Two big city mayors appeared on television on May 22, 1993. They claimed libraries would close, recreational and park services would be curtailed and public safety would suffer unless they collected more taxes. One mayor claimed that he had cut 1,000 jobs and "people cannot hope to receive the level of services they have become accustomed to." The other mayor made much of "sharing the pain" and suggested that a city like his, with a large population of poor and unemployed, could not expect to raise enough money from "producers" to support this kind of burden and that the obligations of his city should be undertaken by the entire state. This situation is duplicated across the nation.
Since local, state and federal budget cuts are eminent, why not have students help out by finding ways to continue the level of services desired by citizens without raising taxes?
In the spirit of Vice President Al Gore's Reinventing Government proposal, students are to explore ingenious ways to save money and stretch the resources of their local governments. Teachers should assign research jobs to individuals, or groups, depending on the size of the class. Some students should conduct polls to find out what services their community really wants. This will teach participants something about prioritization. (Poll I) Other students should poll elected officials, public administrators, members of the news media and academicians to discover what services they suspect will be cut, and how deeply, if taxes are not raised.(Poll II) Polls may be conducted via voice phone, or door to door.
With the results of these two polls, the class should come up with ideas for making changes or substitutions for the programs that are most desired by the community and are most likely to be cut. (Alternatives) They might decide, for example, that a particular alleyway or parking lot might be paved by volunteers with donated or rented equipment or that the volunteer services of local senior citizens are not being used to their potential. Already Scouts, schools, civic clubs and businesses have successfully "adopted" highways and playgrounds. Why not libraries, auditoriums and other public buildings? Why couldn't students and parents take over the maintenance and repair of public schools? Many private schools have made ends meet this way? Already parents and local businesses donate books and other resources. These are all questions for students to explore.
Material for class discussion will be provided by the Foundation. Students will read about the nine year-old and his father who built a public bridge in Arizona when community resources were depleted during the Great Depression. They will read about real people, some thwarted and some successful, in their striving to supplement tax dollars. The Foundation will provide recent examples, as diverse as attempts to provide transportation to low-income areas, find jobs for AFDC recipients, fill potholes and plow snow. Students are asked to contribute examples from their own research. (Examples)
A third group of students would document any resistance the class encounters in formulating its proposal. For instance students may be told volunteers must be certified and insured. The class should spend at least one day discussing the various reasons for licensing and regulation. Discussion material will explain why restrictions and regulations were considered necessary. The requirement that everyone and everything be insured will be traced to the recent expansion of tort law with background on strict liability and the demise of sovereign immunity explained simply by attorney-volunteers. Students should discuss problems encountered as if they were actually putting their proposal into effect. (Resistance to class proposal.)
A fourth group of students will obtain, from the appropriate officials, an estimate of the number and salaries of the workers who might be displaced if the class proposal was implemented. The entire class will address this displaced-worker problem and try and come up with a solution. Discussion material will provide statistics showing the relationship between private and public sector employment in general. Students should extrapolate. (Displaced worker problem)
The last student-group will explore incentives and disincentives to volunteers, decision-makers and government workers. Discussion material includes subjects like tax inducements, internal and external personal awards, portable pensions and job retraining. (Incentives and disincentives posed by the class Alternative proposed.)
Group research, class discussion and individual written evaluation of the proposal reached by class consensus, concludes this new variation of the Foundation's annual essay contest.
The essay should contain:
Essays must be submitted to the Harry Singer Foundation on or before April 18, 1997. Upon submittal, entries become the property of The Harry Singer Foundation.
Awards and notification of winning essays will be issued on or before May 19, 1997.
If you are a teacher and would like to have your students work on this project, contact us for special class awards information. Papers for the entire class may be sent together as an attached file or in several email communications or by regular mail to:
1997 Alternatives Contest
The Harry Singer Foundation
P.O. Box 223159, Carmel, California 93922.