The function of the press is to safeguard liberty by acting as a check upon government impropriety by holding elected officials accountable. Thus a reporter should serve as a watchdog to ensure honesty and transparency for the folks.
However, in the article published on October 27, Ms. Heller does her readership a grave disservice by attempting to evoke sympathy for the S.R.C. in a time of unparalleled financial hardship for which, arguably, it is chiefly responsible. By propitiating bad leadership, she becomes nothing more than a claw on the fingers of incompetence and corruption. That’s not fair to the folks who deserve fair and honest investigative reporting. If the liberal media were critical and proactive, it may be that the city’s financial standing would be other than it now is, indelibly marred by the waste and abuse.
Most disturbing of all, Dr. Hite and the S.R.C. have unapologetically used the issues of teacher salary and seniority as pretexts for not operating the school system within its means. Beating up public education and the work which teachers do best will not avail. Neither will the mendacity of hope through taxing and spending. A forensic audit retroactive 5 years and strict oversight of charter schools will. The primacy of fair play cannot be gainsaid and people need to wise up. The teachers didn’t make the mess. This is the position which the P.F.T. must emphatically make known. So must Ms. Heller.
The city can work as can its schools so long as people don’t sweat the small stuff so often. This is our high calling. Act responsibly and live within your means. This is our higher calling. Never fail to aspire to the moral grandeur to which you are capable. This, finally, is our highest calling. The past is indeed prologue and as ever the bemused cynic, I confess myself disappointed.
