The United States, and especially Iowa, have always prided themselves on education. Our politicians spout slogans of “leave no child behind” and “education comes first” while government education spending is being slashed and redistributed. Primary schools have been reduced to barely more than mass testing facilities.

Our high school students routinely rank far behind other countries in math and science, and the graduation rate has decreased. Here at Iowa State, state cutbacks have had a detrimental effect as well. Enrollment is down for the third year in a row, and solutions to these problems are hard to come by.

Lately, it seems like you can’t open a newspaper or watch the news without seeing another proposal for increasing tuition and decreasing financial aid for students. We have all read the headlines: “Students count on loans, jobs as tuition continues to climb,” “Initiatives to stabilize tuition rates in the works,” and the latest, “$9 billion in student aid may be eliminated.”

With all these education cuts, the question that must be asked is, how much does America really value education? If children really are our future, what resources are we giving them to work with? How are we preparing our young people to be productive and contributive citizens?

According to a 2003 study, the United States led the world in education spending at roughly $500 billion. Although the United States spent the most in absolute dollars, it ranked 10th in education spending as a percent of its gross domestic product at 4.8 percent. Number one on the list was Saudi Arabia, investing 9.5 percent of its gross domestic product in education, followed by Norway, Malaysia, France and South Africa. These results are disheartening to say the least.

If Americans want to pride themselves on education, perhaps they should put their money where their mouth is. First and foremost, the United States needs to decide if education is a right or a privilege. If it is a privilege, reserved only for those with enough money to obtain it, then by all means continue to hack away at the budget.

Reduce the financial aid for students in need, increase the cost of tuition, and take away our grants. However, if we believe that education is a right for every citizen, as basic as our right to free speech and the freedom of religion, then America needs to do some re-evaluating.

We believe that public education is just that: education for the public. Not education for the wealthy, or education for the chosen few. Public education is a right entitled to every citizen regardless of class, race or social standing.