Short Subjects

“The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) is an internationally standardised assessment that was jointly developed by participating economies and administered to15-year-olds in schools… Four assessments have so far been carried out (in 2000, 2003, 2006 and 2009). Data for the assessment which took place in 2009 was released on 7 December 2010…. Tests are typically administered to between 4,500 and 10,000 students in each country.” PISA (sponsored by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD]) per their own Website. Their report shows the United States down in the middle of the 57 nations surveyed, below average in subjects like math, a statistic that is getting worse as other nations, like China, Korea and Finland, soar over time. Most of Western Europe passed us on science, math and reading.

People don’t pay workers much when their skill levels are low. Doesn’t matter what the minimum wage laws are or how benefits are accorded. In a global marketplace, to earn more, you have to provide more, but as Americans continue to cut their budgets, they are likewise reducing the money to provide the next generation with sufficient skills to grow our economy. And without growth, without the ability of enough people to earn enough money in the global marketplace, the long term prognosis both for sustaining or increasing our general economic well-being as well as our the ability to pay down our deficit debt with higher real earnings is pretty bad. In the big economic malaise of the last few years, the consistent sacrificial lamb is education, particularly at the public level. That lesser Asian nations are accelerating past our graduates in necessary skills and will eventually out-earn average Americans and take away plum employment opportunities unless we prepare for the future appears not to bother those responsible for cutting our school budgets.

We are not only eliminating courses and after-school programs. We are not just expanding class size and deferring maintenance on our schools. Some states are now cutting real classroom time, even eliminating an entire day of instruction to save money. The Irene-Wakonda School District in South Dakota is cutting all Friday classes. “This district in the rolling farmland of southeastern South Dakota is among the latest to adopt a four-day school week as the best option for reducing costs and dealing with state budget cuts to education… ‘It got down to monetary reasons more than anything else,’ [Duh!] Superintendent Larry Johnke said. The $50,000 savings will preserve a vocational education program that otherwise would have been scrapped.

“The four-school week is an increasingly visible example of the impact of state budget problems on rural education. This fall, fully one-fourth of South Dakota's districts will have moved to some form of the abbreviated schedule. Only Colorado and Wyoming have a larger proportion of schools using a shortened week. According to one study, more than 120 school districts in 20 states, most in the west, now use four-day weeks.” HuffingtonPost.com, August 22^nd.

We are chucking that baby out with our bathwater! “South Dakota's Republican-controlled Legislature slashed aid to schools this spring by 6.6 percent to help close a $127 million budget gap. Republican Gov. Dennis Daugaard said state revenue has not grown in three years while costs have risen for medical services for the poor… He ruled out revenue increases. ‘I believe in shared sacrifice,’ Daugaard said earlier this year. Education groups hope to put a tax proposal on the 2012 ballot… Facing budget shortfalls in the sour economy, many other state Legislatures also cut public education spending this year -- some, like Texas, sharply.” HuffingtonPost.com. Where would you rather spend your tax dollars? Educating our children or staying longer in Afghanistan, knowing it will fall apart no matter when we withdraw? Would you rather let a multi-millionaire save a share of taxes that won’t change his/her life one whit or increase those taxes to make life better for the average American.

I’m Peter Dekom, and exactly where did our priorities go anyway?