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The end of public education as we know it? Or the end of cutting edge America?



Much has been said of the union protests that have spread from Wisconsin to Ohio and to Providence, RI. States and counties are under the gun to cut programs, which means that educators and the arts are some of the first programs to see the gleaming knife slice through the sodium light of the state house.

Typically Democratic presidents are good for the arts, and for education, but because the recession is limping into the black both areas are targeted for deep cuts.

Consider Detroit, who will close half of its schools, and force 60 kids into a classroom. Now I don't know about you, but 60 is a helluva lot to teach at one time. I'd have to refigure how I taught essays to even meet the needs of 60 kids per class. As for other activities? It'd have to be worksheets and scan-trons....ugh...which I loathe as a intellectual pursuit. I find them best used as classroom management tools, not as assessments of student thinking and progress.

San Diego is cutting public art grants. So are other cities and states. In Maryland, where Arts Immersion programs are used to boost test scores and student involvement in academics (a program that works, btw), is facing a cut. The program needs just over 1 million dollars to reach every child in the state, and yet it's neck is on the chopping block, which is riciculous when you consider that Maryland schools rank #1 nationally. Why shoot yourself in the proverbial foot?

Raise a generation of smart, innovative, creative minds.

According to data gathered by Lake Polls, 89% of Americans noted that Arts and Education are the two most important areas in the country's budget, necessary to bring America back to the cutting edge of the future and believe that "the arts are critical to prepare students to be competitive in the 21st century economy, which is increasingly reliant on an innovative, adaptable workforce with strong communication skills and high self-motivation."

So why, tea party members, why replublican leaders, why moderate democrats, why? Why do we continue to shoot ourselves in the foot?
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