Opinion
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
4A — Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Alanna Berger
Zack Blumberg
Emily Considine
Emma Chang
Joel Danilewitz
Emily Huhman
Krystal Hur
Ethan Kessler
Magdalena Mihaylova
Timothy Spurlin
Miles Stephenson
Finn Storer
Nicholas Tomaino
Joel Weiner
Erin White
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SAM FOGEL | COLUMN
What the Chicago teachers strike can teach Michigan
EVAN STERN | COLUMN
Where is the urgency?
ANDREW MEKHAIL | OP-ED
We need to fix our aging infrastructure
W
hether you think
about our rusting
bridges,
pothole-
riddled
roads
or
antiquated
water
and
electrical
systems, you have
surely noticed the
alarming
state
of
our old and decaying
infrastructure. You
should be alarmed.
A
recent
report
card
from
the
American
Society
of Civil Engineers
confirmed
what
most
Americans already suspected:
The
U.S.’s
neglected
infrastructure is in the middle
of a serious crisis.
These reports, released every
few years, rank these essential
systems at an embarrassing
D+
overall.
Breaking
our
infrastructure down into over
a dozen categories, the marks
become downright disturbing:
Bridges earned a C+, energy a
D+, wastewater a D+, drinking
water a D and transit a D-, to
name a few.
This
shouldn’t
come
as a surprise. Millions of
Americans are aware of the
startling condition of these
vital systems that keep our
nation up and running. The
decrepit water systems across
this nation have been exposed
by events like the Flint water
crisis, almost 190 million trips
are made across “structurally
deficient” bridges each day
and it is becoming increasingly
difficult for our power grid to
support the complex needs of
our 21st century economy.
Unfortunately,
according
to the ASCE, our government
would need to come up with
$4.5 trillion by 2027 in order to
bring our infrastructure back
up to speed — something that
in this divisive political age
seems highly unlikely.
While it seems that some
proposals have gained a bit of
traction — such as a $2 trillion
plan to address this deepening
problem reported by The New
York Times — Washington as
a whole has miserably failed
to address this crisis. Year
after year, Republicans and
Democrats have been unable
to part ways with politics
and address this dangerous
situation, instead preoccupied
with how to pay for these
much-needed improvements.
Even
President
Donald
Trump, who has expressed
deep interest in fixing our
infrastructure,
has
fallen
short. In his victory
speech
in
2016,
he stated that his
administration
would
work
to
“rebuild
our
highways,
bridges,
tunnels,
airports,
schools,
hospitals.”
But
his
infrastructure
proposal,
announced
in
February 2018, sadly made
limited
progress
amid
the
complexity of partisan politics.
Ultimately,
our
elected
officials
have
failed
to
realize
that
solid,
modern
infrastructure
in
good
working
order
is
essential
to
a
successful
economy,
especially one as advanced
as ours. Failing to allocate
the money and resources to
our infrastructure will surely
send shock waves throughout
our entire economic system.
With our infrastructure in
poor
condition,
our
roads
and highways will be more
congested
and
harder
to
navigate,
our
public
transportation
systems
will
be less reliable for employees
trying
to
get
to
work,
communities will be more
isolated from each other and
it will be more difficult to
address climate change.
As stated by Robert Puentes,
a nonresident senior fellow
in the Metropolitan Policy
Program
at
the
Brookings
Institution,
“Infrastructure
enables
trade,
powers
businesses,
connects
workers to their jobs, creates
opportunities for struggling
communities and protects the
nation from an increasingly
unpredictable
natural
environment.”
Take the interstate highway
system as an example: As
one of the greatest advances
in
American
infrastructure
of
the
20th
century,
this
complex network of roads that
stretches across the entire
nation provides for extremely
efficient travel of both people
and goods. According to the
Highway and Motorway Fact
Book, “The interstate highway
system has had a profound
effect
upon
the
American
economy
and
contributed
significantly
to
improved
economic
efficiency
and
productivity.”
Without
the
construction of this system —
much of which is now in need
of drastic repairs — our way
of life would be dramatically
different. “People would be
crowded into more densely
packed inner cities, intercity
travel would occur less often
and be more cumbersome;
freight
charges
would
be
higher and, as a consequence,
so would prices. Vacation travel
would be more restricted,” the
fact book states.
Beyond
the
direct
economic benefits of strong
infrastructure, generating the
resources and jobs to actually
rebuild
these
crumbling
systems is also a significant
economic
stimulant.
The
Center for American Progress
reports
that
“upgrading
roads, bridges, and other basic
infrastructure
creates
jobs
now by putting people to work
earning
good,
middle-class
incomes, which expands the
consumer base for businesses.”
Worthwhile
investments
into these vital systems is a
surefire way to truly reduce
unemployment
nationwide
while
simultaneously
providing a stronger base for
our nation to operate upon.
In
the
end,
fixing
our
decaying
infrastructure
is
not something that we can
choose to debate. Regardless
of political identity, we all
greatly benefit from secure
energy
systems,
strong
communication
networks
and safe highways, railroads
and
airports.
We
cannot
sit
back
and
ignore
the
steady deterioration of our
infrastructure while counting
on it to fill our needs. If we
don’t serve it through common
sense action, it will inevitably
be too broken to serve us.
Republicans and
Democrats have
been unable to
part way with
politics
Evan Stern can be reached at
erstern@umich.edu.
MADISON COPLEY | CONTACT CARTOONIST AT MICOPLEY@UMICH.EDU
EVAN
STERN
A
t the time of publication,
the teachers of Chicago
Public
Schools
have
decided to strike and walk
out indefinitely until their
demands regarding problems
like funding and pay have
been met. Other demands from
the strikers include smaller
class sizes, more paid time to
prepare lessons and hiring
more
supplementary
staff,
like nurses and counselors.
This isn’t the first time the
Chicago
Teachers
Union
has organized a strike. The
same thing happened back in
2012, with similar claims of
paltry pay and understaffing
of schools. But the woes
of
the
CTU
are
awfully
familiar. Many urban school
districts around the country
are reportedly understaffed
and underfunded, including
many
here
in
Michigan.
The same issues that plague
Chicago’s schools affects us
here in Michigan. In many
communities around the state,
educators and parents bring
up the same concerns.
According to some reports,
six in 10 schools started the
school
year
understaffed
in 2019. This usually leads
to a reliance on long-term
substitute teachers, who to
qualify
in
Michigan
only
need 90 college credits. With
dwindling
pay
and
fading
benefits, qualified teachers
are
growing
ever
harder
to come by. In Michigan,
teacher salaries have gone
down by over 11 percent since
2000. It’s much harder to
convince people to come into
education if they know the
salaries are declining. There’s
also the issue with student-
faculty
ratios,
which
can
greatly impact the quality of
education students receive. In
fact, a smaller student-faculty
ratio is a great indicator of
future academic achievement.
To continue to pay teachers
poorly is to deprive children
of the education they deserve.
The awful truth of the
matter
is
that
many
of
the
schools
most
affected
by
underfunding
and
understaffing are the districts
that need the most support.
Sixty
teachers
left
Flint
Community Schools in 2019
alone. In Detroit, only 15,000
of the city’s 85,000 students
attended schools that made
the mark for the state’s criteria
of
“performance.”
Those
statistics are frankly appalling
and pathetic.
Michigan has some unique
problems concerning school
funding. According to a study
at Michigan State University,
Michigan ranks “dead last”
in funding growth, with the
amount adjusted for inflation
only being 85 percent of what
it was in 1995. Predictably,
Michigan’s schools have only
ranked lower and lower on
rankings
for
indicators
of
progress
like
standardized
tests
over
time.
Recently,
however,
the
state
budget
might be increased on a per-
student basis by $240 dollars,
at least for charter school
students. But overall, Gov.
Gretchen Whitmer’s budget
is a mixed bag and might
be insufficient to close the
achievement gap.
It’s
not
up
for
debate
that Michigan’s schools are
inadequate
in
serving
our
children, but the way to solve
the problem is often contested.
Many cite charter schools as
the answer, with claims that
school choice is an effective
way to address failing public
schools, but that doesn’t seem
to be the case. As of 2016, 70
percent of the time charter
schools were in the lower-
half of state school rankings.
Charter school closures are
also common, with Michigan’s
rate being 31 percent between
2000 and 2016. 87 percent
of the students affected by
said statistic were African
Americans. Charter schools
aren’t solving the inequality
and
troubles
in
Michigan
schools and may be more
trouble than they’re worth.
Solving these problems is
going to take a lot of thought,
and
unfortunately,
it’s
something that’s also going
to take a substantial amount
of time. But one thing’s for
sure: Our schools need more
money. Salaries and conditions
for teachers need to be better,
considering
the
atrocious
student-to-teacher ratio and
retention rate. School spending
in
poorer
school
districts
is directly correlated with
rising test scores over time,
and it’s undeniable that many
districts
are
underfunded.
In
Michigan’s
pursuit
of
evening out the gap between
wealthier districts and poorer
districts, it must recognize
that money must be spent.
Unfortunately,
this
means
increasing expenditures, but
there are ways of raising the
funds. Though education is
an
expensive
endeavor,
it
makes all the difference in
maintaining
a
prosperous
society.
Sam Fogel can be reached at
samfogel@umich.edu.
O
n Oct. 4, I was fortunate
to see former Secretary
of State Condoleezza
Rice
speak
at
a
“Master
Class” given to a select group
of
University
of
Michigan
undergraduate
and
graduate
students. Guided by her vast
experience, Rice spoke clearly
and
compellingly
on
issues
like democracy, identity and
international affairs. As the
Master Class came to a close,
however, my admiration gave
way to dissatisfaction.
The class was structured so
that some participants had to
watch her on a projector in a
separate room, leaving half of
us unable to ask her questions.
Walking out of those adjacent
classrooms, the air felt like that
of opera-goers having exited an
excellent show.
Let me be clear that Rice is
brilliant and she fought in her
official capacity with sincerity
in her beliefs. I am guided in
my writing by gratitude at the
opportunity to learn, rather
than bitterness — though I am
mad I didn’t get out of my seat,
walk for about 20 seconds to the
next class over, and try to ask a
question myself.
As
she
spoke
about
complicated realities overseas,
I was left to ponder the crisis
our own country is wrestling
with at home. Speaking with
poise and grace that seemed
impossible to faze, she made
it feel as if we had won
something, that our troubles as
a country were distant either
in time or in proximity. In our
discussion,
many
countries
who had succeeded or failed at
democracy were put under the
microscope as if they were cute
or flawed little experiments that
the United States could study in
a sanitized, removed manner.
How can we talk about the
failed revolutions of the Arab
Spring as if our government is
not currently engulfed in flames?
As an Egyptian-American, I sat
and watched as she discussed
the “Middle Eastern exception,”
the question of why democracy
hasn’t taken to this region as
it has around the world. We
poked and prodded at all the
particularities, and she adorned
the conversation with anecdotes
of her shining moments as
Secretary of State. She spoke at
length about instances in which
she coached other democracies
and helped navigate the chaotic
world that we, as a great power,
have helped steep further into
chaos.
Meanwhile,
I
see
my
American president describing
the investigation against him as
a coup, dispelling criticism as
a “witch hunt” and “bullshit,”
raging against every element of
the world that is not obsequious
and adulating toward him and
calling for the arrest of key
actors in the opposition party
and the impeachment inquiry.
Our decrepit executive wields
extraordinary power in military
capabilities
and
legislative
authority,
but
even
“good”
presidents have mobilized the
equal or lesser power of the
office to catastrophic ends.
Am I supposed to laugh
him off as impotent after Rice
extolled the values of strong
institutions? Am I supposed to
ignore the damage he can do
after she warned of the growing
divide between those affected
by policy realities and those
protected through education and
affluence?
Where is the urgency?
I’m careful not to mistake
her composure for complacency.
When it comes to the answers
of her students, she said in an
earlier talk that morning that she
dislikes a response that starts
with, “I feel like,” because more
likely than not, she doesn’t care
about that student’s feelings in
an academic context.
I internalized her wisdom
that feelings can easily get in the
way of an effective argument.
But when it comes to my
country’s fate and the outcomes
of my neighbors around the
world, I’d rather risk the passion
that comes with urgency than
the
resignation
risked
by
indifference.
Warned
by
Rice
not
to
weaponize our identities lest
others do the same against us, I
couldn’t help but think of those
whose
identities
have
been
weaponized against themselves:
immigrants,
refugees
and
women
whose
autonomy
is
robbed by a government non-
representative of their identity,
let alone their interests.
As Rice largely criticized
democracies
abroad,
she
celebrated the strength of our
civil society here in America.
Conflict in this country, she
reassured, is settled in court, not
by shooting each other.
For her to choose gun violence
as an analogy was emblematic of
the divide I felt between her ease
and my unrest. Our indifference
loses precious American lives
every day. The suffering to
which I am a bystander is beyond
calculation and comprehension.
A classmate finally asked her
a question about the state of our
country’s pluralistic democracy.
Rice chose to focus on how far
we’ve come and the progress
we’ve achieved. Certainly, giving
history too much power can
disempower us in the present,
but I wonder if Rice is too far
removed
in
experience
and
success to feel the danger that I
feel.
In her answer, she argued
that voting shouldn’t be easy.
Maybe so, if it was equally hard
for everyone, but arguments like
those have allowed those with
power to construct mazes of
varying difficulty on the path to
the ballot box. She mobilized the
example of Roy Moore’s narrow
defeat in an Alabama Senate race
as an example of our democracy’s
strength when it matters. For
a man accused by nine women
of sexual misconduct — several
of whom were teenagers at the
time of incident — to lose by only
1.7 percentage points is a sign
of fatal structural weakness to
me. In his new election bid this
upcoming year, every vote will
matter. It is a moral travesty that
so many Americans, including in
the state of Alabama, continue to
see their right to vote threatened
and even removed.
Whether by erecting new
hurdles or declaring arbitrary
qualifications, some bureaucrats
love to define what a “God-given
right” should look like, and who
God has given it to.
Rice can argue that voting
shouldn’t be easy, but arguing
that it should be difficult to
varying degrees is untenable. I
don’t think we can measure our
progress on how far we’ve come.
To ensure that voting access is
equally easy for all members
of this democracy, we have to
measure it by how far we have
yet to go — by setting goals.
Secretary Rice: For fear of
failing others and failing this
moment, I cannot take solace in
the ways our democracy is doing
well. Our shaking democracy
bears grave consequences for
others, and before we can hope
to stabilize it, we can expect
more chaos.
Andrew Mekhail is a senior studying
Public Policy and can be reached at
mekhail@umich.edu.