A Day Night That Will
Live In Infamy…
Here
in Wisconsin,
the last two June 5ths have not been kind to the citizens of our state. June 5, 2012 saw Governor Walker win the
recall election and emboldened Republicans to continue their course of action
that led to June 5, 2013.
This
year conservatives in Wisconsin
celebrated their "special
day" by moving a destructive budget through the Joint Finance Committee in
the dead of night. After numerous delays
designed to avoid press coverage and to eliminate public response, the GOP
controlled committee wrapped up their business well into the morning of the
next day. This has become a trademark of
the current Republican controlled legislature, do business behind closed doors
(keeping lobbyists in the loop) and then hold public sessions late at night.
The
budget that was approved was essentially a laundry list of payoffs to special
interests, and a continuation of the efforts to privatize our state. Thus, moving power and money into the hands
of a small number of wealthy, well connected individuals. It keeps us on a path that is leading Wisconsin in the wrong
direction using ideas that have failed miserably in the past and that don't
provide much hope for the future.
Republican controlled Joint Finance Committee approves
state budget bill that expands private school
Misplaced
Mistrust…
The current political,
social and economic climate in Wisconsin
is built on fear and mistrust. This is
especially true when talking about the public sector and the services that our
government provides. We are constantly
hearing the conservative voices saying that we should mistrust our government
and that the private sector is the only positive force in our society. They use quotes from our Founders about
limited government and the idea that the power of the citizens should be
supreme.
Yet, if we look a little
deeper and think a little harder the conservative message becomes less
appealing and more divisive. Our
nation's power is built on the need for a strong government. The times when our nation has been weakest
are when we have had a decentralized government with limited power. After the Revolutionary War ended we faced a
struggle between advocates for a national government versus those who favored a
looser confederacy of states. Had our
national government remained weak it is debatable as to whether we would have
survived beyond our national infancy. Of
course, this is a complicated historical issue, but if people want to use the
language and imagery of the Founders, we need to be sure we understand the
context of the words and ideas that are being used.
What really doesn't make
sense to me is the fact that those who want us to fear and mistrust our
government would have us place our trust in "the market", or in
private business' hands. Why should we
mistrust our government when it is the only thing truly accountable to the
people? Private interests are just that,
private. I have the ability to have some
control over what the government does through voting, public input and direct
action. I have little control over what
private interests do. They don't have to
hold public meetings, they don't have to document their actions in the same
ways and they operate outside the control of the public. The larger the private interest, the less
ability the general public has to impact their actions.
There is a clear effort
being made to reduce the public's ability to impact the actions of our
government. Often these efforts are lead
by the very groups that claim to want a government that represents the
people. The question is, which
"people" do they want represented?
We are getting conflicting
messages. On one hand we are told that
our national identity is defined by "rugged individualism" and that
the "government that governs best, governs least". We should fear the "over-reaching hands
of our government" and be ready to defend our rights. Yet, at the same time we see our rights
undermined by business interests and by a minority who seek to monopolize
power. The end result of privatization
is control of resources and power by a limited group, claiming to be espousing
"American Values". We are sold
"Freedom and Choice", but receive "subjugation and
limitations". Government and the
public sphere is the place where the people have rights and can be heard. The private sector isn't accountable in the
same way to those who don't have the financial, political or social capital to
compete in the "market".
This is true in business
and it is definitely true when it comes to public services like education as
well. Those who are calling for school
choice and an expansion of vouchers don't recognize what the end result will
be. You may be dissatisfied with the
state of our public schools, and you may feel that they are a bureaucratic
institution filled with all the frustrating aspects that that entails. However, at the very least our public schools
operate under a set of rules, laws and have a level of accountability that
private schools don't. Students and
families have rights in our public schools that they need to fight for, but
that exist under the law. By privatizing
our schools we change the rules of the game and force parents to "shop
around" for the "best deal" when we know that there will be
efforts to mislead families. Private
schools will advertise one thing, but may not (and often have not) deliver on
their promises.
Unions and worker's rights
are another area where this misleading information and fear based thinking is
used to undermine the rights of many.
Conservatives have, and rightly so, been upset by the IRS's targeting of
conservative groups. They say that these
groups provide a way for citizens to unite and promote their ideals, and speak
with a unified voice. Almost sounds like
the way unions that have been vilified here in Wisconsin operate, doesn't it? A group of people who thinks like we do is
"good", a group that holds opposite ideals, "bad". Part of living in our "free" society
is accepting that both sides have a right to organize, communicate and act in
ways to promote their own interests. It
is the job of the society to sift through the different viewpoints and arrive
at a consensus as to what ideas will be implemented and supported.
Those who support the
efforts to undermine public confidence in their government and in those who
deliver the services that our society needs, work hard to create this sense of
crisis and disaster. The natural
response is to fight back and to react to every perceived threat with a
defensive and reactionary response.
Positions become entrenched and compromise is vilified and seen as a
weakness. Fewer and fewer people are
able to look at issues from different perspectives and even fewer view those
with opposing views with respect.
The extreme views of
either side lead us down the same path towards a divided and hostile
society. These are the views that are
projected into the public eye as being "normal", when in reality,
most of us live, work and think in the middle somewhere. We can't allow ourselves to be guided by the
extremes, but must be accurately informed and involved in making positive
change happen.
Aiming
for the Wrong Target…
Whenever
anyone tries to improve any aspect of the society they live in it is important
to find common ground and to set goals that can guide them in the improvement
(dare I say reform) process. The
importance of these goals can't be understated; they provide direction, unity
and a sense of purpose. However, the goals
that are set must be ones that actually help us achieve these things. When the goals we create don't do this, or in
some cases lead us in the wrong direction, the results are harmful.
In
public education we have set our sights on achieving objectives that are too
frequently questionable in nature. We
see real problems with Achievement Gaps, student engagement in school,
communications between students/families/educators, graduation rates and other
important areas. We can't deny the
problems, but what we choose to do about the challenges we face in public
education is within our power to impact.
We see too many efforts, and too much hard work being done, with results
that simply don't meet our students’ needs, or our own expectations. We also see some reforms driven by those who
seek to criticize and not to improve the outcomes for many students.
Not
only are we often aiming for the wrong target, the targets that we truly do
want to hit are moving and very elusive.
They require the concerted efforts of a society committed to improving
outcomes for all students, not just a "lucky" few. It is time we stop blaming educators, cutting
budgets and trying to fix our problems with a false layer of accountability. America has the resources and
abilities to make our public education systems into places where all students
can achieve. It is a matter of setting
proper goals, supporting our schools and working as a community to address the
needs of our students. The outcomes
could be incredibly powerful for our entire society.
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