Edge-u-ma-cay-shun

I sometimes feel weird about "answering" a comment on my blog with another comment ... it's like, I had my say, now anyone else can have theirs. Only this particular comment wasn't really about what I had blogged.

And some of y'all know me to be one who's seldom shy about voicing a political opinion, so ...

I've been hearing for a number of years now some people talking about how they're "sick of Bush." Seldom do they offer a reason and, if pressed, I usually hear the utter genious statements such as "he's just so stupid" or "he's ruined the economy" or "he's trying to steal my social security" and, of course, the ol' standby "he lied about [insert Iraq subject here]."

Well, a rare one appeared recently ... the dreaded "No Child Left Behind Act." Not sure what in particular my friend doesn't like about this education bill (apparently everything?), but the education whines from the Left are running a close second to complaints about the economy in the I Don't Get It category.

First, I don't get complaints about the demand for accountability in our schools. If I invest $5,000, I want to know what my money's doing. If a business invests $500,000 in, say, a program to increase productivity, that business should expect a return. If a man invests $50 million in a professional sports franchise and then writes seven-figure checks to athletes who play for him, he has the right to expect results. In my book, anyway.

And that kind of ties into the second part of this I don't get: When we pour more than $500 BILLION into public education, you're damned right I expect accountability. And I'm sorry, but the incessant complaining about underfunded education in this country has become something akin to a shrill train whistle every morning at 4:30.

Funding for education rose so fast after NCLB went into effect that local and state education agencies STILL haven't caught up and been able to spend what they have six years later. In our state elections last fall, the Left continued to pound on Gov. Rick Perry for broken promises involving school funding, and Texas public schools were sitting on $8 billion they hadn't yet spent from the previous fiscal year!

This, to me, is a little like the folks who bash the U.S. for "allowing" starvation and genocide and all the bad things in Africa when we've given those countries ... oh, I don't know, what is three zeros up from $100 trillion?

Please! Tell us now, how much will be enough?

(Imported from March 2, 2007)