Note: this missive may be of limited interest unless you're in Portland, Oregon, but I share it in case it's relevant to others. Maybe it's part of a bigger pattern, I don't know.
I think the problems are definitely part of a bigger pattern. While I have no problems with divesting wealthy individuals from their inherited wealth, they're not the only ones who benefit from well-run public school programs. Almost all of the wealthy send their kids to private schools. They're not stakeholders in the system. The stakeholders in the system who reap enormous benefits from the system, but hardly any share of funding it is the business and corporate citizens of the Portland metro area.
They all want intelligent and highly trainable entry-level candidates, but don't want to take a financial interest in their future work force. Many of them don't want to take an interest in the "trainable" aspect of the workforce either. They put the onus for the training on the school districts, colleges and trade schools; and the financial onus for that on the backs of the students, making them instant wage-slaves.
The corporations require a college degree and/or 2+ years experience for that minimum-wage entry-level position applicant. A wage level that means the new member of the workforce will never be able to pay back their student loans. (But don't get me started about that).
The corporate oligarchs would much rather have the working-class parents blaming each other for the lack of funding. Most new corporate businesses that move to an area lobby hard for tax breaks (lasting for 10-20 years) That exempt them from school and property taxes. While a community always hopes that the business will remain as a good corporate citizen after the tax break, there are many cities that know otherwise.
Down here in Eugene about 30 years ago the local government lobbied hard to bring a microchip to the area. They gave some SWEET tax incentives to them for 10 years. The corporation in turn promised 10K good-paying jobs by the end of that 10 years.
When the 10 years was up, Hynix (the corporation) asked for an extension. But the city and county said "no" because they hadn't met the 10K jobs promise and besides, the governments really needed the money. They took out bonds that paid for the infrastructure improvements that Hynix needed and paying them back was expensive.
Instead, it seems Hynix was shopping for a city to move to, months before the tax breaks were up. When they were told "no", they gave the mandated 90-notice and Hynix closed it's doors. They moved the machines to South Carolina (IIRC) and offered a handful of senior staff a chance to move to there. After 90 days, Eugene-Springfield lost close to 3,000 jobs (the most they ever created). The buildings still sit empty to this day.
I think the problems are definitely part of a bigger pattern. While I have no problems with divesting wealthy individuals from their inherited wealth, they're not the only ones who benefit from well-run public school programs. Almost all of the wealthy send their kids to private schools. They're not stakeholders in the system. The stakeholders in the system who reap enormous benefits from the system, but hardly any share of funding it is the business and corporate citizens of the Portland metro area.
They all want intelligent and highly trainable entry-level candidates, but don't want to take a financial interest in their future work force. Many of them don't want to take an interest in the "trainable" aspect of the workforce either. They put the onus for the training on the school districts, colleges and trade schools; and the financial onus for that on the backs of the students, making them instant wage-slaves.
The corporations require a college degree and/or 2+ years experience for that minimum-wage entry-level position applicant. A wage level that means the new member of the workforce will never be able to pay back their student loans. (But don't get me started about that).
The corporate oligarchs would much rather have the working-class parents blaming each other for the lack of funding. Most new corporate businesses that move to an area lobby hard for tax breaks (lasting for 10-20 years) That exempt them from school and property taxes. While a community always hopes that the business will remain as a good corporate citizen after the tax break, there are many cities that know otherwise.
Down here in Eugene about 30 years ago the local government lobbied hard to bring a microchip to the area. They gave some SWEET tax incentives to them for 10 years. The corporation in turn promised 10K good-paying jobs by the end of that 10 years.
When the 10 years was up, Hynix (the corporation) asked for an extension. But the city and county said "no" because they hadn't met the 10K jobs promise and besides, the governments really needed the money. They took out bonds that paid for the infrastructure improvements that Hynix needed and paying them back was expensive.
Instead, it seems Hynix was shopping for a city to move to, months before the tax breaks were up. When they were told "no", they gave the mandated 90-notice and Hynix closed it's doors. They moved the machines to South Carolina (IIRC) and offered a handful of senior staff a chance to move to there. After 90 days, Eugene-Springfield lost close to 3,000 jobs (the most they ever created). The buildings still sit empty to this day.