A recent blog, "Teachers and the economy," by Charles Kuffner published on the liberal blog "Off the Kuff" is shedding some light on the seemingly hypocritical actions of Governor Rick Perry. The blog quotes an editorial from another publication which informs readers that Rick Perry plans to cut 100,000 teaching jobs in Texas, about one third of current teaching jobs.
This is a pretty extreme proposition by any standard. I must admit that I almost threw up in my mouth a little bit when I read it. The thought of 100,000 Texans losing their jobs troubles me greatly, especially since both my parents are high school teachers. Furthermore, at a time when Texas is at a record low in the education rankings, I can hardly imagine that dramatically increasing the student to teacher ration will improve this.
I can understand a certain amount of disgust, but this blog post makes a a statements that I see as imprudent:
"That would be because he doesn’t care about public sector jobs, and if anyone were ever able to get him to answer a question about it he’d likely say that losing these jobs is a good thing that will be good for the economy."
To me, this is quite presumptuous. It bothers me when conservative bloggers pretend to have an omniscient view into the minds of liberal politicians, and they use this vantage point to demonize the left. People say that Obama has no respect for America, that Obama is insincere in his spiritual beliefs, and that Obama generally would like to in some way or another harm America. I would like it if these conservative bloggers would quit pretending that they can read Obama's mind, and I would be a hypocrite if I wasn't equally displeased with reading this same sort of rhetoric on a liberal blog.
I don't believe that Rick Perry has no concern for 100,000 Texans loosing their jobs. I'd like to give him the benefit of the doubt and think that this would be a very difficult choice for him to make. I also wouldn't assume that he thinks this will have a net positive impact on the state's economy, at least not in the short term.
I understand Perry's beliefs, and I understand that a balanced budget is high on his list of priories for building a better Texas. I don't think that firing 1/3 of our teaching force is a good way to do this and would have much preferred a blog post that surveyed the negative consequences of Perry's proposed budget cuts and possibly offered a better solution.
I think this blog will appeal to some liberals, although many people like myself will be left wanting a more intellectually palatable conversation.
