“I hear my colleagues talk about it and in the same breath they say that for those who believe in smaller government, it’s the right time to downsize,” the Democrat from LaGrange said Wednesday. “But when our graduation rate is 48th in the U.S. and the U.S. still lags behind quite a few other countries, it’s not the time to be crying to downsize government. There’s no silver lining in distressed economic times.”
He said the Republican-led General Assembly began cutting aid to local school systems seven or eight years ago, long before the current economic downturn, and the situation would be worse without President Obama’s stimulus package.
“I take offense at people throwing out stuff like, ‘We’re protecting you from Democrats,’” Epps said. “… The whole economic downturn occurred under Republican leadership. I hope everybody can agree that education is a function of government. Any time a poll is taken, education is always one of the top five concerns.”
Under Gov. Sonny Perdue’s proposed budget, K-12 public education support would be reduced by 3 percent in the current fiscal year and teachers would have to take three more furlough days.
“If there had not been continuous cuts for the last seven years, I could certainly understand,” said Epps, who has begun his 18th year in the legislature. “But this has been a trend even before the economy tanked.”
Newly elected Republican state Rep. Kip Smith of Columbus, whose district includes southern Troup County, isn’t sold on the governor’s education proposals either.
“At this point, the governor has proposed more furlough days for teachers, but I don’t know that’s where we need to make cuts,” Smith sad. “I think we need to look at other agencies and cut the fat. It’s hard to say someone is worth this and someone is worth that. We need to sit back and re-evaluate every department, and save money where we can. I don’t know that more furloughs for teachers is the answer.”
Joel Martin can be reached at jmartin@lagrangenews. com or (706) 884-7311, Ext. 235.
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