It is hard for me to be optimistic. I teach at a community college and in December I went out to a couple local high schools to observe the teachers teaching du

It is hard for me to be optimistic. I teach at a community college and in December I went out to a couple local high schools to observe the teachers teaching dual credit classes. Both of the schools were shabby and falling apart. One of the rooms had large areas of paint peeling off the wall. Last summer there was a ballot measure to fund building a new building for a 3rd school. It was overwhelmingly rejected even though there was a story in the newspaper about one of the classrooms being declared unsafe. In many measures of health, education, lifespan, and income my state ranks in the bottom half. Yet the state had a record surplus. What did they do with it? Fund things like education or roads? Cut the state gas tax that is one of the highest in the country? Nope. They gave people a $140 check. Sure that is nice but it would be better to invest in long term improvements. Yet in my state one political party has a supermajority in state politics with no sign of that changing any time soon.