A nationwide teacher shortage. Who could have predicted it. Suddenly education “experts” are coming out from behind the chalkboard to enlighten us. Saw it coming. Bound to happen.

Sure. But not what it seems.

Vegas is a microcosm of the nation. Here, there is a class system that is clearly defined and clearly undeniable. Money talks. And sometimes here, money screams. And honestly, money always wins. Check your local casino if you doubt it. This class system translates well to our public schools. Funding for the schools is mostly generated through bonds and each election cycle, there is a bond proposal to fund education which is unceremoniously voted down. Folks here don’t like taxes. Go figure. So historically the schools here are underfunded and underperforming. In an economic environment that depends on math skills, we are woefully lacking, performing somewhere near the bottom of the lake when stacked up against other states. Dummy up and deal isn’t just a mantra. And now, the casinos are more legit than the local government. Skimming is an art form.

There have always been private schools here. They were mostly religious affiliates and a couple with seemingly military associations. You pay, you get better learning. Well nothing wrong with that. “My kid gets nothing but the best.” As the atmosphere in public schools has shifted from learning to read and write and add to learning to find the nearest escape route, parents are increasingly enamored with the exclusivity of private schools. My guess is that the salary offered teachers in private schools is a bit more generous than public schools and parents have the expectation that the vetting process will be thorough and extreme. Public schools cannot compete.

So what.

Nothing in this country trickles down…not the economy, not education, not opportunity. You either gots it or you don’t. It is a miracle worthy of national media attention when a kid raised in abject poverty gets the chance at a college education. Cheating has become the national pastime, not necessarily to win, but to keep the other guy out of the game. Winning is an expectation. Institutionalized cheating keeps everybody out.

The world has always marveled at how democracy endures in the United States. And now that we seem to be spiraling toward its dissolution, the world looks on and snickers. And confident in their smug belief that democracy is a joke, they look for ways to exploit us. The threads that have held us together, the collective consciousness whereby we agree to be governed by laws and democracy, look more like the hairs on an aging head that fall out until there’s nothing left. That’s what the red caps are for! The guy is a marketing genius.

The founders understood the importance of free, universal education. The goal was to keep the Union strong by teaching the next generations why we embrace democracy and how we must strive to protect it. It’s the way to socialize a population not bound by genetics or by religion. That was the basis for the grand experiment. To now decry that as indoctrination dishonors that which makes us great as a nation.