Four Legs Good, Two Legs Better

As a student, I was assigned the novel Animal Farm by George Orwell.  I remember disliking that novel at the time, not because my teacher did a bad job teaching it, or because I don't like a good allegory now and then, but because I could not relate.  What did a farm full of animals have to do with me? (Disclaimer: if you've never read the novel, you should - it will take you all of 3-4 hours to finish.  And if you are really feeling gutsy, study a little bit about the Russian Revolution ahead of time.  History repeats itself in many different ways, sometimes physically and sometimes metaphorically.)  Crazy how an allegory I was assigned to read as a freshman, and now teach to freshmen, is playing out in real life.

I can tell you that I now have a great appreciation for that novel and the message it teaches.  I see a resemblance between what is happening at the state level with education and our state budget, and it frightens me. Why is education important?  Because educated citizens are the only ones who can keep government officials in check.  Right now, I am feeling more and more like Boxer.  That poor, poor horse.  *Spoiler Alert:  He is worked to death and sent to the knacker's yard for slaughter.

Keep writing your representatives, Kansans!  This is not right.  This is not OUR Kansas.  This is "special interest" Kansas.

Online link to a PDF of Animal Farm:  https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/o/orwell/george/o79a/  

Online link to find your representatives:  http://openstates.org/find_your_legislator/