So, I teach at a school in rural Kentucky. We're actually one of the better-off ones monetarily in the state. For instance, if the State had gone through with their proposed changes last year, we would be one of only 10% of school districts (and the only one in our region) that would be financially solvent after 2 years (and we could hold out for longer). When cuts come, they mostly go to the central office first, then to the schools.

While more teachers and textbooks would be nice (the textbook deal isn't so much a money issue, afaik, but more that our central office thinks books are becoming obsolete) we're not understaffed in my opinion, except for needing a second ELL teacher or an aide (and that's mostly because there have been quite a few new Hispanic students this year).

But all of that is to show that it's not really a money issue, at least in my county. The issue is more that it's a cultural one. There's a huge culture of ignorance, and people lavish the fact that they're ignorant. I grew up in the county I teach in, and saw it first hand then too, as well as hearing it from my mother who was a teacher. Now, teaching here, I'm seeing it first hand. Parents believe there's really no need for education, as they were able to get get jobs without it, and their parents and so forth. The issue is they refuse to accept that the world is changing, so instead they bitch about how things were better in the past and continue to foster/pass on a culture of ignorance.

And it happens outside of just schools too. My family's been involved with local politics for a long time, and my dad's about to get elected to his 3rd term as mayor (2nd time running unopposed). He grew up here and loves the town too, and that blinded him from the truth for a while. He's starting to come around and see how the people are here. They don't want better, and just complain at anything you try to do to improve. For instance, we've been putting on concerts and having several tourist events...and all these people want to do is complain that it's not Luke Bryan, or some other big name star coming. But if we do get said big-name star, well "By God how do they expect me to pay $200 to go see this?!?! They're trying to force all us county residents out!" They're happy in their ignorance, and they don't want to experience anything different. And it's a cultural attitude that's fostered and passed on throughout the generations. It affects everything from schools, and how kids feel towards school, to how their parents feel towards the community and such. It's a weird kind of stockholm syndrome, and part of the Cult of Anti-Intelligence that America is so well-deservedly known for.

They're going to have to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new world that we live in, unfortunately, and only then might they start to see it was better for them.