I Have a Lot Of Opinions

Mounting stage, tapping podium, clearing throat:


Here in Michigan, the economy sort of . . . sucks.  And the governor and legislature have the difficult and unenviable job of trying to make some sort of a budget work, which I understand is challenging and complicated.  But the more I have learned in the past few days and weeks about the kinds of budget cuts that are being proposed for the next two years, the more upset I am.  So I'm getting involved with our school's legislative committee and I'm writing letters.  If you, too, live in Michigan, feel free to copy and paste my strong feelings on the subject:  add to them, plagarize them shamelessly, spread them around and get other people to write letters, too.

Dear Governor Synder,

My husband and I are writing to express our dismay at the continued cuts to K-12 education that are proposed for 2011-2012 and beyond.  As a former teacher and a mother of two young children, I wholeheartedly believe that excellent education for every one of Michigan's children is the key to our state's ability to thrive, innovate, and succeed years into the future.  Furthermore, we believe that continued budget cuts (and the diversion of money to community colleges) are short-sighted.  Community college is a wonderful educational tool which can be funded by motivated students with student loans, or by paying tuition with a part-time job.  Public school students, however, do not have the ability to borrow money or work toward the payment of their education; rather, public-school students depend on the state to provide a quality, comprehensive education until they graduate from high school.

We live in a district, XXX, which we chose specifically because of the quality of its schools.  Our daughter, a first-grader, has the opportunity to experience art, music, physical education, computer lab, and Spanish on a daily and/or weekly basis.  Her elementary school employs a social worker who is instrumental in teaching the children how to be kind and caring citizens of the world as well as para-professionals in the classrooms and reading enrichment teachers for struggling readers.  It is my understanding that all of these services - and many more at the district level - are in jeopardy if the funding cuts are passed.  We would be dismayed if the schools were to lose per-pupil funding for yet another year in a row, not only for our own children in our own district, but also for children in much less fortunate districts who will see their student-teacher ratios climb to untenable levels and who will fall through the cracks in our system, losing their chance to receive the kind of education that will allow them to become educated, productive members of society.

These cuts are unacceptable and we urge you to reconsider.

Sincerely,
XXX and XXX