I recently returned to Philadelphia from a visit with my daughter and son-in-law in Rhode Island. I heard about the folly of Providence's mayor and school board who believe that the answer to all the academic failures and to all the financial deficits of the Providence School District can be solved by firing every single school teacher.
Considering a parallel in medicine might present the following scenario: People notice that the mortality rate at the local cancer hospital is higher than that of the local general hospital. To resolve the problem, physicians feel more money is needed for research and patient care. But, no one wants to pay more in taxes to support proper care for the cancer patients, and politicians are hard pressed to look as though they are doing something. So, they fire all of the professionals at the hospital, doctors and nurses alike. What sense does that make?
None. Nor does firing the professionals who dedicate their lives to work with inner city children, often from families with financial and linguistic challenges. Politicians can pretend they are doing something when in reality they are blowing out a smoke screen that will only pollute the lives of disadvantaged children while solving nothing. Shame on the mayor, the school board, and all of the voters who allowed this to happen.
