7th grade chaperones, I have been there myself on more than one occasion, With the 13 year old girls situation, the taxes in this state are staggeringly high so we have programs both legally and socially to take care of that young lady, Lunch money? We have free lunch and breakfast in schools already how much do you want to feed overweight kids? As far as coats, I donate to the salvation army as well as my church, and the teen sleeping in the car should learn to eat crow and apologist to his parents, then move back home and obey the rules of home. Schools are there to teach, not police, feed, clothe, and wash!
Spend less: get more?
Gee….why don’t they use that philosophy with CEOs…..
Why is it that education is the only profession that folks keep claiming that there is no need to pay well to attract and retain the highest quality candidates?
Good letter. But in your day, and also mine, the federal government was not involved in education. Therein lies the problem.
beerBoy writes: “Why is it that education is the only profession that folks keep claiming that there is no need to pay well to attract and retain the highest quality candidates?”
It is simply because there are many people who wish to become teachers, and will take little money to do so. There are lots of professions other than teaching where that is true, particularly in the arts (as you should know).
The market decides what teachers are worth, not because it disparages teachers, but because candidates can be had at those levels. That’s why teachers’ unions are trying to limit the number of candidates with all the BS hoops they require. Of course administrators have to be complicit in this…
aislander – so, you are maintaining that the current system attracts and retains the highest quality candidates?
No, beerBoy. I’m saying only an idiot would pay more than he has to. But I would say also that we are becoming idiots collectively, which is why there seems to be belief in a free lunch by a large part of the electorate…