Education as Economic Development
From today’s Paul Krugman column in the NYT:
“Beyond that, we need to wake up and realize that one of the keys to our nation’s historic success is now a wasting asset. Education made America great; neglect of education can reverse the process.”
Krugman talks about how jobs in the education industry (ie-teachers and those that support said teaching) are diminishing at a rapid pace because educational funding primarily comes from state and local governments that are in a financial dilemma due to the declining tax revenue stemming from the current economic conditions.
As a wide-eyed, somewhat idealistic graduate student in urban planning, I often questioned my elders and professors as to why planners don’t collaborate with schools to emphasize education as economic development. So much talk about economic development in planning and development circles revolves around a cure-all panacea like stadiums, casinos, or other non-local, boardroom-controlled businesses that hire minimal, untrained workers for dismal wages. Not only has this not broken the cycle of poverty (which I readily admit will never fully disappear), but it has created unsustainable “behind the curtain” economic realities in our cities, suburbs, and states.
My inquiries were always returned with blank stares and some form of “yeah, that’s a good question.”
True economic development lies in the desire and opportunity to build a knowledge base in a structured environment. It sets a precedent for the process of setting and achieving goals early in life that cannot be underestimated.
Again, I readily admit that this is not a one-shot-cure-all situation. It will take decades to return our public educational system to acceptable levels of service. It will take visionaries who can break the ridiculous conception that all government spending is wasteful and help people recognize that our schools are in terrible shape because we decided that it is a better idea to pay defense contractors hundreds of billions of dollars to help us maintain a global political dominance based upon conflict, domination, and oppression than retain teachers, renovate classrooms, and buy books. The Republicans started this mess almost 40 years ago, but the Democrats have allowed it to become the status quo.
I’ll save my ideas on how the Army will become the new high school in the American 21st century for another day. But on the morning when I learned that my President received the Nobel Peace Prize for global diplomacy, yet won’t stand up to the congress and the ravenous culture of corporate interests and fight for the physical and educational health of its citizens, I can only wonder where we are headed.
