Tag: education

Why Should I Pay…

Why should my taxes pay for those children?
My children have already graduated.
Why should my taxes help pay for roads in Alabama?
I never drive there.
Why should I pay for tax credits that company?
They are not in my town.
Why should my money bail them out?
That is not my bank.
Why should my taxes go to support programs in that state?
I don’t live there.
Why should I care about their water?
Mine is fine.
Why should I care if those children are hungry?
My children aren’t.
Why should my insurance cover women who are pregnant?
My wife is not.
Why should my insurance cover women who don’t want to get pregnant?
Not my problem.
Why should insurance which you help to pay for include coverage for the surgery I am scheduled to have next week?

Why?
Because we are in this together.
And, for me being in it together, overrides the differences we have.
I don’t agree with the politics of the governor of Kentucky, but some part of the money I make and the taxes I pay go to support the citizens in his state. The same is true of West Virginia and Indiana and Alabama and Wisconsin. Want to check it out. Here is the article.

I believe in the idea of the common good.
I believe that the better educated all our children are the better off we are as a nation.
I believe the least number of people who are hungry the better off we are as a nation.
I believe the less number of people who are in jail the better off we are as a nation.
I believe the more people who have health insurance and who can see a doctor when they need to the better off we are as a nation.
I don’t agree with the position we can’t afford it.
We chose not to.

What if instead of this…

For about a month now the State of New York has been running this ad as a way to attract new business to different parts of the state. I am sure this is part politics and part economics. I am also sure that in those targeted areas good paying jobs are desperately needed. And, I have to trust that the economists have done the math so that economic impact of additional jobs will balance out the impact of the tax free zones and no taxes for 10 years.

But seeing the ad, again, as I watched TV last night I had to wonder.
What if instead of promoting tax free zones and no taxes for 10 years what if we were able to say this with pride and in all honesty.
Start your company or business in New York.
Why?
We have the best public schools in the country.
We have the most modern and up-to-date transportation system that can connect your business not only to the rest of the country, but to the entire world.
We have updated all our infrastructure in order to provide the best possible service for your company or business.
We have an educated and trained work force ready to make your company profitable.

I am not a business person, but I understand enough to know that the bottom line has to work for a company or business to grow and to be profitable. But, if we don’t also have all those other things as well…
Quality, well funded education.
Strong infrastructure.
An educated and skilled work force.
A transportation system which works.
All the tax breaks in the world won’t matter or make a difference.

Divide and Conquer

In New York State tomorrow is the vote on school budgets and the election of those who are running to serve on local school boards. Having served on our school board years ago, I have the deepest respect for those who spend money to run and then spend hours and hours and hours of volunteer time to oversee and support and improve local schools. To all those who serve in this way…Thank You.

But, back to divide and conquer.
In this year’s election four people are running for two seats.
Two candidates are current board members who are seeking to be elected again.
Two other candidates are running for the first time.
The robocalls I have received from the two candidates who are running for the first time seek to play off the wealthier parts of our school district against the less wealthy areas.
We pay more in taxes.
They have more students.
The other candidates are from that part of town.
Who is looking out for us?
From what I have read and heard all who are running have the credentials to run, but depending who wins I wonder how the divide and conquer attitude will play out in terms of their being responsible for the education of all of the students and the well being of the entire school district.

I know this is just politics as usual.
Or, at least what has become politics as usual.
It is discouraging enough to see it take place on a national level.
It is that much more discouraging when it tears apart the fabric of the community where I live.

Being Who We Need to Be

They sat down at the table with us.
Two high school students facing a half dozen adults.
They were there to share with us what it was like for them in high school.
As we listened, they spoke of the support and encouragement they felt from teachers and staff. And, they shared that, for the most part, they felt included in the larger school community. They were grateful for the education they were receiving and the opportunities before them. When it was our turn to ask them questions, I asked this.
Did they feel the same level of support and encouragement and inclusion in the larger community in which they lived as they experienced in school?
Their answer:
No.
Here is the back story.
Both of the students with whom we had the opportunity to talk had come to this country and moved into our community at the beginning of high school. When they moved here neither of them spoke a word of English. Yet, here they were just a few years later succeeding academically in a high performing high school, and telling a group of adults who they did not know about their experience.

There were two take aways for me.
First, kudos to our high school for creating an environment in which all students have the opportunity to succeed. This is not to say that there are not significant issue that continue to face and challenge our school district. There are, but on this front our schools are working hard to create an environment that includes more than it excludes.
My second take away is that our communities are far behind our schools.
That is to say the adults in our communities are far behind the young adults in our communities. On a daily basis these two young adults, who I am sure are representative of many others, walk into a supportive atmosphere in the morning and walk out into a much less supportive atmosphere when school is over for the day.
As adults…
As community members…
We need to do a better job.
We need to catch up to our schools.
We need to acknowledge that our community is a safe, supportive place for some and an much less safe and much less supportive place for others. And the dividing line often has something to do with language and color of skin and economic background.

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Several things I believe: