In The “Jesus” Problems, Part 1 and 2, we have seen that corporations—especially large ones—are now very willing to support any cause except one that names Jesus Christ. We have seen, also, that the political left is siphoning off money from people on both the right and the left to fund schools that keep Jesus out. Now, we come to an examination of the political right.

The right, it seems to me, competes with the left to see how supportive it can be and how much money it can give to the schools that keep Jesus assiduously outside. Candidates are on the fringe if they are in favor of school choice or vouchers. No candidate on the political right simply calls for decreases in funding or deeper levels of accountability (i.e., accountability that could result in systemic failure) for the public schools. Why not? The answer is simple. They are trying to get elected or stay elected and this sort of view will not aid them even though someone saying this and doing this will be necessary fiscally if we are to survive. To put a finer point on this: our public schools cannot continue to survive economically into the short term future. Here is a story from the Reading Eagle (Reading!?!?! As far as I can tell the Intelligencer Journal whiffed on this one) that was forwarded to me by a friend:

Education costs years of taxes

Reading Eagle

May 28, 2010

Contact David Mekeel: 610-371-5014 or dmekeel@readingeagle.com.

NOBODY LIKES paying taxes. Sure, we recognize the need for well-maintained roads, police departments and decent public education — and that those things take money. But no one really likes forking over big wads of cash each year. One of the biggest tax hits comes from school districts, which are largely funded through property taxes. A frequent refrain is from older residents, their children long since finished with school, who say things like, “I’ve been paying taxes for 30 years. I’ve paid my fair share.” But have they really?

A recent discussion with Dr. Solomon Lausch, the Schuylkill Valley superintendent, got me thinking. He claimed that most families will never pay enough in taxes to cover the cost of sending two kids through school. I was intrigued.

About a week later, I came across the 2010-11 tuition rates for the Reading School District. Set by the state, they’re basically what it costs to send a kid to school for a year. Based on those numbers, it costs just under $100,000 to educate a kid from kindergarten through graduation. And with a current tax rate of 16.46 mills, a person owning a city home assessed at $100,000 pays $1,646 a year in school taxes. So, based solely on school property taxes, it would take that person about 60 years to pay the cost of putting just one child through school.

In Schuylkill Valley, the cost to send a kid through the school system is about $130,000. With a current millage rate of 24.43, a homeowner with a property assessed at $100,000 needs about 53 years to pay off one student’s bill.

Obviously, schools aren’t funded only with property taxes — there’s state and federal money, too. But even if you figure generously that people contribute an equal amount toward education through state and federal taxes, it will still take about 30 years to pay off one kid’s education.

These figures aren’t meant to be an excuse for districts to raise property taxes. I’ve presented them in a vacuum, without figuring in factors like changing tax rates or considering if districts are spending too much per student. Heck, many would argue property taxes are the wrong mechanism for school funding in the fi rst place. I only presented them as food for thought.

The point is only half made here. Because the person seems to think that Federal Taxes offer hope. They are, of course, coming from a government further in debt than most sane men believed impossible only a short time ago.

When will the political right get some courage and grow some backbone and begin to campaign against the schools that are teaching kids to become members of the political left (because of the political affiliation of most teachers, the staggering need for funds without commensurate accountability, and the simple absence of “Jesus” who stands as the very center of truth and life). Until this happens. Until the ownership of the school reverts again to parents and to the local community who must run the school without running a deficit and with the knowledge that people can and will leave if they do not teach well, our country will continue its dreary march to the abyss.

In the next installment we will examine how the rank and file American reacts to the “Jesus” problem.