Cameo Thorne.
(Opinion)This week, Superintendent Carol Birks announced the layoffs of three dozen certified educators, which the Board of Education still needs to approve. Cameo Thorne, a one-time Teacher of the Year who now works to implement restorative practices throughout the district, submitted this opinion piece on the go-to arguments about the trade-offs between higher taxes on our properties and more teachers in our schools.
When I read about layoffs, I am saddened because the impact is always negative for individuals, families, and communities. As a parent, grandparent, and career educator, when I see the layoffs of teachers and school counselors, the concern is deep because the lives of children are directly affected.
I also understand and am saddened that the average New Haven property owner and renter struggles to pay for increasing property taxes. The argument is always structured as two opposing forces: more property taxes = money for kids versus lower taxes = stable housing and increased commercial success.
In reality, arguments rooted in the idea that there are only two ways to look at the problem limit our thinking and the possibility of finding a different solution. The seesaw construct of the argument at both the state and local levels leaves everyone frustrated and angry.
What would a shift in thinking look like? I suggest we start with these parameters: we can’t spend money we don’t have, we can’t tax people out of their homes, we can’t ignore the needs of our children, and the benefits that the working class receives from commercial entities must be reciprocal. One cannot benefit without the other. It is in the interests of all groups to remember our interdependency.
At one time, labor unions were a strong voice in these conversations. Their actions and voices pointed to the people who profited the most monetarily from the labor of others and made it clear that everyone benefits when the individuals who make up society are healthy physically, emotionally, and intellectually. For some business owners, supporting these dimensions of their workforce came to be understood as part of the cost of doing business. In the more recent past, labor’s voice has diminished and the wealthy managed to retain more and more of their wealth, which has impoverished the community as a whole, and especially our children. As the needs of families become more dire, so do the needs of our children. As the needs of our children increase, so do the needs of the schools that have been charged with caring for the whole child. But unfortunately, those needs remain underfunded.
No one branch of government, no single group of citizens or labor union is to blame. We have collectively allowed this situation to develop over time and become a systemic societal illness. It took root in part because, somewhere in the past, some bought the idea that we need the wealthy to attain and maintain wealth so that the rest of us can maintain economic stability in the form of a job. So we offer tax breaks to the wealthiest, limit the wages that corporations need to pay, and allow the rich to prosper at the expense of the needs of the individual and the community. This thinking has contributed immensely to the increasing needs of our students because there is simply not enough public money provided to meet the needs.
Now we must work together to build a different structure of thinking and acting in order to fund our schools and address our students’ critical needs. We need to reject the notion that the answers lie in layoffs and sacrificing the needs of our children. We need to reject the notion that labor unions are only in it for themselves and remember that they were always about protecting workers, giving voice to those who did not have a voice, and to nurturing economic justice instead of the growing ocean that separates those who have from those who do not.
Since Connecticut holds the number two spot the nation with regard to income inequality, (the gap between rich and poor) the reasonable conclusion is to identify how those who have financially benefited from labor and commercial enterprises can provide the means to close the educational budget deficit and hold them accountable. This is a practical matter and a humane matter. Whether your philosophical view reflects self interest or fairness and equity, both perspectives are supported by this solution since the outcomes are beneficial to everyone.
Fairness and equity begins with our children and our ability to meet their needs. Layoffs from schools should be seen in this light. The community needs to understand this. Government needs to protect it. Labor needs to defend it. I implore our community to come back together and work to protect its most fragile members: our children.
The Independent’s Markeshia Ricks took on the same question Friday on WNHH FM’s “Pundit Friday” show. Click on the play arrow to watch a brief highlights clip.