Lyndon B. Johnson, just might have had the secret to building our nation

Lyndon B. Johnson, just might have had the secret to building our nation

It seems when there is a shift in the economy, the funding of the educational system also goes along for a ride. Recently, California has issued more than 23,000 pink slips to educators within the state in response to the budget crises. Superintendent of a Southern California schools system announced they stopped buying textbooks as a way to trim the budget. I am not a brain surgeon, but not purchasing textbooks? How are students supposed to learn? Wait, it gets better, Michigan has had to eliminate the College Promise scholarship, a merit-based grant program that offered in-state students up to $4,000 for college. The Florida Association of District School Superintendents is hoping to undue an amendment that allows less than 18 students in the classroom. If we take a look at this situation from a local perspective, Aims Community College has already had to shut down a satellite campus, close the day care facility, handed pink-slips to a handful of full-time staff, and plans to cut more over the next academic school year. What makes matters worse, this is a thriving institution where enrollment has reached record growth. The list goes on and on and I am sure you get the point. Is this not a time to discuss an act that was founded in 1964? I know our economy is suffering, but are we biting the potential hands that will feed us?

In 1964 Lyndon B Johnson persuaded Congress to pass the Anti-Poverty Act. Johnson stated that it was the first step in his war on poverty. The overall strategy was to help people to "climb out of poverty and stay out". The act provided $947.5 million dollars for job training centers, loans to poor students and basic education programs. Even our politicians know if states spend more on educating people, incomes will grow sufficiently to recover the investment and in many cases, more than what was initially spent. Many of these programs are dwindling, due to lack of resources.

In many states education seems to be a big chunk of money that affects state general funds. However, I wonder if the choices we are choosing to make about our bottom line budgets in education will lead to future catastrophes that will have further implications for our society. Earning an education leads us to informed taxpaying citizens making decisions about our community, government agencies and helping us to be competitive with other countries. It seems we have lost our path in the value we place on education. I ask you, is our economy so dire that we have forgotten the building blocks in achieving continued growth for our nation?