Bake sales for basics

MANIFESTO

The Bushies' desire to eviscerate public education is swiftly coming to pass.

[California e]ducators must finalize their budgets for the next school year before Sacramento votes on the state's spending plan. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget would cut about $4.8 billion in education funding this year and next. As a result, potential layoff notices have been issued to 20,000 teachers, librarians, nurses and others.

It's been long known that California is often the US's vanguard in any cultural phenomenon. Thus, this doesn't bode well.

Readers know that I truly believe that the Bushies have wanted to destroy—or, at the least, severely weaken—the country's educational system in order to lessen the political clout of (largely) Democratic-voting educators. However, I also believe that the Bushies are antithetical toward public education in general, wishing to minimize the chances of middle and lower class students for socioeconomic advancement.

And John McCain is right on board with these oligarchs, rejecting the notion of an expanded GI Bill, which would make it easier for the nation's soldiers and Marines—the vast majority of whom are from the middle and lower classes—to attend college.

It's pretty clear that the haves in our society wish to keep the have nots exactly where they are. Starving the beast of education is a simple way to go about it.