By BOB HOWE
I am amazed at the profound disconnect between the long-term education funding debates and the immediate reality of not enough supplies, outdated computers, inadequate software, overcrowded classrooms and the leaking roofs in many Michigan schools.
Of course we need to plan for the future, but allowing our children to be lost as collateral damage in the war of political ideologies in Lansing ignores today's school crisis. Daydreaming of what could be or should be while real children in real schools are losing educational opportunities is derelict.
Moreover, the discrepancy between the call for high standards and accountability on the one hand and severe budget reductions on the other should be an impetus for action and not an excuse for political gamesmanship.
Time and again I find myself in a heated debate about now and when. Our state's need for immediate financial solutions is imperative as any delay impacts our children now -- today! They are in harm's way. Our kids get one go around at their education and we must get it right the first time -- it's their only time.
We have moved to a service-based economy and are trying to fund our state's obligations with an old "sale of goods" model. The expert economists tell us it won't work and yet the power grab is so tempting that the very body we elected to lead us holds back our children and our state. It's time anti-bullying legislation was directed at the Legislature itself. It's time they did their job.
We must quit letting programs fight with each other over nonexistent money crumbs and raise the real money we need now. Eight years of cuts are enough. More importantly, we must change our funding system in such a way as to provide for our children's and our state's long-term future.
It is time we all demand it!
About the author: Bob Howe is executive director of the Michigan Elementary & Middle School Principals Association; by e-mail at bob@memspa.org.
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