Common Sense for the Common Good

By Jill Sunday Bartoli

But we have allowed the loud and persistent voices of a few to silence us, confuse us, and distract us from what we believe is right for our society. And we have allowed privatization and profiteering to diminish the quality of our systems of public education, healthcare, finance, criminal justice and politics.

Instead of representing us, as we elected them to do, some politicians are hurling weapons of mass distraction that deter us from a strong focus on job creation, affordable health care, protecting our environment, creating safer communities and supporting an excellent system of public education that will give hope for a meaningful life to all of our children.

Of course we should be responsible for the way we spend money and our long term debt. But a responsible budget does not sacrifice the health, education and welfare of millions of its citizens. And responsible politicians do not prevent opportunities for affordable health care so that families do not go bankrupt from medical bills.

Of course we care about choices for our children's education, but we also have the responsibility to support equitable education for other people's children. To their credit, parents choosing parochial, private or home schooling have also taken financial responsibility for those choices. Cyber and charter school parents could do the same, to help prevent the budget deficits that strip traditional public schools of art, music, gym and other vital resources for a well-rounded education.

Of course we want all of our students to learn and achieve. But allowing profiteering testing companies, unfunded mandates and imposed standardized curricula and testing to limit their opportunities to learn by constraining creative and engaging teaching, does not make sense.

Common sense tells us that investing in our youngest citizens with good nutrition, preventative health care, high quality pre-school and well-funded public schools with well-supported, respected and appreciated teachers will vastly decrease the lopsided U.S. investment in prisons. Our radically expanding prison system (the largest in the world, better funded than education, and the biggest business in many communities) is filled with poor, uneducated citizens who have had few opportunities and little hope for a successful future.

We the people want the kind of society that reflects our deepest held values -- not the demands of self-righteous or self-centered fringe groups. Their highly paid lobbyists push senseless, profiteering agendas that punish those without the money and power to protest. By whose sense of logic would we rob from public school funds for over 90 percent of our children to support less successful cyber and charter options for 5 or 10 percent? And what sense does it make to reject federal Medicaid funding that could literally save the lives of 19 thousand people in our country, according to the latest RAND study?

Most people find it odd that politicians are so willing to sacrifice the pensions and pay of public school teachers who care for our most precious resource, while legislators' pay and pensions continue to rise. Yet it is not teachers who are voting against sensible background checks for gun owners. It is not teachers who are reducing taxes for gas companies while decreasing funding for public schools. It is not teachers who are increasing funding for prisons, or obstructing legislation for jobs, or decreasing support for our most vulnerable citizens.

I believe that the majority of people want what is best for the common good of our society, despite the outcries of a few who only want what is best for their own children and their own profit. So let's demand of our elected officials that they represent us -- that they stop their in-fighting, sabotaging, obstruction and profiteering (check out the documentary "The United States of ALEC" on profiteering) and try to work together on common goals. Then we will see common sense for the common good reflected in the bills, votes and actions of our legislators.