Rant on Schools
It's been a while since I've ranted on anything that has to do with social policy, but this morning I heard something that really pissed me off. Last night there was a School Board meeting in Alameda County to discuss possible school closings. After hearing hours of residential pleas to keep their schools open, the board reluctantly decided to close 2 elementary schools and a "child development center." The head of the School Board blamed Governor Schwartzenegger for a $60,000,000 cut in funding.
Ya know, no body can claim that the Governator hasn't kept his promise. He assured us that our debt will be taken care of via loans on the backs of the working class; and he has. When I moved to California I was paying $11.00 a credit for community college. When Arnold took office it jumped to $18, then $21, and now $26 per unit. That means that he raised the cost of COMMUNITY COLLEGE 150%. Listen, community college is already geared for those who can't afford to go to a great university so how the fuck can he justify raising the cost to people who already can't afford it?
Oh, but wait, there's more. While the cost of school was rising, I went on my merry way; not worried too much because I was receiving financial aide. So one day about a year ago I go in to complete my forms for the coming semester and the Financial Aide office tells me that I don't qualify anymore. Don't qualify? Why? They tell me that I am making too much money to get financial aide. Well, since I am a student working part time my income was a little less than $17,000. How could this be too much I asked. "oh," he tells me "the governor lowered the cutoff to $12,000 from $18,000." I was in awe! I was living almost destitute at $17,000 and could only barely get by with financial aide, now they are telling me that I am too rich? What the fuck!!! Could you imagine making $13,000 a year anywhere in the Bay Area and the governor telling you that you make too much money to qualify for any aide?
Well, this is another example of how the rich get richer and the poor are intended to stay poor. Governor Schwartzenegger has promised that he wont raise taxes, and he hasn't. Instead he has raised the cost of community college while cutting applicable financial aide. At the same time he cut funding for public schools in the East Bay alone by $60,000,000. During his time in office he has raised many other fees that affect mostly the middle and lower class. Fees like park usage, hunting, camping, bridge tolls, dmv registration the list goes on and on. The people who make the most money in this state don't even notice when a hunting license goes from $25 to $50, but that guy who works 55 hours a week for his wife and three kids will notice when he is trying to go on his one hunting trip this year.
I believe it's proposition 13 that was written in the 70's stating that property taxes in this area can't go up. This too is a fundamental flaw in educational funding that is geared mostly for the rich. When I worked in Oregon doing market research I would call California sporadically to ask about school funding. Probably 5% said they think everyone should pay their fair share of property tax. The other 95% told me things like: My kids have graduated or I don't have kids, why should I pay more property tax for schools!
Is this really our society? Do people really believe that when it comes to school funding it's "not their problem?" For these people out there I have a wish, just one simple wish: I hope that when you're old enough that you can't take care of yourself anymore, you end up with an inept caretaker, or at a nursing home full of untrained staff. And when you wonder why your care is so crappy someone will tell you "Sorry dude, I wanted an education, but there was no funding." I wonder how many of these people who don't want to pay would want their children working at a Taco Bell for the rest of their lives. Fucking wake up.
But I digress. My true point of this rant comes back to schools closing. I can't believe in 2005 that we not only have a Governor, but a President as well who doesn't think education is that important--at least not as important as the war that 49% of our taxes are now funding. Texas was 47th out of 50 in education while Bush was governor. No child left behind promotes pushing children forward even if they're not ready ("Social Promotion"), and the federal gov't has cut funding to Head Start programs. How can we as a nation, as a society, as a community condone such acts? How can we elect a Governor who would do these things, or re-elect a President who already has a record of doing so.
Take a good look in the mirror America, this is your fault.
Ya know, no body can claim that the Governator hasn't kept his promise. He assured us that our debt will be taken care of via loans on the backs of the working class; and he has. When I moved to California I was paying $11.00 a credit for community college. When Arnold took office it jumped to $18, then $21, and now $26 per unit. That means that he raised the cost of COMMUNITY COLLEGE 150%. Listen, community college is already geared for those who can't afford to go to a great university so how the fuck can he justify raising the cost to people who already can't afford it?
Oh, but wait, there's more. While the cost of school was rising, I went on my merry way; not worried too much because I was receiving financial aide. So one day about a year ago I go in to complete my forms for the coming semester and the Financial Aide office tells me that I don't qualify anymore. Don't qualify? Why? They tell me that I am making too much money to get financial aide. Well, since I am a student working part time my income was a little less than $17,000. How could this be too much I asked. "oh," he tells me "the governor lowered the cutoff to $12,000 from $18,000." I was in awe! I was living almost destitute at $17,000 and could only barely get by with financial aide, now they are telling me that I am too rich? What the fuck!!! Could you imagine making $13,000 a year anywhere in the Bay Area and the governor telling you that you make too much money to qualify for any aide?
Well, this is another example of how the rich get richer and the poor are intended to stay poor. Governor Schwartzenegger has promised that he wont raise taxes, and he hasn't. Instead he has raised the cost of community college while cutting applicable financial aide. At the same time he cut funding for public schools in the East Bay alone by $60,000,000. During his time in office he has raised many other fees that affect mostly the middle and lower class. Fees like park usage, hunting, camping, bridge tolls, dmv registration the list goes on and on. The people who make the most money in this state don't even notice when a hunting license goes from $25 to $50, but that guy who works 55 hours a week for his wife and three kids will notice when he is trying to go on his one hunting trip this year.
I believe it's proposition 13 that was written in the 70's stating that property taxes in this area can't go up. This too is a fundamental flaw in educational funding that is geared mostly for the rich. When I worked in Oregon doing market research I would call California sporadically to ask about school funding. Probably 5% said they think everyone should pay their fair share of property tax. The other 95% told me things like: My kids have graduated or I don't have kids, why should I pay more property tax for schools!
Is this really our society? Do people really believe that when it comes to school funding it's "not their problem?" For these people out there I have a wish, just one simple wish: I hope that when you're old enough that you can't take care of yourself anymore, you end up with an inept caretaker, or at a nursing home full of untrained staff. And when you wonder why your care is so crappy someone will tell you "Sorry dude, I wanted an education, but there was no funding." I wonder how many of these people who don't want to pay would want their children working at a Taco Bell for the rest of their lives. Fucking wake up.
But I digress. My true point of this rant comes back to schools closing. I can't believe in 2005 that we not only have a Governor, but a President as well who doesn't think education is that important--at least not as important as the war that 49% of our taxes are now funding. Texas was 47th out of 50 in education while Bush was governor. No child left behind promotes pushing children forward even if they're not ready ("Social Promotion"), and the federal gov't has cut funding to Head Start programs. How can we as a nation, as a society, as a community condone such acts? How can we elect a Governor who would do these things, or re-elect a President who already has a record of doing so.
Take a good look in the mirror America, this is your fault.
posted by Mike | 7:34 AM
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