By Dan Lenard
Buffalo, NY – I have been keenly observing the desperate attacks on Governor Pataki's proposed school budget cuts. I find that the campaign to fight these cuts to be completely misdirected. The teachers union is screaming bloody murder and trying to polarize our states taxpayers. A recent ad sponsored by NYSUT states that the wealthy should pay a more taxes to make up the budget gap. I'm sure some wealthy people might be OK with paying a little more if they knew their money was being well spent.
I recently dedicated 4 years of my life to teaching in the public schools. Now granted, I came into the teaching profession after 20 years in the private sector. I was taught to do my job economically and efficiently. Arriving in the institutionalized public schools system was a shock. I witnessed first hand on how our public schools waste money on a grand scale. In my view, public schools have become like Medicare, lots of government money, and plenty of people to take advantage of the system.
Like Medicare, an entire provision industry has evolved around public education. Book publishers, Audio/Visual, computer and other educational equipment manufacturers, have all come to roost with the promise of easy high profits. While putting together budgets, I scanned the catalogs of these providers. Many things are wildly inflated in cost. Things that I could purchase for half price and higher quality at a local electronics store dominate their pages. Textbook publishers have gotten close scrutiny in the past for their practices as well. TV network investigative programs like 60 minutes and 20/20 showed how these publishers charge a premium for their books while providing an inferior, mistake ridden and heavily biased product. Still, they remain the only game in town. If honest, competitive bidding and other modern business practices were put in place, forcing these providers to clean up their act, schools would have more than enough funds to provide the quality education our children and taxpayers deserve.
To be fair, the argument that many conservatives have that teachers are overpaid however, is just as blindly misdirected. Teachers work in a situation that requires them to be remunerated to the highest standards of professionalism. Teaching is a grueling ordeal. Long hours, being a, mentor, psychologist, politician, and a substitute parent. Ad to that, the monotony of administrative make work paperwork and meetings
Why is there a budget problem now? Before 9/11, while New York State's coffers were bulging with the fruits of what seemed a never-ending bull market, Governor Pataki presided over one of the biggest investments in public education in history. Everywhere, districts did major upgrades to their facilities. However, 9/11 did happen. Forget the arguments of why it happened. We still have to deal with the fallout. The economy continues to be sluggish, which is reducing government income. Cuts have to be made.
Congress and the State Legislature must also stop the mandates it forces on local school districts without providing additional state funding. This means higher costs for already strapped budgets. Also, money needs to be spent at the front end of education, making sure young students learn how to read. Catching these problems early would save the state millions in the years to come. Another way to alleviate costs would be the creation of programs that provide incentive for private industry/public school partnerships. Success stories of these types of programs abound, like the Circuit Stompers program in Lockport and Newfane High Schools sponsored by Delphi-Harrison.
Who in their right mind thinks that Governor Pataki wishes to hurt children? The Governor is simply forcing school districts to look at how they run themselves and shift away from their wasteful, bureaucratic practices, and go to a business oriented model. The teachers union, local administrators and school boards need to drop the fear mongering and class warfare mantra. More money to make up the budget shortfall is not the answer. Efficient use of precious resources is.
Commentator Dan Lenard is a veteran Buffalo radio broadcaster and a former social studies teacher.