Nearly every school district passed its budget for this year last June, our children went back to school this week, and the State's new fiscal year begins in 24 days. But, as yet, there is no agreement in Lansing on what schools will be allowed to spend this year, let alone how it will be paid for.

You would think this would put school systems in a bind, and you would be right. Sadly, the fate of our schools and our children's education takes a back seat to larger issues, namely: who is going to take the blame for increasing taxes.

Jack Lessenberry, senior political analyst for Michigan Public Radio, posted a short but forceful essay on school funding in his web blog. I quote his opening paragraph below, but the whole essay is worth a read:

Here’s the question we’re all trying to avoid. Do we want public schools, or not? Do we want to be able to tell people that they can move to Michigan, and put their children in our schools?

You can find the full essay here:
http://jackshow.blogs.com/jack/2007/04/essay_public_sc.html

Taxes. There, now I've said it. It's a word no one wants to hear, especially now that Michigan's economy seems to be sliding downhill. (And never in April.)

But wishing won't make it go away. So here is the question:

Do we really have to pay more taxes to get decent schools? Don't we pay enough already?

Well, it depends. What do you want your kids' schools to look like ten years from now? What would you like our state's economy to look like thirty years from now? That's really the bottom line. To quote a colleague of mine, "You get what you pay for."