Hacking Away at Nation's Future
 by Neil Lefkowitz
A New York Times' Oct. 8 editorial pointed out that the present economic crisis in our country has affected the lives of millions of children, not only through the high unemployment rate of their parents, but by the drastic reduction in the number of teachers in our classrooms.
The Economic Policy Institute, using data from its September analysis of school staffing in our country, reported a loss of 278,000 teaching jobs since 2008, and if you add increased pupil population in the public schools, the true loss is closer to 326,000 teachers. This has led to larger class sizes in every school system in our nation.
This problem was brought home to us again in New York City when Mayor Bloomberg’s administration ordered more cuts and school Principals had to make a "Hobson's Choice" by laying off school aides and parent coordinators. The crisis in education funding reminds me of the old furniture stores advertisements: “Buy now, pay later.” By the time you finish paying for the furniture, you had paid twice the price! Are we doing the same to this generation of children?
We have read about the economic disparity that continues to grow in our country. (The Occupy Wall Street movement has spread across the nation in large part as a response to the knowledge that 1 percent of the population controls 40 percent of the nation’s wealth.) These cuts in education will only exacerbate the growing problem.
Congress was debating the President's job bill as of this writing. The proposed bill will add additional funds to our nation's schools giving the school districts the money to rehire thousands of teachers and support staff. If this bill becomes law it will be a right step in improving the quality of education in our nation.
This column is reprinted from the November 2011 issue of the CSA News.
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