To the editor:

I would like to remind everyone that giving money to schools is not the way to fix schools. Throwing money at a poorly run system does not solve the problem. I am a teacher and am always hearing how cutting education is not an option and how we must give more and more money to the schools to fix them. In the end, money is not even a Band-Aid for the problems in public education. Kansas got an “A” in education in a recent survey, but we have to expect more, and it has little to do with funding.

It comes down to parents being parents and being involved enough in their children’s education to pay attention to grades and make them study. It also involves teachers being stricter and demanding more than is seen in most schools. The challenge of school should be all about the journey to the grade, not the grade.

Do I want education to get cut, or would I be against more funding for school? No. But we have to understand that education involves more than 50 percent of the state budget. Cuts will come, and I would rather see a 2 percent to 3 percent cut and not having a tax increase than increasing taxes without fixing what are the true problems.

Sam Cook,

Lawrence