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1 of 3 Premium Clicks used this month SUBSCRIBE Print + Online Subscriber Activation | Register x Forgot Password | Need an Account? subscribe | newsletter | deals Home News Latest Stories Ballots on Jackson County marijuana tax go out today Police Reports Residents tell OLCC: Don't restrict legal pot 10 things to know for Thursday Police Reports Education Middle school to sell discounted books AHS Principal Zundel up for national award Library receives grant AHS students get the skinny on wide range of jobs during career day Levy supporters kick off campaign Environment Mt. Ashland Ski Area celebrates snow GMO opponents can join Jackson County in defending ban Grant will help restore 'legacy' oak habitat in Southern Oregon and Northern California Mt. Ashland Ski Area crew dips to five Mt. 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Editorial Our view: GOP's last gasp on low carbon fuel bill Our view: Mt. Ashland shines Our View: Pooling resources Our View: Support schools — again Our View: Kitzhaber's Delilah? Letters Feb. 18: Letters to the editor Letters to the Editor, Feb. 14 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 11 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 10 Letters to the Editor, Feb. 6 Guest opinions Guest Opinion: Legal poisons in our waters Chris Honoré: Public schools: separate, still unequal Guest Opinion: Why so anxious to tax marijuana? Herb Rothschild Jr.: A good day for peace Guest Opinion: A message to my health care colleagues Columns Kent Bush: Mars One is more reality television than rocket launch GOP sometimes just can't help itself Editor's notes: Want to make your own newspaper? Council Corner: Yes on welcome center Chris Honoré: The perils of religious hubris Revels Latest Stories Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Moore's journey is moving in 'Still Alice' 'Much Ado About Nothing' kicks off OSF's 2015 season A look at the first plays SOU presents 'The Glass Menagerie' Theater Ticket Availability 'Words' wordsmith went from copywriting to playwriting 'Dames at Sea' opens at Oregon Cabaret Theatre Looking inside yourself and finding a character is magic Classics, premiers highlight 2015 season for OSF Music Victor D. Infante: Just in time for Valentine’s Day, some favorite breakup songs The Farr Side: Smith dominates, Beck surprises at Grammys Frisell brings fine-tuned act to Armory The Farr Side: Trainor building a music niche Visual Art Ashland's First Friday Art Walk showcases new exhibits by regional artists Movies Will Smith tries something new in ‘Focus’ Ben on Film: Who are the favorites for the Oscars? Listings for Varsity Theatre and Ashland Street Cinemas Moore's journey is moving in 'Still Alice' Movie review: ‘Fifty Shades’ of boring Food and Drink Cruelest Month: Poetry Blog Lifestyle Latest Stories Tammy Kelly: Comfort food makes cold weather better Ride & Drive: 2015 Kia Soul EV Marketta Gregory: The promise of Lent Suzette Martinez Standring: The human voice Religion News: Pope makes surprise shantytown visit Aging Happens Inner Peace Column Inner Peace Blog Classifieds Jobs Autos Real Estate FEATURED » Obituaries Photos Videos Blogs Business NEWS NOW Ballots on Jackson County marijuana tax go out today ... Ticket Availability ... Residents tell OLCC: Don't restrict legal pot ... Ballots on Jackson County marijuana tax go out today ... Ticket Availability ... Residents tell OLCC: Don't restrict legal pot ... COMMENTARY Chris Honoré: Public schools: separate, still unequal Comment By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Feb. 2, 2015 @ 2:00 am Updated Feb 6, 2015 at 10:57 AM By Chris Honoré Posted Feb. 2, 2015 @ 2:00 am Updated Feb 6, 2015 at 10:57 AM What do you think? --> Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter. » Read more X What do you think? Have an opinion on this issue? Send a letter to the editor at www.dailytidings.com/sendletter. » Social News Part One In a recent interview on CBS, conducted just after President Obama’s State of the Union address, House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, the leaders of the Republican majority in Congress, were questioned about a number of issues, many touching on the president’s agenda. Their answers were unsettling at best, and once again brought to mind those moments when a political opinion is given and I find myself thinking: How is it possible that what seems so fundamentally self-evident can be so different from that which is proffered? When Boehner was asked about passing an increase in the federal minimum wage, he balked, saying, “It’s a bad idea. I’ve had every kind of rotten job you can imagine growing up and getting myself through school. And I wouldn’t have had a chance at half those jobs if the federal government had kept imposing higher minimum wage. You take the bottom rung off the economic ladder.” This is a statement of such spectacular thoughtlessness and myopia that it stuns. Those desperate for work, of any kind, are not still “growing up.” They are adults with families, living on an economic and emotional precipice, some working two jobs, sitting at bus stops, waiting, or hoping their 20-year-old car doesn’t fail them, all while earning a minimum wage that can barely sustain them and their families. That’s life at the bottom rung of the economic ladder. As an aside, regarding the State of the Union: unfortunately, Speaker Boehner sits directly behind the president and, though I listened to the speech, I couldn't help noticing Boehner’s affect — the look on his face, seeming bored and disengaged, perhaps pondering his last golf score or if he needs a new sand wedge. That sounds snarky, I know. But there it is. But back to the CBS interview. What was also disconcerting (and is worth discussing in detail) was McConnell’s response when he was asked if there was any possibility that Congress would agree, as Obama has proposed, to offer to high school graduates two years of tuition-free community college. The context, clearly, is that for America to be competitive globally our young people must be prepared for the 21st century, one in which education and a spectrum of skill sets are essential. McConnell’s brief (some might say disinterested) response was that it would be too costly, and then he made a vague reference to the nation’s deficit (which has been declining steadily in the past six years). Given McConnell’s cavalier reply regarding tuition-free community college and our purported inability to fund it, consider the following: The projected cost for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan/Pakistan is more than $4 trillion, a sum beyond comprehension. This number does not include the money necessary for the decades of treatment required for those who fought in those tragic and quixotic wars and have now returned damaged, many beyond repair. And how can we forget the debt owed those 6,800-plus troops who will never return to their families but are lost to them and to us forever. Once again, when listening to McConnell’s dismissal of the president’s proposal, I experienced that moment of profound dissonance. We continue to hemorrhage taxpayer dollars in a swamp referred to as the Middle East and he shrugs and mentions our deficit. How is it possible that his perspective regarding education and our children’s profound need could be so disparate from my own? Offering our children — beginning with preschool for all and lasting through community college — a robust education should be a moral imperative. To feign budgetary concerns is deeply disingenuous. Countless children are in distress, many are homeless (1.5 million). We also know that the exigencies of their young lives can often be more than they can bear; yet the uncertainty and chaos and dysfunction they experience are not of their making. But our schools are perfectly situated to break a perpetual cycle of poverty and alienation wherein generations are lost to the hardscrabble streets or to increasingly crowded prisons. Public schools can be the panacea if we only have the will. Part two will discuss the role public education could and should play in the solution. Chris Honoré lives in Ashland. By Chris Honoré DailyTidings.com By Chris Honoré Posted Feb. 2, 2015 @ 2:00 am Updated Feb 6, 2015 at 10:57 AM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with DailyTidings.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Alerts Email alerts RSS feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Your privacy is important, read our privacy policy. © Copyright 2015 Local Media Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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