I just ordered a new wireless printer/fax/scanner - from an office in Argentina! It was designed in Japan, made in China and will be serviced out of India.

The world has changed. It has become "flat", i.e. competition for jobs now comes from allover the world. And public education must improve to meet this competitive challenge. Yet an outdated mind-set among legislators blocks those changes.

Textiles came to NC from New England in search of low cost labor. It is not surprising that as technologies mature and become more competitive they will seek lower cost labor. Given the huge drop in the cost of transmitting data, anything that can be digitized, including bank statements and tax returns will increasingly be processed offshore. Ditto for many non-perishable crops (e.g. tobacco) and manufactured goods that are easily transported and have high labor content. So what is our future? Providing services for one another will not preserve our economy.

Wake County is the "New South", blessed with hundreds of creative entrepreneurial businesses and scientists working on the technologies of the future. It might be a cancer cure or an anti-terrorism device. Others are involved in selling and servicing new technologies developed elsewhere. Knowledge workers don't have to locate here or remain here. High-tech centers all over the world compete with Wake. What attracts new knowledge workers and keeps the ones we have? It's not pine trees.

Knowledge workers are highly educated. They want a high level of education for their children. Their businesses and employers need a highly trained, globally competitive work force. The availability of such a work force is one of the key attractions that brought them here in the first place.

These highly paid knowledge workers are the core of Wake's economy. Their families fill up the malls, buy new homes and cars and put bread on the table for developers, construction workers, clerks and even those selling popcorn in the movies.

Given that Wake ranks in the top 1%-2% of counties in the state by any measure of wealth, how can it be that it ranks 74th out of 100 in the state in support of public education (as adjusted by the NC Public Forum based on ability to pay)? Given the recent publicity involving the County education budget, those who value quality education are aware of the issue at the local level. But the state's similar miserly support is less well known.

Take the NC Senate's proposed budget this year. It cuts $57 million (15%) from the teaching assistant budget. At the same time it gives in tax cuts to a wide range of corporate interests. The House proposes to increase K-12 spending by 1.2%. The Senate proposes a cut of 1.4%. Whatever the outcome, state spending will barely cover the growth in student enrollment without allowing for inflation.

The longer term trend is even bleaker. State spending on K-12 as a percentage of total operating revenues has been dropping since 1989 when it reached 46%. This coming year it will approach 38%. Since 1999 the education budget per student has not kept up with inflation.

The non-partisan NC Public Forum, NC ranks the state only 38th of the 50 states in the nation in spending per student and a dismal 43rd adjusted for personal income. The difference from the national average amounts to about $15K-$20K per classroom per year.

The state provides 58% of Wake schools operating funds. Under the double burden of miserly state and local support, how long can Wake's public schools continue their high-wire act of providing above average education at far below average funding?

At both the state and local level the predominant theme from politicians is: "I will not raise your taxes." (Except when they want to build a sports arena or a convention center or some other corporate subsidy in disguise.) Essential needs get pushed aside.

But tensions between politicians and parents and citizens are growing. The 48,000 member Wake PTA has formed an advocacy group. 450 people packed the budget hearings mostly to speak out for supporting education. But this mandate was ignored. Wake is not alone. The next step will be for local groups to network and apply similar pressure to the legislature.

Politicians across the state are counting on this years protest to be a flash-in-the-pan. They may well be surprised in next year's election. We once had a state legislature and a county commission that supported public education. Based on the "New South" storm I see gathering, we may well get there again.