Your Man Mitch!

I know, I know...Everyone is supposed to love Mitch Daniels. After all, he did proclaim himself to be "My Man Mitch." Well, he certainly isn't "My Man." And, my guess is that in the field of education, he is quickly being de-throned as "My Man" by hundreds, even thousands of teachers.

Being the husband of a teacher who was on the chopping block (and, if the trend continues, she'll probably be back there next year), I have been extremely concerned with Mitch's proposals for funding education. Of course, I can say that he is staying true to what he said he would do in his campaign. So, I'm mostly disturbed by people who voted for him...Especially teachers. Many said, "Oh, that's just campaign talk. It's just a scare tactic. He won't really cut education funding." Hmm...Really?

As many of us know, Mitch basically said that education is failing in Indiana. This is true. And, in order to remedy the situation, he is basically cutting funding to schools. That makes sense. Give them less resources to improve the education we are providing for our children. And, the schools being hit the hardest are inner-city schools, which probably need the most help. So, funding is being cut. The result is that teachers all over the state of Indiana are losing their jobs. Now, if some corporation came in and cut 500+ jobs (and that's just right now...I'm sure there are more to come), the state would really go at them. And, the state would do all they could to create more jobs, to bring in new businesses that would provide quality employment for those that lost jobs. What, exactly, is "My Man Mitch" going to do to create new jobs for the hundreds of teachers that will be without a paycheck come the end of the school year? I guess we'll have a lot of well-educated people serving us at Scotty's Brewhouse, checking us out at Wal-Mart, and bagging our groceries at Marsh.

The funding cuts mean class sizes will be larger and the attention each individual student receives will drastically decrease. But, hey, if you make them fight for it, maybe things will improve. At least that's the thinking of our multi-millionaire governor. It really seems like this is discriminating against those in lower socio-economic categories. Those of us that live in the city live there because that's where we can afford to live. Now, our children won't get the quality of education that they could get if we could afford to move out into the 'burps. But, that doesn't matter to most of our state representative who don't have children being affected by all of this. I just can't imagine how this will all turn out in the years to come.

Oh, by the way, it doesn't really seem like our state representatives really care to do much about all of this. Muncie Community Schools are really getting hit hard. However, have any of you heard Allie Craycraft or Tiny Adams speak out strongly and vote against what's going on??? When it's time to vote, remember this. And, come on, do we really want to be represented by someone that goes by "Tiny?"

So, education is taking a hit. However, the Indianapolis Colts are going to get a great new stadium. And, wouldn't you know it, the state has taken control of this project. The thought process is clear...The Colts bring money into the state. It's a business move. But, with education being severely cut back, we'll see what happens in 10-15 years. The kids that are getting the worst of all of this today won't be able to afford tickets because their limited education in classrooms with 40 other students kept them from getting a good job. So, the Colts will move to a larger market area. I just don't think Mitch is looking at the long-term effects here. I think he's simply trying to balance the budget so he can use that as his platform when the next election comes around. I hope those in education won't allow "My Man Mitch" to have a second term. Of course, that's a few years from now.

I guess we get what we vote for. Next election, take the man seriously when he says he's going to cut funding to education.

Indy Star Article on Teacher Job Loss