Voice of Reason: Education funding necessary to prosper
Everything is connected. Everything. And this is particularly true with regards to education.
Education affects us all — not just those who have children. As such, we should all be concerned about it. We say we are, but our actions betray us. We speak of a need to have the highest caliber schools, but then we balk at paying for them.
Nothing’s more important than our children, and our future, we say. Nothing, that is, except our wallets.
Very few will speak against education. Indeed, we — from the county’s leaders on down — love to talk about how important education is for our children and the future of our county. But until we start actually believing it, and act upon that belief, we’re all going to be in for a very rough ride.
Here are the facts: Warren County is stagnating. Our manufacturing base is on the decline, well-paying jobs are scarce, and a number of our citizens are leaving for greener pastures. And if we don’t act soon, our situation is just going to get worse.
We must first understand everything is interdependent. Every action we take, or don’t take as the case may be, has consequences. Ergo, if we only devote the bare minimum of resources to educating our children, as we have done for way too long, we shouldn’t be surprised that high-tech, high-paying employers aren’t beating down the door to open up shop here.
Covering the local education beat as I do, it is my belief our local education officials are doing everything they can to ensure our children get the best education possible. They are capable, hard working and thrifty people, but they can only do so much with the very little they are given.
It is easy to fault past generations for the fix we are currently in — they are certainly entitled to their share of the blame. But we are also to blame. We too would rather pay lower property taxes than improve education. This is especially true, it seems, with those who say they derive no benefit from funding the school system.
But again, everything is connected. Making education a priority doesn’t just benefit children and those with children. A high-quality, highly funded education system turns out highly educated students, which in turn helps to attract high-quality, high-paying jobs. The more well-off people are, the more products and property they will buy and the more they will pay in taxes. And an expanded tax base can provide for a number of quality of living improvements, not just for those working, but for older folks as well.
In other words, we shouldn’t look at higher education spending as throwing money away, but as an investment, because that’s exactly what it is. High-quality school systems don’t just happen. They must first be properly funded. And when they are, everybody wins. Everybody.
For too long this community has been content for mediocrity in education. We haven’t demanded improvement because we haven’t had to. Whether we depended on the nursery industry for employment or entry-level factory work, we haven’t had to do much to improve ourselves. But all good things must come to an end.
The future is catching up with Warren County and if we don’t adapt and make the short-term sacrifices necessary to compete in today’s global, interconnected economy, we will be left in the dust.
But you can’t get something for nothing. As they say in economics, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. We must recognize in order for all of us to prosper we must make our future a higher priority than saving a few bucks today.
Will Stewart is a reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].