I just had this Letter to the Editor published in a local weekly paper, News@Norman. One of the things I like about this paper is that they'll publish long LTEs:
It seems like you can hardly go to a County Commissioners meeting without having to sit through several representatives of the Lincoln County school system begging for more money. Yet, on the front cover and in the centerfold of the June 4th News@Norman, we're treated to images of the new North Lincoln High School showing that quite obviously an outlandish amount of money was spent on another monument to failed government education.
From the extravagant entrance to the flamboyant foyer, this colossal structure is hardly appropriate for a county which routinely has to beg parents, businesses, and citizens for basic school supplies, and then has to go to the County Commissioners for budget increases. How much could have been saved by using more modest construction, like that of the new Denver campus of Lincoln Charter School? How much would then be left for textbooks, school supplies, and other expenses?
When I ran for County Commissioner in 2002, I asked practically every teacher I ran into one question: Would you rather teach in a fancy, lavish building and not have enough school supplies, or would you rather have the proper school supplies yet teach in a run-down trailer? Without exception, they chose the latter. So why would the Powers That Be continually choose the former?
It's very simple: People driving by and visiting see the building, the foyer, maybe the offices. They don't generally see classes in session. This is about putting on a show, bragging to everyone else about how wonderful our government schools are, while the students are forced to do without. It's politics at its worst.
When you have a child who doesn't spend his allowance wisely, and is constantly having to come to you for more money, the solution is to not give it to him. You have to make him realize the value of money and get his spending priorities straight. By increasing his allowance, you simply enable his behavior. If our County Commissioners are really serious about fiscal responsibility at a time when we're all having to scrape to get by, they would refuse to increase the budget for schools until those in charge get their priorities straight.
Next year, students going to North Lincoln will have a high-tech 600-seat auditorium, classrooms "wired for the 21st Century" (whatever that means), a huge foyer with an almost-an-NC-flag (someone forgot the white star) made of tile, a cultural arts wing with performance rooms, practice rooms, and an ampitheatre, and two gymnasiums. These are all wonderful things for a school to have, but if students end up without the necessary supplies, then what's the point?
I, for one, will keep this in mind this fall should I see them begging yet again for basic school supplies, and hear about how teachers are digging into their own pockets to purchase textbooks and other materials. Then, I'll be forced to wonder if our children are more mature than the politicians who service them.
It seems like you can hardly go to a County Commissioners meeting without having to sit through several representatives of the Lincoln County school system begging for more money. Yet, on the front cover and in the centerfold of the June 4th News@Norman, we're treated to images of the new North Lincoln High School showing that quite obviously an outlandish amount of money was spent on another monument to failed government education.
From the extravagant entrance to the flamboyant foyer, this colossal structure is hardly appropriate for a county which routinely has to beg parents, businesses, and citizens for basic school supplies, and then has to go to the County Commissioners for budget increases. How much could have been saved by using more modest construction, like that of the new Denver campus of Lincoln Charter School? How much would then be left for textbooks, school supplies, and other expenses?
When I ran for County Commissioner in 2002, I asked practically every teacher I ran into one question: Would you rather teach in a fancy, lavish building and not have enough school supplies, or would you rather have the proper school supplies yet teach in a run-down trailer? Without exception, they chose the latter. So why would the Powers That Be continually choose the former?
It's very simple: People driving by and visiting see the building, the foyer, maybe the offices. They don't generally see classes in session. This is about putting on a show, bragging to everyone else about how wonderful our government schools are, while the students are forced to do without. It's politics at its worst.
When you have a child who doesn't spend his allowance wisely, and is constantly having to come to you for more money, the solution is to not give it to him. You have to make him realize the value of money and get his spending priorities straight. By increasing his allowance, you simply enable his behavior. If our County Commissioners are really serious about fiscal responsibility at a time when we're all having to scrape to get by, they would refuse to increase the budget for schools until those in charge get their priorities straight.
Next year, students going to North Lincoln will have a high-tech 600-seat auditorium, classrooms "wired for the 21st Century" (whatever that means), a huge foyer with an almost-an-NC-flag (someone forgot the white star) made of tile, a cultural arts wing with performance rooms, practice rooms, and an ampitheatre, and two gymnasiums. These are all wonderful things for a school to have, but if students end up without the necessary supplies, then what's the point?
I, for one, will keep this in mind this fall should I see them begging yet again for basic school supplies, and hear about how teachers are digging into their own pockets to purchase textbooks and other materials. Then, I'll be forced to wonder if our children are more mature than the politicians who service them.
