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Oct. 17 protest in France, where students say the rich are getting richer while education suffers. Wikimedia Images photo<\/p>\nI just got a mailer from the San Francisco Democratic Party, which is now largely funded and controlled by Big Tech billionaires, that features \u201cDemocratic Leaders for San Francisco Public Education.\u201d The seven folks on the slate are people that GrowSF is supporting.<\/p>\n
GrowSF has shown no interest in increased funding for public education. Its candidates are all about \u201cliving within our means\u201d and \u201cfiscal responsibility.\u201d (Those are at least better terms that \u201ctightening our belts,\u201d which has always horrified me: It suggests that people need to eat less food and suffer from hunger.)<\/p>\n
The San Francisco Unified School District and City College are pillars of what California once called a master plan for education. The state developed that in the 1960s, when rich people paid high taxes and money for public services was never short.<\/p>\n
Oct. 17 protest in France, where students say the rich are getting richer while education suffers. Wikimedia Images photo<\/p>\n
The unions representing teachers are promoting candidates who argue that it\u2019s impossible to provide adequate public education without paying professional educators a living wage. That\u2019s absolutely true.<\/p>\n
Not everything government does gets better with money. Military spending is a huge waste. California has spent $20 billion since 1980 building prisons, and we spend $14 billion a year running them. That has not made anyone safer.<\/p>\n
But public education is different: By almost any metric, there\u2019s a direct-line correlation between the outcomes of public education and the money we spend on it. More money for public schools means better outcomes for students.<\/p>\n
We can, and should, argue about the student assignment process<\/a>. But that\u2019s just a synecdoche (look it up, I went to a well-funded public high school with great English teachers) for the larger issue: California, and San Francisco, don\u2019t spend enough money on education.<\/p>\n The GrowSF candidates need to understand that what\u2019s really on the table is, in some ways, that same thing that\u2019s driving protests across Europe, particularly in France: The notion that \u201causterity\u201d means we can\u2019t afford public education\u2014at a time when the amount of wealth in this city is exponentially greater than at any time in history.<\/p>\n Sponsored link<\/p>\n
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