Andrew Ujifusa writes in Education Week that state education budgets have not recovered from the Great Recession, something Hoover, Alabama residents understand quite painfully if they have children in public school and have been following the recent discussion of school system finances. (Thank you to @ALSchoolConnect for leading me to the EW article.)
“In the new CBPP report, “Most States Funding Schools Less Than Before the Recession,”authors Michael Leachman and Chris Mai state that “at least” 34 states are funding public schools at lower levels for the 2013-14 school year than they did for the 2007-8 school year, on a per-student basis and adjusted for inflation. And 13 states have cut per-student spending by more than 10 percent over that time—two states, Alabama and Oklahoma, have cut that spending by more than 20 percent since the financial crisis.” (emphasis mine)
When you are discussing education and someone says, “It’s not about the money,” it’s about the money. Educating a nation’s children is expensive. And just like keeping up a house, if you let it go for half a generation, it gets more expensive.
The national, state and local debates about public education are about money.
More later. In the meantime, listen to the interview with former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich on Democracy Now! and remember: an uneducated labor force is cheap and powerless.
Posted by Liz Wallace Saturday am.
Build the New 