Failing the children


San Francisco schools are at a crisis
I have no easy answers for this one.

Several hundred angry parents, students, teachers and principals crowded into a middle school auditorium in San Francisco on Thursday night to demand that their schools stay open.

The San Francisco Board of Education was scheduled to vote on closing or merging 26 of the city's 119 public schools, a move that could save $5 million but would affect 6,087 schoolchildren.

In the end, after more than five hours of public comments, the board postponed its decision until Thursday. The board agreed it should wait and see whether the San Francisco Board of Supervisors would provide the district with the needed funds to keep the schools open next school year.

"We're in an emergency situation, and the city needs to step in,'' said board member Mark Sanchez just before the board voted to delay closing schools.

I do have a couple of observations though.

First, as the article said, the schools are losing enrollment. That can be traced to the high cost of living in San Francisco, which is due in large part to the role that the city's Board of Supervisors has played. Good intentions can have disastrous results.

Second, after the failure of government to keep it's promises, the first thing that people ask for is more government. More funding, more control, more involvement. It's an addiction.

Get your government here, guaranteed to make you forget your problems.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Fri - January 13, 2006 at 11:54 PM  Tag


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