Bringing up Dummy (for profit)

I lived in a "resort town" area for 6 years and watched them continually refuse to fund the schools; even very low millage increases for incidentals were constantly turned down. Without being specific let me say that this state was in the bottom 5 (actually much lower) of all states in math and English literacy for many, many years running. However, when this was reported in the "local" paper or on the "local" TV, only the fact the state had improved a bit was mentioned, with no mention what-so-ever of the fact that the kids scores were still dead last out of all 50 states; yet again....

When I pointed out to "them", that is, anybody who would or had to listen, depending on where I was at the moment, that the area appeared to me to be contriving to produce enough "dummies" who either didn't graduate or graduated only because they or their families were well liked in order to have a ready made supply of people willing to fill all the minimum wage, no benefit jobs that any resort town creates, mostly part time, in multitude; I was pretty much treated as a pariah.

Close to 10 years later I am retired (well, disabled, actually) and living back up North. I see the same thing almost everywhere now, and with the loss of so many high-tech jobs the attitude of “Why bother, there’s not much left to do except sweep the streets and stock the shelves and bag our burgers. Don’t need a college degree for that, I suppose, or even a high school diploma”.

Many a good teacher spends hundreds if not thousands of dollars out of their own pocket to see the students through a single school year, yet we wonder why all the top ranked, highly qualified, caring teachers are leaving or worse yet, not entering a field in which they would have a full-filling career as well as preparing our future for the future……

The roads we drive on, the streetlights we use to illuminate them, the police and firemen we employ to protect them and yes, our own education was and is all paid for by tax dollars. Who are we to refuse to contribute what we know is needed, and why?