We are getting what we paid for

Pioneer Press Mon, 10 Mar 2008 17:37:33 -0600
Let's be honest about our choices â€" and what they mean

My brother, a retired engineer who built computers for a big company here in Minnesota, once told me you can build computers that are fast, small and cheap, but you can't do all three at once. You can build computers that are fast and cheap, but they won't be small; small and cheap, but they won't be fast; or fast and small, but they won't be cheap. In other words, you have to make some choices and be honest about what they are. ... It's not a question of whether public education is expensive to provide. It is a significant portion of spending at the state and local level. It always has been, even for our parents' generation. The question to resolve is whether we are willing to pay for what we expect public education to be, or, if not, to change our expectations. We can choose the benefit of lower cost, but we must then be honest about the quality and service we can expect to receive in return.

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