Trumpet of the Swan

I am reading a most enjoyable book to my son right now, The Trumpet of the Swan. It was a book my mother read to me when I was a little girl. And it was read to my mother when she was a little girl. It is such a good piece of children's literature... well written, wholesome material, substantive and even humorous. Reading the book, a child will be exposed to an engaging and heart warming story about a quirky, less than perfect swan, but that child will be exposed to far more without even knowing it. Who knew a quaint old children's book would include everything from North American geography to the migratory pattern of birds to proper trumpet playing technique?

Which reminds me... I told you that I would chat about some of the bumper stickers I see around here. Let's start with this one seen on a car pulling out of one of this area's many million dollar neighborhoods:

"Why do we always have enough money for war and not enough for education?"

OK. I'm gonna have fun with this one. My first answer for Mrs. Limousine Liberal is this: If you're so concerned, why don't you donate some money instead of putting a two dollar sticker on the back of your car? I know, that was a question, not an answer. Still, I'm sure with what she paid for her second home she could pay two teachers salaries for ten years. And yes, I know, perhaps she has donated some money. But clearly she still has some to spare.

I'm not sure who she's targeting with that sticker, either. Her liberal friends who applaud her message as she drives by have already done their duty. They voted for the candidate who pledged to spend the most of other peoples money. They've attended as many of those tiresome charity wine dinners and art auctions as they can drag themselves to. The families around here who are the ones with the school-aged children floundering in the really poor public schools generally don't have much money to spare. In fact, they are probably lucky to have a roof over their heads. Land is scarce and wealthy people looking to live somewhere chic are buying everything up and driving the housing prices to astronomical levels. Families lack affordable housing while the wealthy, childless liberals are joy riding around town sporting bumper stickers that broadcast how enlightened they are.

I don't have anything against wealthy people. Wealthy people spend money and that is generally good for the economy. I just hate it when people who think they are really smart drive around with stupid bumper stickers. Here is an idea for a smart bumper sticker:

"Improve education. Good books, not more money." Truly.

My grandpa dropped out of high school in tenth grade. It is not something he was proud of and not something he liked to broadcast, for he valued education. But he was an educated man. He supported his family during the depression, served bravely in World War II and then went on to become a distinguished cartoonist. He educated himself in the real world and he educated himself using a novel approach called reading. He told me when I was a little girl that all of the great writers were great readers. He was well read, successful and you never would have guessed that he was only formally educated through the tenth grade.

I'm not advocating for increasing the number of high school dropouts. After all, we all know that in order to get a good job in this day and age, you need that little piece of paper that verifies your educashun (never mind whether or not you actually know anything.) The more papers, the better. What I am advocating for is common sense. Want to improve education in this country? It's not hard and it costs a fraction of the amount of money it takes to wage a war. My answer is this: read. Give a kid a real book, not another dollar to the school administrator.