“Think education is expensive, try ignorance.” That popular bumper-sticker phrase is generally attributed to Derek Bok, scholar and occasional president of Harvard University. But if Bok’s phrase has been fashionable, the sentiments behind it have generally proven unpopular.
Eh, never mind; we’ll go with ignorance, say the American people.
According to a recent publication from the Pew Center on the States, Americans say they’re happy to pay higher taxes for elementary and secondary schools and heath care and social services. They’re not so interested in paying higher taxes for public colleges.
In an analysis of five of the largest states in America, Pew reports that almost 70 percent of those polled said they’d be willing to pay more taxes “to protect public schools.” Only 40-45 percent of those surveyed said they’d be willing to pay higher taxes to support higher education.
