I was flipping through channels yesterday while cleaning up the kitchen and stumbled across a rebroadcast of the Republican debate from the night before -- it wasn't long before I flipped channels some more, but this caught my attention for a few minutes.

The question was originally asked by Ronald Reagan:  "Are you better off now than you were four years ago?"  It's a very good question, one I've pondered in various configurations recently, though I was just as annoyed as John McCain with its context in this debate.

The question came to mind again last night when I was driving past our middle school -- which formerly housed the high school and administration offices -- on my way home after class.  Cars were streaming out from a packed parking lot.  There'd been a special meeting called to discuss budget-cutting measures, mainly the sale of two buildings -- an elementary school and the administration building (a historic building, formerly the post office) -- and the elimination or phasing out of the French, orchestra and gymnastics programs.

The threat of potential mass transfer of students to other districts was too much and the programs will stay, though gymnastics has been given only a temporary reprieve.  The buildings will be sold, a number of teacher, support and administration positions will be lost or left unfilled, teacher salaries will be "modified," and kids will be shuffled a bit as schools are "reconfigured."

Incidentally, the elementary school that's closing is the one in my neighborhood, the one my kids attended -- walked (or were walked) to and from.  Kids in my neighborhood will now have to ride a bus.

No.  My answer to the question is "NO."  It leads, of course, to so many other questions:  Is my quality of life better?  Is my standard of living better?  Will my children ever be able to buy a house?  Was this the grand plan?  What's not working?  How can it be fixed?  Can it be fixed?  What's it going to take?

WHO is it going to take?  THAT is the question.

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You shall now be returned to your regularly scheduled knitting blog in which our heroine is thinking that perhaps the third time IS the charm and it's time to throw her hat into the Project Spectrum ring.  It's elementary...