I'll jump to the bottom here, after listening to news today about this unrest and various strikes. This thing with teachers, it is just another symptom of the bigger problem of not collecting enough revenues. The middle class are being asked to give up more and more while the rich GOP here in the US insist that the rich shouldn't pay as much because they create jobs. Well, they don't. They just hold onto that cash and watch everyone else scramble for diminishing funds for public services that the rich also use.

Look at the things subsidized in the U.S. - roads (those who can, drive), airports (those who can, fly), agriculture (agribusiness rakes most of this in for their investors), but things like railroads (rapid transit such as passenger trains, subways, light rail), health care, struggle for funding. Teachers struggle for funding. The rich send their kids to private schools, they drive, they fly, they can afford to pay for their health care out of their pockets. Scroll down to the bottom of this article for a Bureau of Labor Statistics and Tax Policy Center graph . It correlates the years of higher tax rates on the rich with the actual amount of job creation during those years in the last 60 years.

Instead of all of this bickering over the diminishing funding, it's time to raise taxes on the rich and stop pouring money into the coffers of rich corporations. That's what teachers need to start teaching their students, so they grow up to be responsible and thoughtful voters.

SRS