Appleton schools have faced a painful budget shortfall resulting in the loss of some of the best teachers in the area. Thirty-seven teachers, if my sources are correct, are losing their jobs because the Appleton School District is short $3 million. One of these teachers was voted teacher of the year at North High School, according to a recent article in the Post-Crescent. The teacher's union forces the layoffs to occur according to their seniority rules, not based on which teachers are most needed and most valuable for their schools. But whatever process is used to select the victims, it's painful and ugly.

But wait - isn't the School District being helped by all that stimulus money flowing our way. Yes, the District is receiving $4.5 million from the Federal Government, about 50% more than what is needed to protect the jobs of all the teachers being cut. Problem solved? No way. The money comes with political strings attached that limit its use to special needs students and other politically favored purposes. It doesn't help address the real problem the District is facing. As a result, I understand that NONE of the 37 being laid off will get to keep their jobs.

This is the awful thing about national redistribution of wealth and national socialism in general: it results in massive waste and loss because distant politicians calling the shots can't possibly know enough to properly spend all the money they siphon out of communities and out of the economy. Even if they were smart enough to understand local needs, their own careers and image tend to be more important than the needs of communities they don't know. They will tend to make decisions based on politics for their own good. Don't expect their help to be the help that is really needed.

Tax dollars are best managed as close to home as possible. Decisions about spending money in communities are best made by the communities. Decisions about what products or services to offer and how much to make or to charge are best made by the forces of the free market, not by elite politicians who think they know enough to tell businesses what to do.

Dozens of teachers are losing their jobs unnecessarily here in spite of wasteful federal "help."

Appleton voters were offered a chance to pay higher taxes to make up for the deficit, but rejected that opportunity in the form of a referendum they voted down, presented at a time of economic disaster and in light of ever increasing taxes at the state and federal level.