The Republican attack on public education and unions

By: Robert Sobel Orlando Liberal Examiner April 5, 2012,

The true foundation of a person is their education. Whether it's in the classroom or knowledge that is gained throughout life, the education of a person is important. In the United States, it seems that education is under attack as public schools see their funds cuts by conservative lawmakers, and many college and university tuition are rising faster than people can keep up with.

At over $1 trillion, The USA Today reports that student loan debt is now greater than credit card debt in the United States. In 2010, over $100 billion was given out in student loans. According to a report by credit.com, the average college debt held by students when they graduate is over $25,000. However, before students can get to college they get educated in elementary school, middle school and then high school. While college tuition is increasing, public education is under attack by Republicans across the country, putting children in America at a severe disadvantage.

In Florida, Republican Governor Rick Scott, proposed a budget that would cut $1 billion in property taxes and $1.5 billion in corporate taxes over a two year period. Off setting the lack of revenue coming into the government would be massive cuts to the Department of Children and Families, cutting billions out of Medicaid and slashing the education budget by nearly $5 billion over a multiyear time period. If Scott was able to pass his budget, Florida teachers would suffer a pay cut of over $2,000 a year. Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, who is dealing with a possible recall, proposed a budget that would cut $1.5 billion from public education and local governments. Democrat State Representative, Tamara Grigsby, said the cuts would: "be an annihilation of education in this state."

The usual response to the extreme budgets by Republican lawmakers is to blame unions. Unions work together to form a voice for the people in the workplace to negotiate, with either the private company or local government, to create a fair working environment. Republicans look at unions as a major obstacle at their financial bottom line, the profit motive. Whether it's Republicans running the government or a conservative private company, unions demand fair pay, better working conditions and adequate benefits. Republican governments and business owners bring in less profit by paying their workers a living wage and making sure they are treated fairly. Recently, Republican presidential front runner, Mitt Romney, blamed teachers unions for California's failing schools. Romney put the blame on the teachers unions claiming that: "we've basically given our school system to the teachers unions." A report by Thinkprogress.org shows that the real reason for the decline in public education in California is due to massive tax cuts.

"Specifically, a ballot initiative enacted in 1978 called Proposition 13 that capped property taxes, which were, at the time, the primary funder of public schools."

The report states that by the late 1980s, California had dropped in educational funding. 

"Despite recent funding increases for K–12 education, California schools have continued to spend far below the national average. Measured in year 2000 dollars, spending per pupil in California went from more than $600 above the national average in 1978 to more than $600 below the national average in 2000."

According to the Manhattan Institute, ten out of the bottom eleven states in graduation rates occur in "right to work" states, where unions are the weakest. The majority of the schools with low math, science and SAT scores also occur in right to work states. The conservative claim that unions destroy public education and their state budgets is false. While certain unions have their problems, in general, unions are there to protect the worker in all aspects. The real problem is the Republican obsession with cutting spending and giving massive tax breaks to the wealthy.

Mitt Romney is the prime example of what is wrong with education in the United States. Romney made the majority of his money at Bain Capital where his company would invest in a small business, layoff workers and make a profit that he would then pay to their shareholders.The Republican ideology is more than just profits, however, to a big part of the base, it's about theology.

A major part of the Republican base are evangelical Christians. The war from the extreme religious fringe of the Republican party is out in the open and can longer hide. The religious right want to force children out of the public school system and place them in small Christian private schools, Charter schools or be home schooled where the "word" of god and stories from the Bible can replace factual science and reason. Religion should be kept private, and the religious right are trying to force their beliefs into the public sector.

Whether it's the corporate conservative or the religious extremists, it's clear that the Republican party is waging a war on public education. Children in the United States deserve better than what they are getting, even with a high national debt, education shouldn't be on the chopping block.

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