My fifth grade friend and fellow admirer of Sponge Bob Square Pants completed fifth grade today at Hawley Environmental School near my house. This school, serving children from K-4 to 5th, has a special focus on the environment. When I was driving my friend to school today she told me about the completion ceremony and the awards that would be handed out. I asked her about environmental awards and she said there was some but this may be the final year of these awards because of (Governor) Walker’s budget cuts they were losing the environmental teacher.

After the ceremony I talked with my friend’s mom and she confirmed that the environmental teacher at the school for fifteen years was losing her job due to education budget cuts for Milwaukee in the new budget of Governor Walker. She also added that her brother, a long time arts teach in Milwaukee Public Schools MPS) was in danger of losing his job due to the radical budget cuts of the Governor. At a time when education is a priority the State is drastically cutting education funds to the largest school district in the State while at the same time extending tax cuts for the wealthy and increased funding for private schools for those with means.

Most of the rest of the day I spent working in my home gardens enjoying the experience and regretting that fewer children were now being exposed to the joy of caring for the environment and growing.

Each day we hear about a new attack on the Common Good by the State or Federal Government. There is a new round of protest in the State Capitol resisting the new budget and the growing central government State attack on our values and lives. But I am afraid we are beyond protest. Unless we resist and go on the offensive soon the value of government existing for the common good will die away. Maybe after we suffer a loss of freedom and dignity, we will wake up and rise up. In the meanwhile we lose another good teacher and the environmental education dies at this school.

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