David Spates "Therefore I Am" Published June 11, 2002

The politicians act as
though they want us to leave

It's almost enough to make me pack up my goodies and rent a U-Haul.

It wasn't too long ago that Tennessee was considered the best-kept secret in the country -- a great place to live, work, raise a family and retire. That time is gone, I fear. Tennessee has become a joke.

At the heart of the problem is the state's budget. The people we elected to handle it have done a terrible job. Well, actually, we elected them, didn't we? We must shoulder the blame, too. We're the ones who sent these dolts to Nashville. I voted, so it's my fault. What about the folks who didn't vote? Are they free of fault? No way. They're just as guilty, if not more so. A wise man once said, "If you chose not to decide, you still have made a choice."

No one's taking responsibility at the State Capitol. There's plenty of finger-pointing, but no solution is in sight. Ask an individual politician what he thinks the problem is, and I guarantee you he'll roll out a laundry list of reasons the budget is what it is. I've yet to hear anyone admit personal failure. It's always someone else's fault. Nothing substantial will happen until the lawmakers screw up their courage, forget about the next election, and make some politically hazardous decisions.

The state faces a $480 million deficit this budget year and needs a whopping $800 million next year to fund the same items as this year. Last week I read that the House Finance Committee is reviewing a budget proposal that cuts $945 million in spending, primarily to education and health care.

Education??!! They want to take the money out of the schools??!! When I read that, I started looking around my house, taking mental inventory of how many boxes I'd need and what size U-Haul I should rent. Maybe I should start saving newspaper, too. It's good to wrap up dishes and glassware. I want to stay in Tennessee, truly I do, but they're not making it easy.

Tennessee could withstand some cuts to its health care program. TennCare is a Cadillac program operated in a state running on a Chevette budget. People come from all over the United States to get sick in Tennessee. This is a great state in which to develop a life-threatening illness. All we can afford is what we can afford, and right now Tennessee can't afford TennCare in its present form. Trim it down.

Education, however, is a different story. Continuing on with the car metaphor, the state's Chevette budget has produced a Pinto education system.

According to Governing, a magazine published by Congressional Quarterly for officials with state and local government, Tennessee ranked 49th in the country in education spending. Who's 50th? Who cares? What's the difference between 50th and 49th? I realize, statistically speaking, in a list of 50 states SOMEONE must be 49th and 50th, but it doesn't have to be us, does it? We rank 46th in the number of people over age 25 with high school diplomas, 49th in library spending, and 45th in its overall services for children.

And this is where our dimwit leaders want to "trim the fat"? Do they figure that since we're already near the bottom rung anyway, why not take the last step down? Since we're 46th in high school diplomas, would anyone really mind if we dropped to 47th, 48th, 49th or 50th?

Maybe it's all just for show. Perhaps the talk of cutting the education budget is a bluff designed to scare the public and the politicians into taking action. If it is, that's still a disgrace. It's no different that holding a gun (maybe unloaded, maybe not) to a child's head and demanding a balanced budget.

I know spending is not the be-all-end-all measure of a school system's effectiveness. Planning and efficiency go a long way in ensuring children get the most bang for their educational buck. We don't need to be in the top five in spending or even in the top 10, but 49th is an outrage. We can and must do better. Teachers are staying away from Tennessee in droves because they can make thousands more in other states. Funding isn't the final solution, but it's part of the equation.

In case you suspect that the only reason I'm standing atop the education soapbox is because I now have a little kid, think again. This soapbox and I have gobbled up many a Chronicle page in my time. As proof, allow me to quote myself from a column I wrote long before I spawned:

"We all benefit when children enjoy a higher standard of education, but it doesn't come cheaply. Money is needed to build schools, pay for teachers, purchase equipment, etc., and unless you want to live in a country where the only phrase you need to know to make a living is 'You want fries with that?' you had better be prepared to pony up some cash for education."

Truth be told, I won a first-place state award for that column. (Honk! Honk! Hear that? That's my own horn.) Without an decent education, however, my horn would be silent.

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David Spates is a Knoxville resident and Crossville Chronicle contributor whose column is published each Tuesday. He can be reached at davespates@chartertn.net.