Are they kidding?

Some Metroplex area school districts are quite upset about funding cuts. Why, they're going to have to shut down their planetariums!

I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I read that several school districts have planetariums. That's all well and good if you have a private benefactor who wants to enrich the students' science experiences, but do the taxpayers really need to fund these extravagances? It costs the Mesquite ISD $300,000 a year to fund their planetarium. They say it's too difficult to plan a field trip to another facility. And the students can't afford the trip to the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. My stars, the district could pay for all the students to go for what they're paying to keep up their own facility. Anyway, there are area colleges that have planetariums that I feel sure could be used -- UT at Arlington has one, and nearby Texas A & M at Commerce has one.

The teachers say the planetarium experience is much more than just star photos and canned videos. The $300,000 is worth it. "One recent week, students learned the order of the planets." I have news for them -- when I was in about the 4th grade, I learned the order of the planets, too -- from a little solar system mobile that probably cost my teacher $1.98.

If this is what our education dollars are being used for, then the legislature did the right thing when they drastically cut the funding.

"Heavens! Cuts shut planetariums." The Dallas Morning News; June 10, 2011; p. 1B.