Public+schools+crisis+makes+my+blood+boil

= = =By NANCY ESHELMAN= =Published by The Patriot-News= =4/1/12= = = = = = = =If society has a mission, I see it as two-fold: to leave the world a better place and to train those who come after us.= = = =So my blood boils when I read about the crisis facing public schools. I’m tired of discussions about program cuts, larger classes, disappearing kindergartens and libraries without librarians.= =I’m tired of people who say teachers earn too much and sick of people who don’t have kids or whose kids are grown growling that they shouldn’t pay school taxes.= = = =Reading may be fundamental, but education is, or should be, sacred.= = = =The problem isn’t in the school buildings; it’s in the Capitol.= = = =The Legislature, instead of declaring this the Year of the Bible or concerning itself with medical procedures best left to a woman and her doctor, should sit its collective butts in its assigned chairs and figure out a way to fund our schools – all of them. The system we have now is broken. It’s past time to fix it.= = = =If no child is going to be left behind, then a kid in Harrisburg should be entitled to the same education as a kid in Hershey. Parents shouldn’t be forced to shop for homes in “good” school districts. They should all be good.= = = =Every district should have full-day kindergarten, offer Latin, employ librarians, teach consumer science and support elementary school music. None of us should pick up the newspaper and read that these programs are on a danger list in our communities.= = = =As for teachers, I’m tired of reading comments from ne’er-do-wells who complain about teachers’ pay and summers off.= = = =Let’s go back to the Legislature for a minute. Who do you value more, your kid’s teacher or your legislator? A starting teacher generally makes less than $40,000 a year. Your legislator makes almost $80,000 plus a per diem just for showing up when the Legislature is in session.= = = =In fact, the average teacher in Pennsylvania earns about the same as your mail carrier. While the mail carrier puts up with rain and snow and gloom of night, teachers face runny noses, PSSA tests and temper tantrums.= = = =And don’t give me that guff about working nine months a year. Teaching is about planning, planning, planning. People don’t walk into a classroom and teach. Plenty of preparation on evenings and weekends and lots of follow up go into it.= = = =I’m not saying every school building has to be the Taj Mahal. Plenty of us were educated, and educated well, in shabby buildings where the playground equipment consisted of a ball and a jump rope.= = = =But kids today need computers as much as they need desks. Educators should decide what’s important, and the Legislature should get the tools for them.= = = =If I were the boss lady, I’d tell the Legislature to sit down and figure it out. Don’t appoint blue-ribbon committees and study proposals for months. Just do it.= = = =Tax something (the fracking folks would be a good starting place). Divert funds from somewhere else (like your own over-sized staffs). Cut the size of the Legislature itself. Be creative. Earn your $80,000.= = = =If the American Dream focuses on every generation being better than the last, it’s up to us to provide the resources to make the dream a reality.= = = = = = = = = = = =News= =home=