The House recently passed a bill designed to bail out state governments, as many followers of national politics know, but that purpose is being obscured by the talking point that the bill’s purpose was to “save teachers, policemen and [insert popular category of government worker here].”
That is a point which the Democrat machine in Ohio will be trotting out regularly on this year’s campaign trail. The bill just signed into law includes no less than $361 million dollars for Ohio public schools. The News Herald reports:
Ohio will receive $361 million of the $10 billion Education Job Funds bill that was passed by U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.The funds are to go toward districts in Ohio struggling with budget cuts and teacher layoffs.The Department of Education pushed this emergency spending measure due to districts tightening budgets in this economy and teachers losing their jobs across the county. It is estimated the bill will save 161,000 education jobs — 5,500 in Ohio.
And who led the rhetorical charge for this earmark? None other than embattled Democratic Congressman Zach Space, of Ohio’s 18th district:
“The last thing our students need is more teacher cuts,” Space said. “In the midst of this economic crisis, our schools in Ohio are already struggling. This crucial legislation will relieve some of that stress by keeping more teachers in the classroom.”
Yes, because it’s not like the Ohio School System can’t pay teachers because it decided to erect buildings out of deference to union demands or anything.
Zach Space: Patron saint of failed states everywhere.