Flashes of Panic

There’s an interesting column by Don Kardong on the Runner’s World site today. Look now, because the new site design is so frustrating (for me, at least) that you might never be able to find that column again.

Don’s topic is something like this: school districts are facing tight budgets around the country. (He cites his own district in Spokane, but they’ve been going through this in Northampton as well.) This is happening because, despite the best intentions and support of the local communities, the state(s) aren’t funding schools the way they used to. The states aren’t funding education the way they used to because the feds are squeezing the states. No doubt all of you have opinions about why the feds may be putting the budget squeeze to the states and hence to local school districts, and what should be done about it, so I’ll leave you to it; just don’t leave any child behind, OK?

Don doesn’t go for the easy political points, though, and I think that’s a good thing. He points out some realities.

In a way, you can’t blame administrators for making those cuts, since their primary responsibility is academic. Given the choice, is it going to be after-school sports or math? Regular PE or reading-support programs?

But he does get to the good point:

Maybe trimming that fat is seen as creating more fat in the real lives of students.

On that thread, I read an article recently about the Maine laptops-in-schools program. It’s no surprise that they’re struggling to continue funding that program, and some districts have committed to locally funding if the state can’t come through. In a state like Maine, though, for every Cape Elizabeth which can afford the laptops program, there are three districts up in The County which can’t. The reduction in state funding ends up creating an even wider gap between the haves and have-nots than existed before.

The upshot being, if I decide to raise my hypothetical children somewhere I can hypothetically afford to do so, their friends will be fat and ignorant, whereas if I assemble a massive collection of debt, their friends will be healthy and smart.

Now playing: Chelsea Girl from Live Light (France, 11/1994) by Ride