Matt:
This comparison may be a stretch for some, but I am always struck by how
education, public assistance, and social service programs are required to
provide all sorts of data and documentation to justify the public expenditures
(even more onerous now in these days of welfare reform and major program cuts),
and yet we require no evidence of efficiency or demonstrable results when it
comes to, say, waging the war on terror or the fighting in Iraq or, for that
matter, the war on drugs. We just pour billions of dollars worth of resources
into the cause, using strident language such as "democracy" and "freedom" and
"public safety" to justify the huge expenditures, yet where's the data? What
evidence do we have that the war is being waged in a way that comes anywhere
near to being efficient? (And how about all those humvees that don't have armor
plating, or the soldiers without vests, or, more germane, all those civilians
being killed because of the inefficiency of the "precision" bombs?) I'm sure I
could find mulitiple billions of dollars that are being spent unnecessarily or
inefficiently in the war on drugs, with defense contractors, in how we support
the logistics of the war in Iraq, etc., but there isn't even a pretense of
scrutiny given to the methods or means used.
This is not to negate Matt's valid point(s), nor would I suggest that some
school districts couldn't deliver services in a more efficient way. But having
witnessed the impacts that budget cuts have had on local schools and people, on
what they have done to morale and the sense of community that is needed for
successful schools, I have to say just how disgusted I am with all of it. I
fight waste wherever I see it, but I'm fed up with the demonizing of education,
social service agencies, etc., and the disheartening behavior of the
legislators who want to de-fund or starve education and many other worthy state
programs. It's a red herring. They aren't after efficiencies, because if that
were the case, neither party would appoint political hacks to hold key cabinet
posts in the government--as Pawlenty has done with several state agencies. This
is just about pitting rural and suburban districts vs. metro, hoping that the
potential infighting will distract the public from the real assault taking
place.
The school districts should all band together--rural, suburban, and metro,
which is what some very savvy parent groups are trying to faciliate right now.
Let's hope that the swing in the legislature emboldens the democrats to show
more courage and leadership this time around, because it takes just a few
courageous leaders to effect a groundswell that will sweep out the
anti-government types and hopely foster a return to the progressive values that
used to characterize how Minnesota provided basic and important services to the
public.
Tom Goldstein
two months in Hamline-Midway
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