Applying how we run our personal households to how the state should manage its budget sounds good. After all, we both have to live within our means. BUT YOU CAN’T apply the same principles to everything. AS FOR ROADS, Kansas has a reputation of having the best. The result is fewer traffic accidents and fatalities; fewer damages to our vehicles; and more over-the-road transports which do business along highway corridors.
Trouble is, it doesn’t work; for a number of reasons.
Example A
People on a limited budget “make do,” often with similar results as to those who have ample means.
Sure, a goose down parka is super warm and stylish. But at $400, it’s out of reach for many, so they make do with multiple layers of a cheaper fabric like polyester.
This frugality is what keeps food on the table and the heat turned on.
Example B
That 1999 Ford gets you to work every bit as well as a new Mercedes and at a fraction of the price.
No, the Ford isn’t shiny and new or have all the bells and whistles of a luxury car, but for those on a budget, it’s good enough.
This living within our means is what makes us responsible citizens. Cutting corners doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing utility — at least not enough to truly matter.
Take education and highways.
Education experts — and I hope our legislators and governor will admit they do not qualify — say we need to spend more on K-12 education.
In the past three years, funding for education has been reduced by almost $442 million, a cut of $620 per child. A ruling late last week said base aid per student should be $4,492 based on what it costs to educate students in today’s world. It’s currently $3,838. Brownback has proposed increasing it $14 a student.
The cuts have resulted in fewer teachers, counselors, nurses, paraprofessionals, supplies, busses and maintenance funds, not to mention pay cuts and hiring freezes.
My guess is that Kansas teachers are doing their best to keep their students from feeling the full brunt of the cuts by trying to do more with less.
Trouble is, with a too-small budget you can’t really make a crowded classroom less crowded. You can’t provide counseling services if the position is not filled. And no, you can’t fix the leak in the gymnasium roof if the maintenance fund has run dry.
The experts determined what makes for an adequate education. By denying these funds, state legislators are saying we must drive a car with an oil leak, never mind the 1999 Ford, much less the Mercedes.
The result will be poorly educated students and a work force of teachers who will look for greener pastures.
Keeping Kansas roads and bridges in good shape is expensive. The 4.4 miles of new road east of Iola to LaHarpe along U.S. 54 is projected to cost more than $6.5 million. Originally, a patchwork of a three-inch mill with a concrete overlay was planned. Upon further inspection it was determined an entire replacement of the road would be a better investment. This will entail first removing nine inches of reinforced concrete plus four inches of rock underneath.
For next year, a combination of highway and bridge projects is expected to cost state taxpayers $1.1 billion, although as of Wednesday the governor proposed cutting that by $193 million.
As with education, skimping on roads and bridges will backfire.
As a state, our goals seem to be changing. If legislators decide to renege on school funding as well as accept robbing the transportation fund for other causes, the message is we’re willing to “make do” with substandard schools and roads.
I guess that’s OK, if we’re willing to accept the label: Substandard State.
When ‘making do,’ fails the test
