Thousands of teachers are about to lose jobs in many states. To manage massive budget deficits, several layoff notices were sent out to 22,000 teachers in California, 17,000 in Illinois, and 15,000 in New York. The numbers are expected only to increase in the coming months.
US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan indicated that between 100,000 and 300,000 public education positions in the US are in danger of being terminated. The American Association of School Administrators found in a study that 90 percent of school superintendents plan to cut jobs in the next fall. In addition, please be informed that the mass layoffs have the blessings of Obama administration.
More than one quarter of Obama’s first term has elapsed, and his administration is still blaming it on the mess they inherited. Perhaps it is time to talk about their own mess: the escalation of war in Afghanistan and Pakistan; the lining of pockets of Wall Street executives under the pretext of “too big to fail;” giving a bonanza to the pharmaceutical companies in the name of health care reforms; and now this farcical Wall Street reform and shedding of crocodile tears for the main street. There appears no end in sight of deception.
Obama condoned firing of the entire faculty and staff at Central Falls High School in Rhode Island on March 1. He lauded the action as an example of what should be done at schools around the country in the name of bringing accountability.
Meanwhile, Wall Street is reporting record earnings, but there is nothing to gloat about. A country’s true wealth depends on the earning of its production sector, namely revenue from its nuts-and-bolts companies and value added by its intellectual community. The administration knows very well that their slogan of jobless recovery is a mere pretense.
It is extremely unfortunate that the true conservative fiscally responsible voices in the Republican Party, who could’ve provided a real alternative to the current madness, are increasingly being drowned in the mad raucous of the tea party extremists.
Democratic Senator Tom Harkin has proposed a $23 billion education bailout. What a joke! How much do we spend in a single day in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan? When will the good senses prevail?
