Yet Another Great Letter to the Editor

What’s wrong with peoples’ attitudes as they relate to the spending of public money?

One answer came in a short item in the Dec. 2 edition of the Sun Post.

A federal program called the Teacher Recovery Act has funneled $1.3 million into Hopkins Public Schools. The entire amount was promptly spent in celebratory fashion.  Good for the Sun Post for being intellectually honest enough to mention that this infusion of money was a one-time occurrence.

But what to tell the Hopkins School Board? Out of lack of long-term forethought, they spent that $1.3 million on increased personnel. Since this money was a one-time allocation, what will happen to these new hires when the money runs out?  Will Hopkins Schools be able to afford to keep them employed? Will they scramble to scare up new money to avert mass layoffs that, as I expect, will be blamed on the avarice of people of certain political persuasions and their unwillingness to make the necessary investments in a high-quality education?

Will the public, with their short memory and gullibility, believe this lie and forget that all of these school positions were artificially created and unsustainable in the first place?  Hopkins Schools is not the only government body guilty of this irresponsibility.  Everywhere, unsustainable expenses are being funded by one-time cash infusions. Worse yet, these infusions create perceptions of permanence, a dynamic that the oppressionist ruling class is only too happy to cultivate and exploit. Sadly, such tactics succeed with frightening frequency.

Attitudes must change.

Matt Rothchild

Robbinsdale

Very true Mr. Rothchild, this is a problem at all levels of government including at RAS.  And what do you want to bet that when the temporary federal money (still our money) goes away, they’ll claim federal money is being “cut” when they knew it would not be there.