LITTLE ROCK — So what’s with all the teacher-hating this year?
(Yes, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, I’m pointing at you and your daft plan to improve state finances with measures that critics say would force the layoffs of a good many Texas teachers.
Dude. For shame.
And yo - Scott Walker: I see you over there, trying to duck behind your buddy Perry. You and your Wisconsin cohorts are among the haters. Your proposed cuts also would result in an unprecedented number of layoffs in your state.)
Texas educators predict such layoffs will lead to classrooms of at least 35 children.
Imagine such a class, with only one teacher.
How much learning will go on in there?
I lead a troop of 12 Brownies, which can be challenging especially when I’m trying to help the girls with their badge work.
I can’t fathom the difficulty in trying to make sure that 35 students are keeping up, especially when many of them probably come from homes that are less than stellar when it comes to parenting.
And let’s not forget the stress of standardized tests and the accompanying expectations.
Oh, and the lousy pay.
Let me put it this way: I’m in a profession not known for generous salaries. Yet many newsroom folk would have to take a pay cut if we decided to abandon journalism for teaching.
Texas and Wisconsin aren’t the only states considering drastic cuts to education funding.
In California, because of proposed cutbacks in education spending, school districts already have handed out 19,000 preliminary pink slips to teachers, according to the California Teachers Association.
Arkansas, thankfully, isn’t facing the grim scenario playing out in other states.
For one thing, we don’t have budget shortfalls like many other states.
But even if we did, Act 108 of 2004 requires that spending on K-12 education must always have first priority in our state budget - even if other programs must be cut.
So yeah, we don’t have to worry as much about governors and lawmakers running amok when they sit down to figure out how to trim costs.
As a nation, however, we should all be concerned about other states’ growing willingness to address budget deficiencies by stiffing kids and schools.
These children are our future employees, employers and leaders.
To stuff them into overcrowded classrooms with a bare-bones teaching staff and inadequate state funding is not only shameful, but also a reflection of our country’s priorities, or rather, lack thereof.
To those governors pressing for education cuts: Don’t complain about poor test scores or the illiteracy of future generations.
If you’re going to slash funding, you’d better lower your expectations of teachers, test results and even our children while you’re at it.
After all, you reap what you sow.
Cathy Frye, a reporter for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, has two stepteens and two children, ages 5 and 7. Also a husband.
She and Cindy Murphy are coeditors of LittleRockMamas.com E-mail her at
Family, Pages 31 on 03/23/2011