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March 19, 2011 06:57 PM UTC

Public servants' importance being lost in today's partisan environment

  • 22 Comments
  • by: Gardnerpath

( – promoted by Colorado Pols)

Public servant, civil servant, state and federal employee, municipal worker, whatever you want to call them as a group, these are the people protecting the nation, preserving law and order, defending our environment, and educating the next generation. In today’s highly partisan climate, these public servants are becoming targets of the budget cutting frenzy and described as drains on society, instead of being recognized for their invaluable contributions to the nation, to states, and to our communities.

The decision to go into public service is the decision to help build the nation’s strength and future prosperity but forgo profit seeking in private industry. These public workers know they will never get to take part in a lucrative IPO, they won’t strike it rich by inventing the next big thing, and they won’t ever have million dollar bonuses at an investment firm. Instead, public servants work in a career they are passionate about that helps their community and earn wages and benefits that afford stability and comfort for them and their families.

Perhaps this is why Republicans have ramped up their war on public servants: there can possibly be nothing more antithetical to the Right’s worship of profiteering and industry than people who forsake that for a career serving the people and our communities. It is astounding to see conservative commentators blast public servants as being greedy and selfish as these pundits support tax breaks for billionaires that then require cuts in important community programs. It is appalling to see Republican politicians blame public servants for the state and federal budget crises.

Public servants aren’t asking to be paid millions. When they entered their careers, they knew what they were getting: how many teachers have you heard say, “The pay isn’t great, but the benefits are good and I get to do something I love.” Theirs is a career of doing something they can be passionate about and that helps the community, with some trade-offs such as stability of income instead of high wages. If any of the variables were changed, these same people would possibly not enter their professions. Do we want people to not see educating as a viable career choice?

If the current war on public servants is successful, we as a nation will lose. Fewer and fewer people will go into teaching and fewer will consider careers in law enforcement or public services like firefighting. In these areas, we should be looking at ways to get the best and brightest into these careers, not punishing current public servants and dissuading new entrants. It is already difficult to find enough skilled educators to teach our children, policies making the profession any less attractive will spell disaster for future generations.

Wisconsin’s recent law to alter teachers’ contracts is just the tip of the iceberg in conservative state policies across the nation seeking to balance budgets on the backs of public servants. Many other states are looking to enact similar measures to take advantage of the Right’s recent victories. These states are looking to win the race to the bottom and the states that do not follow the trend will win in the long-term.

Each state holds a monopoly on employment options for its teachers. Until now, the teachers unions offered one of the only protection for teachers from changes in the political winds that would make public servants an easy target for budget cuts. Without this bargaining chip, teachers will be forced to seek out other markets for their skills that are more attractive: the only other market is outside their state. As educators look at other states, they will be drawn to those that did not foolishly undermine contracts with public servants.

Colorado faces similar budget and political pressures to look at slashing pay and benefits for educators. This is a defining moment for the state: will it realize the importance of education or will it cave to the agenda of anti-education and pro-industry groups? Will it advance policies that would drive skilled educators elsewhere to find reasonable compensation or will it advance policies that will keep Colorado’s education system a success now and into the future?

We all owe a lot to public servants, who forgo the world of corporate profit in favor of careers that benefit our state and communities. Teachers have helped build Colorado’s well-educated and successful communities. Police and other public servants keep our communities healthy, safe, and thriving. It is sad that it only takes a budget problem for all this to be forgotten. These Coloradans deserve our thanks and they deserve to know that we will support them as they have supported us.

What we need is for our politicians to stand up and say, “Public servants are not to blame for our budget crisis. Educators are vital to our success and we should work harder to encourage more people into this profession and not dissuade them from doing so. All public employees are vital to our success and should not be villainized in an effort to distract from the difficult tasks ahead.”

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22 thoughts on “Public servants’ importance being lost in today’s partisan environment”

  3. Of course, you mention that the state has a monopoly on employment–the Republicans want to end that, too, by privatizing schools. But the problem is, we can’t afford for any of our schools, public or private, to be the Wal-Marts of the school system. We desperately need every kid to get a great education based on their talents, not on their parents’ incomes, because the generation in power now will need these kids’ smarts to figure out how to care for the aging population.

    Preaching to the choir, I’m sure, so I’ll shut up and just reiterate–I agree completely. There was a time when we honored every sort of public servant, from mailmen to the military, and every one of ’em seems to get spat on by office holders these days.

    1. You are absolutely right. As you said, there was a time when we honored public servants, but now they are attacked as leeches on taxpayers. It angers me every time I hear people (politicians and he vocal sorts) disparage these workers, who are making a living by giving back to the state and our communities.  

    2. respectfully suggest…?,

      every one of ’em seems to get spat on by office holders these days.

      you qualify “office holders” a bit…seems a little to broad.   🙂

      1. OK, that’s still a  bit broad–but frankly I’m not seeing any one bloc of office holders mount a vigorous defense of public employees. Even the Dems pay their mandatory-but-inaccurate lip service by scolding teachers’ unions and frowning at the USPS.

  4. I’ve been thinking these same thoughts for weeks. When I think of teachers, firefighters, police officers and so many other people who have the noblest jobs (in my opinion) being treated the way they have been, I am furious. I raised my kids the way I was raised — to treat these people with respect and gratitude.

    I have to wonder what these conservative pundit’s parents are thinking — as a parent, I would be ashamed if my child were on Fox News trashing teachers and other heroes. What’s next? Trashing mothers? Nuns? Orphans?

    I can only hope the recent chapter of their hate will get some Fox News watchers off their duffs to turn off the television for good.

  5. Bureaucracy is the oil that keeps governments humming along for the rest of us.

    Beyond the performance of everyday services, one of the greatest values of public workers is the protection of long held policy consensus from sudden political hijacking. Confusion and inconvience are disruptive and counterproductive for a democratic society. Political pressure for sudden change, even reversal of policy is moderated by the necessity to work that change through the bureaucracy that has to carry it out. Considering that political leadership is prone to switch ideologies every now and then, it’s the bureaucacy that keeps government running smoothly and predictably enough for citizens to understand it and to use it effectively.

    Well no wonder politicians with hyper-idealogical and dictatorial ambitions hate public functionaries, who tend to hold overzealous politicians in check. For most of us, they’re the oil that keeps the machine running smoothly. To the Reagans, Cheneys and Walkers of the world bureaucrats are just sand.

    Thanks, Gardnerpath. What you said needs to be heard. More often. Louder.

  6. was accomplishing my daily workout, I was thinking about the subject that appeared on the FP when I logged on this AM. I had been considering writing a diary about the attack on the middle class as demonstrated by the Wisconsin spectacle…

    but,, damn, what a diary. Nice work, Gardnerpath. VWD

    I intend to get more active here at ColoradoPols.  

    I hope so. I am looking forward to reading more of your thoughts.

    Um…one question…is “Gardnerpath” like “sociopath”?…only with flowers and veggies and stuff?   🙂  

  7. A lot of what you say holds for most employees at private sector companies too. They come in, try to do a good job, and they also will never see large bonuses, IPOs, etc.

    There is a significant difference between the jobs of public and private employees – a police officer is serving the public good to a much greater extent than an iPhone salesperson. But I also wanted to point out a good chunk of what you said above holds for the vast majority of workers, private as well as public.

    1. The overwhelming majority of private sector employees will never have the chances mentioned.  

      And most public sector employees enjoy far greater job and retirement security than most private sector employees.

      So while I agree that the demonization of public employees by the GOP is abhorrent, let’s agree that public employees are not exactly standing in bread lines.

      1. that is why the GOP is upset with public employees. They don’t have to stand in bread lines. The GOP will not think they have gone too far until 15-20% of the public is standing in bread lines. Then they will evaluate how much bread we are taking because it may be more than we really need.

      3. I guess everyone’s experiences are different, but in my long job history in the private, public and nonprofit sectors I have been laid off three times – all three by public employers (twice by the state, and once by local government).  

        I have also seen other kinds of demonization of public employees – by public employers.  Unmanaged abuses of personnel rules are one common area.

        For some of us whose (earlier) ambitions were to make government work better, and to help bring a higher quality of management to the public sector, working in that sector has sometimes been a sobering and disappointing experience.  

      4. This pitting one worker against another pisses me off. Unions have raised the standard of living of all workers. If public sector workers are the remaining most unionised and the most secure, the problem is not how much they have, it’s how little private employees have. Work on that. That’s the problem.

  8. The government asks because these are essential services that, largely, are not provided by private industry because there is not enough profit in fighting fire, teaching kids, giving me speeding tickets, etc.

  9. As one of the newest federal government employees I give you my Thanks.  

    In my area we get very few “thank you’s” from those who we come in contact with. We do our job in an effort to protect the U.S. from nasty things coming in.

  10. Are currently not going as well as we might like, because there is no government bureaucracy or civil service which citizens can trust.  Cronyism, nepotism and payoffs to militias are how things get done.

    No wonder Republicans are anti-government.

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