Proof that Legislators Hate Teachers

There was an article a few years back in Harper's Magazine called, "Why We Hate Teachers," or something along those lines.

Well, as far as legislators go, it's true.

Under a fiscal 2008 spending bill the House of Representatives approved in July, support for the Teacher Quality Enhancement Grants program would fall by one-third, from $60 million in just-ended fiscal 2007 to $40 million. The Senate Appropriations Committee, which in June passed its spending bill that includes the U.S. Department of Education, would cut funding for the program to just $28.5 million—a drop of more than 50 percent.

The bill’s focus on collaboration with districts holds promise for improving high-poverty schools, but the proposed spending cuts may mean there’s not enough money to support such efforts, said Jane E. West, the vice president for government relations for the Washington-based American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.

One of my professors (ok, I just met her today, but she's amazing) said something interesting as we were discussing some of my research. She said that you have to decide what it is that deep down you really believe about students (or widgets, or whatever you happen to be in business for). If you say that "every child can meet high standards" the way NCLB does, but you don't believe it, then your actions won't reflect your beliefs and you'll become an inauthentic leader. Ok, that's paraphrase of what she said, but you get the idea.

I'm wondering what legislators really believe about children, teachers, and schools. Since there are 535 of them, it's difficult to tell. I refuse to reduce the discussion to "It'll be a great day when education gets all the money it wants and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy bombers." (Author unknown, quoted in You Said a Mouthful edited by Ronald D. Fuchs). I hate that quote, it always annoys the crap out of me, and it's always featured with a stupid daisy or some such hippie nonsense.

Now that I've gotten that out of my system.

There is some interesting data on what our legislators spend our dollars on... for some reason this site shows the percentages for a family in San Francisco, which I don't feel is particularly representative as far as cost of living goes, but anyway:

Where Do Your Tax Dollars Go? (from Education Portal)

Different states and even different cities distribute tax dollars differently. Here is an example of how the taxes paid by a median income family in San Francisco are spent:

Sector	$ Spent	%
Military	$1,731	27%
Health	$1,329	21%
Debt Interest (Non-Military)	$657	10%
Debt Interest (Military)	$580	9%
Income Security	$383	6%
Education	$289	5%
Veteran's Benefits	$214	3%
Nutrition	$167	3%
Housing	$119	2%
Natural Resources	$97	2%
Job Training	$19	0%
Other	$790	12%

Source: NationalPrioritiesProject.org

I'll let it speak for itself; but I wonder if this includes the local and state dollars spent on education as well as federal. It's important to note that historically education has been a local rather than a federal/national priority, and that speaks to some of the reasons why we spend federal dollars on war and local dollars on schools. Alabama can't have it's own army. But it can (sort of) fund its own schools.

Check out the article on "Why Politicians Hate Us" too. Interesting and funny.

"Teacher Ed Grants Would Be Slashed Under Pending Bills." (Klein, A. Education Week. 10/1/07. subscription required).

"Five Reasons Politicians Hate Us." (Onear, P. Chronicle of Higher Education. 10/2/07. May require subscription, I dunno 'cause I got one.)