Don't sacrifice education just to save money

Don't throw our Utah families under the bus.

These are serious times, and our citizens should expect thoughtful deliberation by legislators about matters affecting our lives, especially education. Let's hope insightful minds will prevail. There is nothing more important to the survival of a free society than an educated citizenry; yet we now see frivolous ideas being thrown around if only to save money. That's like giving half the dose of medicine to a sick child. Lost is the purpose of education and its importance in today's global economy.

When we used to talk about difficult problems, my friend, the late Judge Frank Wilkins, would say, "That calls for big medicine." And that's what is needed to give hope to our children for their future, not shortsighted ideas such as cutting out the 12th grade in our public education or cutting school bus service. These ideas have serious consequences and should not be seen as "out-of-the-box ideas," but for what they are: political whims.

Our lawmakers ought to make decisions based on values and principles, rather than political posturing. Lawmakers talk about children, families, local control, upholding the Constitution and against big government, yet do the opposite when it comes to how they conduct their business; they want to dictate how the State School Board should carry out its constitutional responsibility, how local school boards should run their schools, and even how to get children to and from school. So much for local control.

It's true times have changed and so must our public institutions to keep up with change; however, policymakers should first understand how our environment has changed and how to renew it to solve today's problems in keeping with our values. How many lawmakers have taken the time to see the creative things now taking place in our school districts and the challenges our families face in today's economy? Do they know that students already can and do shorten their stay in school and go on to higher education; that more parents are having trouble making ends meet and have to rely on school buses to get their children to school; that students have to wait in long lines each month to get Utah Transit Authority passes? And while there is talk about UTA taking over school busing to save money, it would create a larger bureaucracy and the busing of children would be lost in the shuffle. Our children must be a priority, not an afterthought.