I really can’t fault Tennesseans for not wanting to spend more money on public education, as a new Vanderbilt study indicates:

The study showed that Tennesseans are concerned about their public education system and do not rate it highly or have confidence it is on the right track. But respondents said they are not eager to spend more money on the system, even though they say they would like teachers to be better paid.

Don’t get me wrong–it’s not that I don’t want to see public education improved. I do. I also think a major portion of the local budget should be dedicated to education in order to help allieviate crime and poverty.

I have two disclaimers to make: I never attended public school, and I have no idea what is wrong with our schools. It seems like a very complex problem with plenty of politics and competing agendas. (See my previous post regarding Nancy Pelosi and replace the political references with educational ones.)

Only increasing the budget isn’t enough. Is there a diagnosis and proposed strategic solution for improving our schools? Has there been an independent audit to look at how existing funds are spent?

Representative Nancy Pelosi (above), who was elected Speaker of the House today, is expected to emphasize partnership over partisanship in her remarks this afternoon, according to CNN.

Former Rep. J.C. Watts, participating in CNN’s coverage, noted that that spirit will last about “100 hours” before gridlock ensues. He also noted that Washington is driven by ego and power and that that combination is “dangerous.” No kidding.

Can this ever change? Why won’t the Democrats seize the opportunity before them to genuinely try to build consensus and focus on constructive compromise? I’m not just singling out the Dems, either, because the GOP didn’t do much in the way of bipartisanship over the past 12 years despite much mention of collaboration.

Is Congress designed, whether intentionally or not, to drive division and reward arrogance and hostility? It is a sad state of affairs, I think, that our leaders cannot come together and find a way to act in the general best interest of the nation. Here’s hoping that the spirit of hope and opportunity that will be heavily promoted today is more than smoke and mirrors by next week. Please, Dems, take this opportunity to make our country a better place, together with the GOP.