LEARNING

During the last economic crunch, the local elementary school got rid of its science program. Now the library and computer classes are on the block--this in addition to class size expansion, furlough days, and other drastic cuts, all directly resulting from the stark fact that schools, like nearly everything and everybody else, are way short of money.
Money trumps everything. Lack of it renders any argument for spending it moot. And not spending money one does not have is a simple recognition of the facts of life. When a family is short, its members do without, stretching every dime until times get better...irrefutable logic, where single households are involved. Hopefully the situation does not last long and prosperity returns, and with it, spending and more prosperity for all. Holes appear in the argument, however, in times like now, when the number of households in dire straights is terrifyingly high, and the duration of the downturn is much longer than a little while. In our day the entire society is endangered. No one can predict the outcome of prolonged economic instability, but history shows that more often than not, when we do nothing, outcomes are hideous.
Concerning education, the penny-wise cost savers being implemented or proposed have the potential to foist a generation of ill-equipped and ignorant young people upon a culture already burdened by too many who are functionally illiterate. And these same economies will waste an already substantial public investment in scientific equipment, books, and computers, which the State can ill afford to replace.
We are told we have no choice, the money simply is not there. But it is somewhere, and in the same amount as always. It just needs to circulate. We are told to grin and bear it, and for quite a while we have become adroit at doing just that. Can we do nothing else?
Though they seem to occur with seasonal regularity, economic downturns are not natural occurrences. They are manmade. And while they may be unavoidable, there are methods proven to alleviate their devastation. And we know from past depressions that scrimping pennies only makes bad times worse. And education is more than a government program, it is an investment in the development of the most important resource we have. This is not a corny homily. It is the truth.
There are many adults who oppose public education on principle (having already gotten it), and many more who think too much tax money is spent on it. Most of us harbour foul memories of that time of life. Many are the valid criticisms of this huge, ungainly system. Still, for millions of children, this is the only chance they will get. California was a leader in technology, industry and business during the last century, largely due to its progressive investments in infrastructure and education. We terminate this investment at our peril.
Maybe today's children will grow up accepting that their substandard educations were a necessary evil in tough economic times. But who will teach them that? We do know that they will grow up, and the type of grown-ups depends on the investment we make in them now. We cannot depend on our all being dead before the bill comes due.