"That's the American way"

While my students, colleagues, and friends across Pennsylvania worry and lose sleep over Governor Coward’s Corbett’s potential 54% hack-job to the state public education allocation for 2011-12, some staunch and unbending Tea Party tax evaders complainers disapprovers are strangely silent over the increase in state money to prisons. The mantra, “don’t tax businesses” and “no new taxes” and “no increase to taxes” falls a little flat when this budget so clearly pits education against not only business, but the prison system (criminal > students?). No wonder he's getting booed everywhere he goes and PA voters have given him only a 31% approval rating.

A brief look at Corbett’s budget address

In his state budget address, Corbett said, “We must tax no more. Because the people have no more to give.” (And by “people” you mean…businesses? My students are people. My colleagues are people. Our custodians are people. They are being asked to give their jobs, salaries, benefits, and affordable tuition rates back to the state. So they aren't included in "the people" who "have no more to give," correct?)

As regards the future, he said, “If we find a way to reinvent ourselves. . .how we treat our citizens. . . we will – to borrow a phrase from William Faulkner – not only endure but prevail.” (And by reinventing “how we treat our citizens” in order to "prevail" privileges businesses and prisons over middle class students? Faulkner would be so proud. Not to mention unread, as he is much too unwieldy to help students achieve better test scores.)

But wait, “We need a new set of priorities: child, parent, and teacher – and in that order.” 

Ah, ok. So, in order to “treat our citizens” better and focus more on the child first (realizing, of course, that teachers have absolutely NOTHING to do with how well a child or young adult succeeds in school, silly), Corbett wants to gut public education funding AND increase funding to prisons. Sure. Of course.  Because that makes perfect sense. If we want an undereducated populace with less options and even less access to decent jobs and opportunities and less ability to question their leaders…ah…I see. I’m getting it now!

Furthermore, Corbett announced, “The substance of the budget. . . preserves the core functions of government while moving to take government out of places it has no business or is not needed or simply fails to perform compared to the efficiencies of the market.” 

Ah, yes. Education is clearly NOT a “core function” of government. Except that all K-12 students MUST go to school according to…um…the GOVERNMENT. Wait, what?? How can this be? How can the state compel students to attend mandatory school when schooling is NOT a “core function” of government? Beyond this problematic disconnect between fantasy and reality (within one man’s head no less), his true pro-business colors come shining through when he claims that the “market” is somehow more “efficient” at producing results. Of course, if all the results he’s interested in are test scores, drop-out rates, and the length of time it takes a student to graduate college, then of course, if a corporation ran the school or college, it would churn out good little non-critical-thinking cogs with nary a skill beyond the ability to pass a test in a mandated time frame, which is oodles better than the current system that requires significantly more of students. I think I see what Corbett wants. 

More mindless drones = good for business.

When it comes to increasing the corrections system’s allocation 18% over the 2010-11 allocation, Corbett said, “In 1993, Pennsylvania had 24,000 men and women in its prisons. Today that number is over 50,000. This number speaks to a failure. Sometimes it’s a failure in our schools, or in our society, but ultimately in the personal character of the criminal. We need to fund additional parole officers to help freed inmates make the transition from the prison yard to Main Street.” (Because those “freed prisoners” are more valuable to our communities than our students. And parole officers are ABSOLUTELY more critical to a functioning society than no-good, lazy, commie-pinko teachers who merely suck at the taxpayer teat without contributing anything valuable to society.)

And the truth comes out. The reason that prisons need more funding and public education requires gutting is because the increasing number of criminals is “a failure of our schools.” But of course. This makes perfect sense. Why on earth would anyone question the logic of this connection? Personally, I would classify it as a non sequitur, which is a form of fallacious reasoning meaning “it does not follow.” But fallacious reasoning seems to be running rampant in Republican-run state houses these days and their followers certainly don’t seem to mind the stream of non sequiturs, ad hominem attacks, and outright lies coming from their mouths, so why should we bother to question?

Why don’t we deserve a government that upholds criminals, blames education for their existence, and shoves gas-drenched water down our throats? Silly us.

Eventually, Corbett directly addresses Marcellus Shale and its drillers: “For every pipe running a mile underground we should have jobs at distribution centers, at refineries, at shipping ports, and the offices and companies that run them.” (Clearly, the people who will work in these positions do not need a college education – or even a good high school education. Quality is irrelevant. Rubber stamp all students in and out with diploma in hand, without having learned anything, and without the critical thinking skills necessary to question “authority” and then let these businesses TEACH them how to function in this new job environment.)

Because after all, “That’s the American way.”

A view of Corbett’s budget through the corporate campaign donor lens

In the category of “Workforce Investment,” Corbett’s budget takes the 2010-11 level of $832 million down to $552.7 million (page 629). Once again, why help people with job training when they can just pony up and pay to attend a state university community college…never mind…not only can the newly unemployed (at least 1,500 full time state workers will be axed – and that’s not including the lay-offs coming in education thanks to these cuts) NOT be retrained with help from the state that laid them off, they won’t be able to afford a new education for themselves either. Oddly enough, this fits quite perfectly into the underlying agenda as I’ve suggested it to be. Coincidence? I don’t believe in coincidences.

 So who benefits from Corbett’s budget? Prisons. And Marcellus Shale drillers. 

The natural gas industry contributed heavily to Corbett’s campaign in his run for governor – this is a well-documented and well-reported fact that no one (not even the Governor) disputes:

Corbett stacks commission on Marcellus Shale with campaign supporters, natural gas allies

Watchdog group: Gas drilling industry ‘supports’ politicians with big money gifts

Groups say Corbett received most natural gas money 

Reaping the riches: Corbett's gas advisers give industry control in Pa.  

Gov.-elect Tom Corbett's transition team includes many campaign contributors 

Tom Corbett, PA Governor, Gives Energy Executive Authority Over Environmental Permitting 

Meuser and family big Corbett donors: Gov.-elect Corbett has trend of finding high-profile spots for campaign donors. 

 At the very least, Corbett’s claim to hold the line on taxing the Marcellus Shale drillers should be as transparent as he promised that his new approach to government would be. His drilling friends are reaping the benefits of having been his political contributors. And Corbett’s supporters don’t seem to care. After all, they will benefit with all of those new jobs, right? No need for education when you can work for a natural gas company.

When Corbett was sworn in, he promised to "dedicate each and every day over the next four years to fiscal discipline and a responsible, limited government," which just happens to include all of his biggest campaign donors who just happen to be in the natural gas industry, an industry Corbett has also promised NOT to tax. At all.

As Corbett stated in his budget address, “That’s the American way.”

Battle Hymn of the Republicans: Attack Public Education!

In the wake of Governor Corbett's demand for "the biggest one-time percentage cut to state higher-education funds in history," Pennsylvania's shell-shocked university leaders and professors try to locate any solid footing on this shifting Marcellus-shale, gas-infused landscape of the ultimate pro-business/anti-education climate rolling across the U.S. one Republican governor at a time. Sitting here at Panera, blatantly ignoring the essays that need to be graded because I'm so depressed and in a bad mood that I don't want my students to suffer, I have other questions rising to mind.

Why do Republicans hate education? Specifically, public education? And in Corbett's case, state-supported higher education?

Before tackling some of the potential answers to this question, let's take a look at the mission statements and student body statistics of two tax-dollar-supported Pennsylvania higher education institutions to see if therein exist any clues to Republican disgust.

Kutztown University's Mission statement for 2009-14: "Kutztown University’s mission is to provide a high quality education at the undergraduate and graduate levels in order to prepare students to meet lifelong intellectual, ethical, social, and career challenges." Our student body consists of approximately 9,600 undergraduates, who are mostly PA residents, about 880 of whom are enrolled part-time, and who return for a second year at a respectable 78% rate (retention). The majority of our undergrads major in business and education, with the arts, psychology, and English following as the top majors. Over 80% of our students receive "some type of financial aid" to attend KU, despite having the low, state-supported yearly attendance cost of approximately $19,000. 

 Let's take a look at one of our 14 sister schools, Bloomsburg University, whose mission statement says, "Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania is an inclusive comprehensive public university that prepares students for personal and professional success in an increasingly complex global environment." Eighty-nine percent of BU's 8,900 undergraduates come from Pennsylvania, and who return for a sophomore year at the rate of 80.9 percent (retention). Major programs of study on this campus include education, the sciences, the arts and humanities, health care, and business and approximately 79% of BU students receive financial aid to offset the modest cost of attendance, another far cry from the $50,000+ price tags on our Republican "leaders'" undergraduate experiences (more on this in a moment).
 
Now let's examine some specific PA state representatives and senators to see if their backgrounds provide any clues to potential hatred of public education.

This man "represents" me. I put "represent" in quotes for a reason. Unless he comes out publicly against these asinine and unnecessary cuts to public and higher education in my state and for taxing the PA natural gas companies who are ruining our natural world (as just one potential revenue-generator), then he is not representing MY interests and is, therefore, not MY representative. He represents the interests of the people who elected him...who have the same anti-education mindset presumably. I frankly don't hear a lot of dissension over this proposed budget coming from regular voting Republicans. In fact, quite the opposite. My parents both think Corbett is doing just a delightful job and I haven't seen any right-leaning friend or colleague disputing the sensibility of his plan. That's pretty strong proof of acceptance to me.

Silence, in this case, speaks volumes of approval.

Back to PA representative Republican Douglas Reichley, attorney and father of two kids. Where did Doug get his undergraduate education? Lo and behold - not a state school. Rather, an expensive, small, private liberal arts college that costs over $50,000 a year to attend, which is more than I make in a year. This is also beyond the reach of my students, who get a liberal arts education from equivalent-quality faculty, but at publicly-supported state tuition rates. Maybe he dislikes public education because it doesn't fit with his private education values. Or maybe our kids just aren't good enough, so deserve to be outside looking in. Go work in a mine, kid. "The world needs ditch diggers, too." 

Let's take a gander at "my" state senator, Patrick Browne. Did HE attend a state school? That would be no. He got his undergraduate degree at a large, private, Catholic college that costs over $55,000 a year to attend. I'm sensing a trend here. Both of my state "representatives" attended private colleges that cost more to attend per year than I make as a public educator. Perhaps their wrath against public education is because they have no experience with it or with the people who benefit from it. Perhaps their privileged view of the world is more akin to Scrooge than Crachit.

Finally, what about Pennsylvania's new governor? Where did he get his undergraduate degree? Not at a state school. He attended a small, private liberal arts college that costs about $39,000 a year to attend. Considering the heights to which he has risen, one would assume this man to be a champion of higher education, but clearly, the divide is public vs. private higher education and this man firmly stands on the anti-public-education side of the fence.

To call Corbett's budget and Scott Walker's anti-union agenda anything less than class warfare with a blunted weapon is to not be able to see the forest for the trees and to be so blind to reality that you get your perception of reality handed to you in a silver teacup paid for by Rupert Murdoch. In other words, if you don't see that this IS class warfare, you have your head firmly embedded up your ass (and maybe it's comfortable there), or perhaps you're retired and just don't give a shit anymore about the rest of us.

Perhaps the reason Republicans hate public education is because they are itching for a class warfare battle of Biblical proportions and see public education as the perfect battleground. Kill public education, win the favor of big business. Oddly enough, I don't agree with this attitude. Big businesses should be equally appalled and up in arms at the Governor's (and his ilk) attack on public education because businesses need educated workers...and most of these workers cannot afford to attend private colleges with $50,000 price tags each year.

According to Corbett's campaign promise, "Pennsylvania is home to 185 higher education institutions and nearly 5,000 philanthropic endowments and foundations. The next decade will be marked by significant technological changes – new materials, green energy sources and technologies, personalized medicines, telecom, information technology, new industrial processes and significant advances in computing. Tom Corbett will work with higher education and philanthropic organizations to ensure that Pennsylvania is prepared to not only capitalize and support these changes, but also to lead them." (emphasis added by me) Anyone else find it ironic that his answer to "working" with higher education is to gut our funding? Anyone else bothered by the bold, outright LIES that he should have been honest about when he was running for this office??

Maybe businesses in Pennsylvania ought to wake up and smell the gunfire.

In solidarity.