Funding education a matter of priorities

August 23, 2017

Peachtown Elementary School is situated on the Wells College campus, and every year I am amused to see that I am driving just about the ugliest car on campus. First-year college students usually drive better — or at least prettier — cars than I do. I am quite certain that Wells is no different than any other residential college in this respect. I just like a good, cheap car, and I drive it until it stops, whereas most consumers like something new and shiny.

As a culture, we are a little obsessed with things: nice cars, nice homes, stylish clothes, exotic foods, overstuffed furniture and the latest technology. Even families with very little discretionary income are inclined to attempt this consumerist lifestyle.

The parents of my generation all lived through the Depression and World War II; they were experts at the exigencies of spartan living. They saved rubber bands and twisty ties, and folded pieces of used aluminum foil and bread bags for later use. We thought they were crazy, but now some of us do the same thing and call it ecologically sound and sustainable.

I grew up pretty poor: rusty cars, hand-me-down clothes, and a house with worn wallpaper and tired furniture. I suppose I was sometimes embarrassed, but even then, it was hard to feel any shame with parents who worked hard and still made extra time and squeezed out extra dollars for anything we really needed, and certainly for our educational benefit. We didn’t often get new clothes, but we had instruments and piano lessons, and membership in the book club. My parents had their priorities straight: education first and foremost. We were never pressured to do homework or to get straight A’s, we just understood the family priorities. Many of my friends had very similar experiences.

Today at Peachtown, I also see many families who have very limited incomes and rely on scholarship funds to put the tuition cost within their reach. These families make a choice about the importance of selecting the right education for their child; this expense becomes a commitment and investment in their child, not a discretionary expense.

Obviously, in spite of the generous Peachtown scholarship program, not everyone can afford a private school. However, in my experience, those for whom it means the most find a way to make it work. My parents paid college tuition for 16 consecutive years, sometimes with the well-timed sale of a cow. Their income was so modest, but they fulfilled their commitment to their children by sending six children to private colleges and dying debt-free, with money in the bank. We drove old cars, there were no family vacations or restaurant dinners, and our digs were not fancy, but we inherited a clear set of values and the ability to live cheaply. The education we got gave us a leg up so our lives are a little easier, and of course not having six children helps.

Having children is not an accessory to your lifestyle; it shapes your lifestyle. A clear priority on quality education for our children and for all children is a responsibility that should go without saying. From the earliest years, and maybe especially in the earliest years, a positive educational experience begins to shape the future of a child. Education is an investment in your children’s future.

There is no shame in living cheaply and putting your children first. I am pleased as punch with my 2010 Grand Marquis. It’s not a 2018 mini-van, but it was $25,000 cheaper. It might look like an "old lady car," but who am I kidding? I am getting old, and I can save a little money for my grandchildren cruising around granny-style — with money left over for my own fun, too.