The Death of Public Education in America

We are watching the death of public education in our nation.

     Actually, it would be more accurate to call it a murder.  And like any murder, this one has victims, perpetrators, accomplices and innocent bystanders who all play an important role in this heinous crime. So who are the perpetrators, the ones up to their elbows in blood? You'll have to look on both sides of the political aisle, because unlike the old days when it was only the Right who beat up on public sector workers, our story includes murderers of all political stripes. First, the conspirators. This is who cooked up the scheme, hatched the plot, planned the caper, see? They began with the end in mind.  And what is "the end"? After all, every murder has a motive. The end, the real goal, the denouement of these killers is to pay as little salary as possible to educators. Educating children, especially children who live in poverty or who have learning disabilities, is complex and expensive.  But the murderers want education on the cheap.  Obviously, they can't come out and say this in public.  So, like all murderers, they have concocted their alibi. These evil geniuses say that we must have radical education reform so that children will achieve more in school and receive a better education. This, of course, is pure fantasy.  If they cared about educating children, they would have become teachers.  Most of the people perpetrating this crime have never stood in front of a classroom full of children (except maybe for a photo-op).  But somehow, magically, they have all the answers to the complicated web of problems that plague our public education system. 

     So who are they, these misinformed misanthropes? The principal (no pun intended) destroyers are: George W. Bush, Michelle Rhee, Bill Gates, James Liebman, Arne Duncan, Joel Klein, and Michael Bloomberg.  There is a second tier, we'll call them accomplices, that includes: Randi Weingarten, Cathie Black, Barack Obama and Chris Christie.  This second list is comprised of those who weren't in on the plot, but who were either hemmed in by political circumstances or who jumped on the bandwagon.  They do, however, all hold the same central tenets regarding education.  They believe that public education is too expensive and they are not getting a return on the investment.  They believe that is the fault of educators. It is real easy to sell this lie to the American people, especially in times of economic hardship. The anti-teacher narrative goes something like this: "Every child can achieve at a high level, no matter what their economic circumstances.  If students aren't achieving, then it is teachers who are failing our kids. Any teacher who brings up the fact that many of their students live in poverty, have learning disabilities, don't speak English, are using drugs, live in foster homes, live in homeless shelters, or are being raised by a struggling single parent...well, those teachers are whiners! They should stop complaining and do their job.  They get summers off, health care, they go home early every day and they get a fat pension. They need to start working for that money."  As the political center has drifted to the right over the past thirty years, this rhetoric has been steadily ratcheted up. Even lefties like Obama have joined the chorus of teacher-blamers.  In fact, sometimes those on the Left try to "out-reform" the true believers on the Right (see Andrew Cuomo -he has read the tea leaves and he is going to give the rabble what they want. Just watch).  

     What really set people off  was the economic crisis.  As people who worked in private industry saw their bonuses dry up, pensions dwindle and jobs get cut, there seems to have been a backlash against public-sector workers, especially teachers, that was firmly rooted in resentment.  They look at teachers' job security and pensions and think, "Why should they have that? They should suffer like the rest of us during this economic downturn." Couple that with the constant political drumbeat from both the left and right-wing think tanks and the Wall Street crowd that wants to kill all unions, and you have the perfect storm. 

     The latest deception  being put forth is that we need pension reform.  The states are broke and they won't be getting bailed out by Washington this time.  The reason the states are broke, the argument goes, is because greedy public sector workers and their unions are bleeding the states dry with their undeserved pensions.  The only solution is to "reform" those pensions.  One way is a proposal to allow states to declare bankruptcy.  If allowed, states could then essentially declare all negotiated contracts null and void.  A judge would determine which financial obligations the state would have to meet and which it would not have to meet.  A scenario like that would not only affect future retirees, but also current retirees.  Imagine that you're living on a fixed pension that you've worked all your life to earn, and the state reneges on its agreement and reduces your pension!  The other way that the states will try to "reform" pensions is to permit pension negotiations to be part of each collective bargaining agreement.  In New York state, pension changes are currently controlled by the state legislature.  If Mayor Bloomberg gets his way, the city of New York will be able to negotiate pension modifications during contract talks.  What that really means is that each time there is a new labor contract (every three to five years), workers will lose a bit more of their pensions in negotiations.  They will chip away and chip away until there is nothing left. 

     I haven't heard too many people argue that teachers and other public sector employees get paid too much money.  The argument is usually that we need to pay teachers more so that we can attract the very best minds to the profession.  Lately, however, the argument seems to be that public sector employees receive too much in the way of compensation.  Working in the public sector usually provides a person with a steady job and with a certain level of job security.  You'll be able to live a nice middle class life and have a modest retirement.  It's a choice people make.  You won't get rich, but you can serve the public and have a secure lifestyle.  Well who the hell will serve the public when you ask people to accept even less money to do the job?

     This is all a part of the Right-wing philosophy of "personal responsibility".  But personal responsibility is code that covers the real mantra, which is "everyman for himself", which in itself is really a phrase with two meanings.  It means drop dead pal, you're on your own, but it also means that the working man, the common man, the middle class that pays for everything in this country, your neighbor, the "Everyman" is a thing of the past.  Without the protections provided by the social safety net and the basic principles of fairness and equal opportunity, he will be pushed down a few rungs down the economic ladder into the working class. Subsequently, those in the working class will be pushed down below the poverty line.  This is already happening, and it will continue to happen, thereby widening the chasm between rich and poor in this country.

     It may seem like an overreaction or an alarmist point of view, but it is reality.  If you think the states aren't going to try to cheat workers out of what they have earned, then you haven't been paying attention.  Mayor Bloomberg of New York City usurped the term limits law and stole a third term.  Why? Because he is a billionaire and he wanted to be Mayor again. Maybe he is planning to run for President in 2012. And since he knows that in this political climate, you have to be tough on spending but never raise taxes, he will not hesitate to eviscerate public employees to show that he can make the "tough choices". He has spent the past nine years demonizing public education teachers so that he can dismantle public education piece by piece (look at his latest choice for Chancellor - he might as well be giving educators the finger).  None of this is about education; its all about power and money.  It is a type of income redistribution that flows upward to the top. Mayors across the country are following Bloomberg's lead.  Voices of opposition are thin and powerless.  Teachers don't stand a chance.  If you thought I was writing this as a call to action, you are wrong.  I'm just documenting a murder.  Its almost over.  All that's left for them to do is mop up the blood and wipe off the fingerprints.



It's high time for a walk on the real side
Let's admit the bastards beat us
I move to dissolve the corporation
In a pool of margaritas
So let's switch off all the lights
And light up all the Luckies
Crankin' up the afterglow
'Cause we're goin' out of business
Everything must go
composed  by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen (Steely Dan)
© 2003 Freejunket Music/Zeon Music