Games People Play

No matter what age I am, it always confounds me a bit just what lengths politicians will go to to get their way. I'll be honest, when I was younger, I never paid too much attention to it all. Even after I was old enough to vote, I still probably didn't pay as much attention as I should have.

I don't remember the exact circumstances or the time, but I do remember experiencing a shift at some point where I started to realize that it was all just a game and things weren't really what they seem. I do remember it had to do with some kind of bill, and politicians railing on about how some other politician voted no on some bill when they felt they should have voted yes.

It was then I realized just how many layers a bill (or whatever they vote on) has. Sure, they might claim it is a bill to give money to needy people, but what they don't talk about is the five other things in the bill that allows for the massacre of kittens or something like that.

It's a constant game which politicians play that the general public is either oblivious to, or doesn't fully understand just how deep it runs or corrupt it is. I have little doubt many politicians have high hopes and dreams for actually affecting change, only to find out they are in a virtual catch 22 situation where there is really no good option. Too bad more politicians don't find a way to pull a "Kobayashi Maru" on the system.

I've mentioned in the past that I work for a public school district in the state of Michigan. At the end of last year, many school districts in the state were left scrambling to have special board meetings all concerning Title 31AA money.

"Title 31aa refers to Section 31aa of Michigan's State School Aid Act, a state program providing per-pupil funding for improving student mental health and school safety through hiring support staff (nurses, counselors), purchasing screening tools, and upgrading safety infrastructure"

Now that you have a little idea of what 31AA is, you are probably thinking that sounds great, why would there need to be meetings for something like that.

I'm actually glad you should ask that. You see, where as in past years the money has been readily available via an opt-in option for districts, this year a faction of the state government decided they were going to put stipulations on the money. Most importantly, if a school district opts-in for the 31AA money, they "agree to waive any privilege that many otherwise protect information from disclosure if a mass casualty event occurs". They are also required to comply with any state-directed investigation of such an event.

Now, I know what you are thinking, that doesn't really sound very unreasonable, if something like a school shooting happens, someone should be held accountable. Here's the problem... They are very non-specific on what constitutes a mass casualty event. Sure, a school shooting would probably fit the bill, but under their vague guidelines, it could also be an accident in the parking lot where more than one person is injured.

Under the current guidelines, all communication and files could then be requested and disseminated to the public with student and staff personal identifiable information included and everything.

Here's a few of the issues as far as I see it. First, the state continuously raids the school aid fund to move that money to other places. It is pretty obvious that in this case they are purposely leaving the language vague in the hopes that most districts will opt-out of receiving the money. Then they can say "I guess you don't really need this money after all", and reallocate those funds to where they really want it to go.

Second, while transparency and cooperation with investigations is important, the culture we live in today leans more towards a virtual witch hunt with people always wanting to blame someone for their lot in life. Yes, there have been districts (and police departments) that have dropped the ball in certain cases, but there have also been instances where they did everything right, but the parents are mad and want someone to blame, and since the shooter is dead, they go after the school district.

My wife is a school social worker at the elementary level and she will tell you that there are sometimes kids she is concerned about. The problem is, who does she tell? If she goes to the police and says, I think ten years from now you might have a problem with that kid, they aren't going to do a thing.

So fast forward ten years and that kid does do something, by then there has been turnover in the police department, they have no clue. My wife says I mentioned it to the last person, but it won't matter. The witch hunt will begin and in a situation where the blame lies squarely in one place, professionals like my wife will become collateral damage.

Despite what a lot of people seem to think, the majority of workers in public education have a sole focus of protecting the students that are placed in their care. It's unfortunate that these funds are being held hostage at the risk of those same staff being able to be accused and investigated on a whim because sometimes life isn't fair.