You’ve heard this one, right?
A budget is a moral document. We fund what we value.”
As attributed to Rev. Jim Wallis, this quotation has been on my mind a lot lately. It applies to what happens in local government, in state government, and in federal government. It applies to me too.
Wherever the origination of this quotation, it speaks to me with an unrelenting voice on this Independence Day, 2025. What do decisions for allocating funds and defunding efforts tell about our values toward humanity? What is supported – and in contrast – what is ignored and unfunded?
If you know me, you know I spent the majority of my teaching career working in a higher poverty, lower socioeconomic urban school district. To teach and to engage with families in that environment gave me some insight into dispelling myths about families living with food, housing, and healthcare insecurity. Am I an expert? No I am not, but I will tell you that I gained a large amount of respect and empathy for the families of students I was privileged to encounter.
Poverty goes hand-in-hand with the lack of basic healthcare, food, and the cost of housing. If you’ve not encountered a family for whom food insecurity or housing insecurity is a major concern, you are indeed fortunate. I will never ever forget the young child we discovered was sleeping with her family in a minivan on a nearby street. Luckily, with the aid of a savvy social worker the family was connected with housing resources. Another former student had not ever been to a dentist. Her rotting teeth were not just a dental problem; she had other health issues resulting from the abscesses that had formed.
Listening to very wealthy people justify cutting their personal tax bill by defunding programs like medicaid makes me wonder about values. It seems more than a bit off-kilter to be protecting and adding to the wealth of a very few when millions of our neighbors cannot, through no fault of their own, take care of their health. Or find shelter. Or have enough to eat.
The measure of a society’s compassion is how it treats its most vulnerable members.
Clearly the actions that I witnessed in Congress over the past days show little compassion. The delight with which our Congress heralded this country’s moral document, its budget, has unleashed what will no doubt be painful decisions for many people.
And so, as my family reviews our own budget, our own moral document, we consider what we can do as well. We do not need more “stuff”.
On this July 4th, as some in the Congress advocate for ripping away programs that support families in our community, I am recalling that quote from Rev. Jim Wallis. If the federal budget does not reflect my own values, I need to do as much as I can to counteract that.
After An Educator's Journey 