“If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”
Nicholas D. Kristof’s last column in the New York Times is a cry for help in defense of education. But whereas the columnist and reporter usually writes about international issues and developing countries, his latest text is about a domestic problem.
“Chipping away at poverty is difficult and uncertain work, but perhaps the anti-poverty program with the very best record is education — and that’s as true in New York as it is in Nigeria,” writes Kristof.
Several countries have chosen to slash education budgets in order to face budget deficits. In France, thousands of teachers’ positions have been suppressed. Classroom sizes are swelling and individualized student services are getting scarce. Why governments would want to threaten one of the best catalysts for economic prosperity is unclear to me, although I can certainly understand that putting money into education is a long-term investment, whereas saving money by cutting public funds generates immediate results. And in the political world, that is what matters.
Recent drastic budget cuts in Detroit have caused the suppression of 853 staff positions, including 304 classroom teachers. Back in March, when the plan was drafted, the Emergency Financial Manager’s measures were estimated to cause classroom sizes to climb to 60 kids per classroom. Now how is this supposed to pull Detroit out of its economical and social mess? I don’t know.
What scares me the most is not the current cuts, but the result of these, that we’ll only get to see in 20 years or so.
