Bailout undermines needed reforms

But don’t go stand in line just yet. If you don’t work for government, you aren’t likely to see a dime.

That’s because the proposed spending is just another round of one government bailing out other governments. For the average small business and middle-income family, it won’t mean very much.

No, this money is “government” money and once in government bureaucratic hands, it will never leave.

Some will no doubt cheer the proposal. School leaders would love to have the $1.8 billion proposed in the federal budget for Georgia schools. Who could blame them? It’s free money from God.

But for taxpayers, it’s a bad deal in the long term. If the federal government again bails out Georgia’s budget and schools, nothing will change in the state. Leaders will just suck off the tit of this federal welfare for as long as they can.

Changes, however, need to be made in Georgia, especially in education. Despite throwing more and more money at public schools over the last two decades, little improvement is evident. The state is still dragging along the bottom of the education marketplace.

Part of the problem is that Georgia has focused too much on education pay rather than putting money into students. Too many administrators are paid far beyond their worth. And while the state has raised teacher pay to cultivate higher quality, it still doesn’t get rid of bad teachers fast enough and continues to reward the collection of degrees and tenure over effectiveness in the classroom.

What really needs to happen in Georgia is for the money run out; only then will the stultified education system try to make fundamental changes. Nothing short of a financial drought will push state leaders out of the ineffective status quo.

Of course, most educators probably won’t see it that way. They want federal dollars to keep the current system alive — whether that system works isn’t really their concern.

But in the long run, taxpayers will have to pay for the federal government’s bailout, either with higher taxes, or from another recession caused by a ballooning federal deficit.

The only way to change the state’s underachieving education system is to cut off the money and force changes to take place. Another federal bailout undermines that reality.

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Legislation has been introduced in the Georgia General Assembly to overhaul the state’s property tax system.

Good — the current system is a train wreck made worse by public officials who refuse to adjust property prices in the face of the economic downturn. They didn’t mind making upward adjustments in values back during the boom, but they’ve been darn slow to lower them now in the bust.

Anything that can level the playing field between the abused taxpayers and their governments would be welcome. It should be criminal for governments to stiff taxpayers during an economic downturn, as has happened in some areas.

Mike Buffington is editor of The Jackson Herald. He can be reached at mike@mainstreetnews.com.