Snots for Teachers
State and local governments, in case you haven't noticed, are out of money. One of the biggest reasons they are out of money is because they spend twice as much money on K-12 education (adjusted for inflation) than they did four decades ago, without producing any noticeable improvements. One reason for this is that it remains implausibly difficult to fire lousy teachers. This is all especially true in basket-case California, and particlarly in looney-bin Los Angeles.
So! Let's get some super-shitty actors, especially Megan Fox, to record a "Funny or Die" video called "Hot for Teachers," which compounds its many, many sins by not having Fox writhe around school desks in a bikini. This is quite possibly one of the five worst things ever filmed:
It's not just Big Hollywood teaching us about the vile morality of budget cuts, of course, it's Big Media. Here's the beginning of a routine Washington Post news account of a proposed $836 million budget that has been cut by $38 million from the year before, on account of There's No Money:
Zelda Sligh said she has hit a few bumps in life, but with the help of a Prince William area nonprofit group, she has remained on her feet and kept a roof over her head.
Now, however, she is worried about the future of the SERVE (Securing Emergency Resources Through Volunteer Efforts) shelter in Manassas she calls home as proposed budget cuts threaten nonprofit organizations that receive support from Prince William County.
"We have heard there is going to be a 15 percent budget cut, and hearing that breaks my heart," Sligh told the Prince William Board of County Supervisors on Monday. "SERVE has the resources to help us be successful in life." […]
Like Sligh, several others spoke on behalf of some of the 19 nonprofit groups and community organizations that would each take a 15 percent funding cut under the proposed budget. Those cuts are expected to save the county $300,000 in fiscal 2011.
For an adult discussion about education policy, I recommend this L.A. Times exchange starring Reason Foundation education wizard Lisa Snell. And for a video about who's really got it so bad in Los Angeles education, here's ReasonTV: