While today is indeed St. Patricks Day (and we hope you remembered to wear green today), for millions of teachers and students across the country, it's just another school day.
It's also another day to wonder if they'll have jobs - or teachers - next school year.
From California to New York, from Texas and Arizona to Ohio and Pennsylvania, state and local governments have painted themselves into the kind of political corner on the twin issues of taxes and schools that we've been warning of for years now. We understand from both sides of the classroom how important great teachers are, to both our individual futures and to our future as a nation.
Sadly, as a country, America constantly complains that our children are not growing up to compete well against young adults in other countries. Yet when reports are released - like the one released this week, from the Programme for International Student Assessment - that say we should pay teachers more and respect them more, the response from state and local authorities across the country seems to come from the idiots at the back of the class: they say, "It's not a revenue problem, it's a problem with teacher pay."
We could respond like some of the more aggressive teachers we've known, and try to use words to beat that kind of stupidity out of people. We could simply continue to throw facts and further studies at our readers which support our position, as well as common logic.
Unfortunately, we doubt that would help.
From Michigan to Kansas, and Florida to Pennsylvania, the reason for these cuts has become as obvious as a tidal wave. Kids and teachers must suffer, so that big business and corporations can get their tax cuts.
There are people who have memory issues, who simply can't learn because their ability to remember things has been seriously compromised. We understand that kind of medical issue exists and feel a great deal of sympathy sympathetic towards people afflicted with such conditions.
However, we don't believe that's the problem with politicians and legislators across the country.
We believe that these politicians are so hubristic that they don't believe corporations will do to them what corporations have been doing across America for many, many, many years.
Corporations will eventually almost always threaten to leave a community if they're forced to pay more in taxes - even if that means simply paying their fair share as a member of the community. Asking them to do otherwise is asking a tiger to remove its own stripes, or asking a scorpion not to sting.
Corporations are not in the business of educating students or directly valuing education. They are in the business of making money. Spending money on anything - be it taxes, wages, or capital improvements to increase worker safety - is an action that works against that goal. If we keep that in mind, it's obvious that corporations will threaten to leave if they're forced to pay more. As history has shown, some of them will take their jobs and leave, whether their taxes are cut or not. Some won't.
Local and state governments need to remember: their job is not to coddle businesses to the point where they hurt their own citizens. The job of government is to make sure their state or their community provides an environment that wise businesses and corporations will choose to locate in - complete with well-educated workers. If some corporations choose to leave, others can always be brought in.
Kids will always need high-quality education, regardless of whether there are corporations in their communities.
Of course, if you were lucky enough to have good teachers back in the day, you probably already knew that.
