How much is education worth to you?

I was chatting with my husband the other day (a rare, but nice time in which there were absolutely NO child-type interruptions), and the topic of school fund-raisers came up. He was telling me about a friend who had attended the school fundraiser for his son, and went home absolutely livid (and broke). Apparently, the fundraiser was an auction - and the people attending were skin-flints of the highest order. When a bid was placed on an item, the next bid would be higher by...get this...5 cents. That's right - a measly nickel. He was so aggravated that these people were totally in it for a bargain, and not for how they could help the school...even 1 dollar would have been better, and completely affordable for all in the room. In addition, they were totally short-changing the school by not even offering a decent price for many of the items. For example, a white-water rafting trip for 4 (a value of AT LEAST $240 - minimum) went for $100. Yep - not even half of what the trip was actually worth. Now, I realize that any money raised by the school is better than what they had before, but still...are people really that cheap?!?

Then I started thinking about it a little bit more, and it dawned on me that this little auction actually demonstrates one of the larger problems within the realm of education. I can hear the skepticism floating on the airwaves as people try and compare the auction of one little school with the overall educational system, so let me explain. As a nation, we want the best education for our children. We want them to have PE every day, along with music, art and languages. We want them to have the absolute best teachers, administration and buildings. We want updated buses, computers and books. Small classes are, of course, a must. Right? These are all things that we look for in a good school?

The problem is, we want all of this for our children, and yet we are unwilling to put our money where our mouths are. We have Morton's Steakhouse tastes with a McDonald's budget. We want the absolute best teachers - but we don't want to pay decent salaries, or agree to cost-of-living increases. We want small class sizes, but we don't want to pay for extra teachers. We want music and art, but they get cut first when there is a budget issue (and isn't there ALWAYS a budget issue?!?). We want updated books, computers and buildings - but refuse to pass the budgets necessary. And of course, the ultimate irony - when the state budget has issues, it's a guarantee that education (including college) will be within the top 3 items to be cut first. Basically, we want first-class white-water rafting trips, but we can only bring ourselves to raise the current bid by a measly 5 cents.

The worst part is, we're not just hurting our children. I mean, sure - there's enough of that to go around. Kids are graduating high school without the basic knowledge to compete in college (if they get that far). Our country's math and science scores are lagging behind many other countries, giving those children clear advantages in our high-tech global world. But it's not just them - it is our country as a whole that is suffering. Rather than being a country that develops and innovates, we have become a country that imports. Rather than leading the way in so many technologies, we are following the lead of others. We are undermining our "Superpower" status in so many ways, and I guarantee that education is one of the most important. How are these children supposed to stay competitive if they can barely read?

The answer is not No Child Left Behind - this program that guarantees MORE children left behind than before. It's not longer school days and longer years. The answer is to put our money where our mouths are - to fund the programs that children need. Get rid of the ridiculous pet projects of senators and governors. Use that money to make sure our children can help our nation become great again. And if that means starting small, by bidding a decent price at a school fundraiser, then get out your checkbooks and get started - and encourage everyone else to do the same. Then, pat yourself on the back, gather a group of friends and start working your way up the food chain to continue helping our children.

By helping our children, you can help the future of all of us. And if you get a white-water rafting trip out of the deal - so much the better.

Trading children for political gain

Lip-service. I am so tired of the lip-service. "Oh, this is one of the most important things for our country to take care of...we must strive for excellence." soon becomes "Budget cuts? These are the things that can stand to be cut - and number one is...". How does that work exactly? And why aren't more people standing up and drawing a line in the sand?

While the above paragraph could probably work for many different things, the focus is on education. People complain and moan about how the educational system is broken, and how our children aren't learning enough to be able to keep our nation on par with other nations - and yet, when there is a budget shortfall, the biggest cuts come from our children. For make no mistake - when we take educational money away from the schools, we are stealing from our children.

I'm sure to many that would seem harsh, and maybe even a bit dramatic. But think about it - money is being taken away from the very system that needs it the most, and that stands to do the most good for our country. Money that should be ensuring our children can compete within the workforce, that should be helping them in their quest to be self-sufficient in the future and well-rounded citizens. Instead, they are losing school days, teachers are being laid off, buildings are hopelessly old and outdated...It's no different than stealing from Junior's college fund to help pay a gambling debt. The children are being short-changed for something they had no control over and no say in.

For example, the latest figures for this theft here are either 15 days removed from the school year or over 200 teachers laid off. That's just in our local school system, and that is AFTER some cuts have already been done! Then you have jackasses like South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, who is SUING his own Attorney General over stimulus funds that are designed to help STOP education cuts. He wants to use the money instead to cover his gambling debts...er, state debt. He is perfectly willing to gamble with the lives and futures of thousands of school children so he can satisfy his political ambitions (This issue has led to talk of him running for President in 2012...how stealing from children is a GOOD basis for election is beyond me.). All the while, I guarantee you that a good number of his constituents will continue to complain about the terrible education children are getting these days. "Well, in MY day...blah, blah, blah".

People, you're right! Our children are NOT getting education they should be getting, and no where near the education they deserve! But WAKE UP and smell the damn coffee - if you continue to allow your politicians and leaders to steal from your children to cover their debts, then your children will continue to suffer! It is not rocket science - there is no complicated formula. Here, I'll spell it out for you:

Education cuts + Action-less Complaining = A Failing Country and Short-Changed Students

To borrow a punishment from his part of the country, Gov. Sanford should be tarred and feathered, then run out of town. Stealing is stealing, and to take it from children while trying to burnish a political reputation is flat-out wrong. Unfortunately, he is not the only one doing this - just one of the more prominent.

Until our country stops paying lip-service to education and truly starts to put their money where their mouth is, our children will NOT be competitive in this world. Our country will NOT regain its prominence in math and science. And while our children are getting short-changed, ultimately, it is our entire country that will suffer.

Demon in Disguise

I don't understand the direction this election has taken. For example, I have a very close friend who has been a democrat for as long as I've known her. She believes very strongly in environmental causes. She believes in women's rights. She does not believe in NCLB and its related garbage. So why is she planning on voting for McCain?

Here's the problem - many people, my friend included, believe that Obama simply hasn't provided enough concrete examples of what "change" means to him. That means that they also don't understand how it would affect the country as a whole were he to be elected President. And as human beings, we tend to prefer the known (even if it clashes with our entire belief system) than to trust in the unknown.

So, while McCain successfully keeps all attention on his running mate and not on the important issues at hand, Obama flounders and looks for a way to fix it. While McCain and Palin both lie and distort the truth repeatedly, neither of them is addressing the important issues: education, the environment and the economy being a few of them. While Roe vs. Wade looks into the abyss, the "news" agencies gossip about Sarah Palin's pregnant daughter.

Until Obama can rally and begin to point out the crap for what it is, and begins to give solid examples of what "change" we Americans could expect, liberal white women will continue to flock to McCain and his VP candidate. Like a horse being led to slaughter, they will walk blindly into the trap that McCain and his GOP pals have laid, and will hand over any hope this country has of righting itself from the last 8 years. And then, only after the noose has tightened, will it become apparent that sometimes the known element really is the demon in disguise.

Are You Kidding Me?!?

Whoever this woman is, let me just take a moment to be grateful she's not on the PTA of any school my children might ever attend.

*Moment of silence*

Ok, carry on. How ridiculous is this? Listen, I'm not a huge fan of McCain, but this would hold true regardless of political party - a responsible parent does not sacrifice their children's education for politics. And the notion that someone "famous" or "well-off" can lift up an entire school just by enrolling their children? Absurd.

Face facts, folks. The only way our schools are going to have a chance is if we stop muddying up the waters with BS like this. Does it matter where Obama, McCain, Biden or Palin send their children? Not unless they are enrolling them in "Bombmaking 101". Does it matter that our educational system is failing across the board? That as parents, we count ourselves "lucky" if we live close to a good public school instead of expecting them *all* to be that way? That we can spend billions upon billions of dollars fighting a war that has nothing to do with us but cannot manage to find the funds to make sure our children have the knowledge to compete in an increasingly global world?! Hell, yes it does!

Where a candidate sends their children for an education means nothing. What a candidate can do about our failing educational system means everything.