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Those of you focused on the war may be shocked to know that there are other problems going on around this country. Here in Ohio we are having a serious budget crises. As a result, there are protests going on that don’t involve war.

Yesterday it was education protests. The students, parents, and teachers were protesting “cuts” in education funding Governor Taft made to balance the current fiscal year’s budget. A couple of issues stand out:
- Taking students out of school to protest funding cuts is questionable at best. First of all, the vast majority of education funding goes to teacher’s salaries and benefits. So using students to argue for a pay raise strikes me as a bit tactless. Second the students are given a simplistic and, in many cases, totally one sided view of the issue. All of these people seem to think that simply pouring more money into education will solve the problem. They throw out the tired cliches: “it’s for the children,” “think of our future,” etc. These lame cliches have no relation to the actual issue of quality education. They are simply manipulative and overblown statements used to insult legislators.
- The point that is totally being ignored is that school funding is not being cut. Over the last ten years state expenditures on primary and secondary education has almost doubled, from nearly $4 billion to almost $8 billion. Even with the recent cuts school funding is expected to see an increase in the 04-05 budget. This at a time when other agencies have seen their budgets reduced to 1998 levels or below.
- Lastly the argument about per pupil spending is silly. There are no indications that per pupil spending is connected to student performance. Instead of discussing real reform issues, the teachers unions and their supporters simply want more pay for less work. The advocate for smaller classes, more professional development, and higher pay. None of which is likely to effect kids in the classroom in a significant way.

All in all I think the kids who came down to Columbus to protest may have learned something but it was likely how to use cliches and bad information to get in the paper and on TV. Not exactly the lesson most people have in mind.