A Novel Idea

You have had to just awakened from a coma to not realize fuel prices are so astronomically high, that they are affecting everything. Coupled with that, 12% of this year’s corn crop will has been devastated by the Midwest flooding. How does this effect fuel prices? Gasoline must have a certain amount of ethanol prior to going to the pumps. Ethanol is made from corn, henceforth; the disaster with the corn is only going to increase the never ending spiraling of fuel prices. Just imagine, when George Bush took office in January of 2001, the price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.42. My friend emailed me this week. He’s vacationing in Massachusetts in his motorhome. The price of diesel there was $5.12. Prior to my retirement a few months ago, I was an educator. In fact, I was a school superintendent. One of my major concerns was to keep taxes down for our constituents all the while providing the best possible education for the children. One of the major facets of the budget, as with any school district in America, is the cost of student transportation. And while budgets are set in June for the following school year, the cost of fuel continues to escalate throughout the year, straining budgets that eventually land on the shoulders of the American taxpayer. I proposed a novel idea a few years ago when fuel hit an all time high of $3 per gallon. That was a four-day school week. Shut down the entire district every Monday of the year. “Friday night lights” would still shine in western Pennsylvania, a hotbed for high school football. The state claimed we needed so many hours of education that was mandated each year. We could accomplish that by adding two hours to each day Tuesday through Friday. A complete and thorough scheduling process was worked out for students and teachers to accommodate educational hours, and working hours for the staff. Among all the other positive aspects that are apparent, it gave every child and employee a three-day weekend. The savings to our small district was calculated to be a little over $1million dollars in transportation fees. That translated into no tax increase for the community for a two-year period. However, stuffed shirts in the state capitol claimed this violated terms that called for a 180 school year, despite meeting the number of hours needed to satisfy state requirements. I petitioned legislators to no avail as it too much of an effort to change school code. That was then. Fuel is twice as high now. And all indications are that the price of a gallon will seesaw up and down until we see it settle around $7 a gallon. This will translate into exorbitant tax increases for everyone who pays them. And that’s just about all of us. Time to wake up, get up, email, write, call and harangue our state politicians to do something soon. The ramifications of this are exponential. Regardless of where you live, from which state you hail, we all pay school taxes. And those should go to provide the best Imagine what the long term effects will be when possible education for our children, our most precious asset, not to the coffers of Exxon, Mobile, or any other profiteering oil company. It only takes one call, one letter, and one email from each of us that equates to millions of complaints urging our lawmakers to actually do something. Act Now!!!