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Public Education: more than a budget item, an investment Every year, during California’s annual budget fight, both parties in the legislature take certain familiar positions. Republicans restate their opposition to any revenue enhancement measures, citing their pledges of no new taxes, and insist on a reduction in “expenditures.” Democrats ponder how to fund the “competing interests” of their various constituencies. Unfortunately, this year’s stalemate has landed California in a jam, with the state budget almost three months late. There are areas where both sides could give a bit of ground. Republicans, despite their claims of fiscal know-how and financial awareness, sometimes fail to distinguish between an investment and an expense. The former a Balance Sheet item, the latter is an Income Statement issue. Those who insist on curtailing education spending and oppose new revenues are, arguably, not making a sufficient investment in our future. The Governor has made building the State’s infrastructure one of his primary goals. Hopefully, he realizes that there is no more important infrastructure than building the future of our children. High quality, well-funded education develops children into productive and responsible adults with higher wealth-generating potential. This in turn results in higher revenues for the State. It is also common for the Republicans to stress a “tough on crime” approach. They should also realize that poor and under-funded education gives rise to crime. Quality education results in improved earning potential and lower crime rates. Well funded education programs will reduce the need for building and maintaining new correctional facilities and, over the long run, make more resources available for investment programs and for lowering taxes. Democrats, for their part, sometimes try to assign equal weight to education, welfare, social services, and other public assistance programs. But education is inherently different than the other programs. Social programs provide a safety net and assistance to those who have fallen onto harder times due to a number of factors -- the most important of which is often a lack of proper education, job skills and training. Public assistance programs are meant to help those who have fallen behind. They are designed to provide subsistence, and allow recipients to get by. They are, by nature, “repair” and “maintenance” programs. Education, on the other hand, is a “building” and “investment” program which has an inverse relationship with both crime and public subsidy. If we invest more in education today; there will be less need for subsidy and public assistance in the future. Educated and skilled workers, with higher wages, will rely less often on public assistance and related social programs. That, in turn, will inevitably leave more revenues for investment programs and for building infrastructure. Education is one of the most important parts of our state infrastructure! |
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