Normally, press releases are yawn inducing, but one I received last week made me want to scream. A former “Sex and the City” actress, Cynthia Nixon, along with the City Council speaker, Christine Quinn, the public advocate, and three borough presidents held a press conference on the steps of City Hall. Their urgent message was the targeting of six Republican senators who are opposing the Campaign for Fiscal Equity for city schools. The idea that our failing public school system needs more money is infuriating.

If money were truly a problem, then I could understand the concerns of those gathered to demand more funding for the schools, but let’s get real. According to the February 2006 financial status report, the total funds committed to the Department of Education was more than $16 billion, yet Johnny still can’t read. The 2006 proposed budget for the entire state of Rhode Island was only $3.15 billion. Before any more funding goes to the schools, I’d like the Department of Education to explain why the “fringe benefits” in its budget cost $1,787,804,843.

Taxpayers are now expected to throw more money at this behemoth before making any effort to stem its voracious appetite for taxpayer money. Whether funds come from the state or the federal government, in the end they come from the taxpayers, including Ms. Nixon, et al. I think we deserve better bang for our buck, and we need to have the Department of Education cut the lard from the system before feeding it more.

Admittedly, I am not a product of the public school system nor did I send my children through it. I was fortunate enough to attend a parochial school when it was virtually free. Public schools were actually superior to Catholic schools in the early 1950s until radical theorists substituted expensive social engineering for traditional education.

I do, however, have many teacher friends who are as critical of the system as I am. Recently I sat down with one of my favorites, whom I’ll call Teacher X to protect her from any reprisals from the Department of Education or the teachers union.

She told me, “The BOE [Board of Education] decreed that every classroom from kindergarten to Grade 5 had to have a rug. Every real teacher would have told them it’s a health hazard. Do you know that kids vomit? Pee in their pants? Come to school with head lice? Who’s going to clean the rugs? I’ll bet it’s not in the contract of the custodial staff. This excessive overmanagement, over things like how many staples are used on a bulletin board, have completely demoralized true and dedicated teachers.”

Our lunch together went by quickly as my recently retired friend ticked off a litany of grievances that I imagine most committed teachers are enduring but fear to mention publicly. “Another bad move was giving the budget to the principals. It sounds good on paper, but I know personally that older teachers are being forced out because the principal can hire two new teachers for the price of one earning top pay.”

She also agreed with my argument that the system is top heavy with administrators, who, she says, do nothing but harass teachers and generate paper work. From my viewpoint, the teachers union seems to be a major obstacle toward any reform of the system. It objects to school choice, whether it’s in the form of vouchers or tax credits, yet all we hear are complaints about the crowded schools.

My friend admits that some of her grievances may no longer be valid since her retirement, but she saved her most vehement protest for what she calls the latest outrage: teaching kindergartners about AIDS, a state mandate of several years’ standing, but one that it is being increasingly implemented in the classroom.

“They say they won’t be mentioning the fact that needles and ‘unusual’ sex practices are primarily the cause, and that they’ll be discussing general hygienic practices, like washing one’s hands. Before long, these babies, who are not permitted any innocence now, will be introduced to alternative lifestyles. God help us!”

Too bad he’s not allowed in the schools to do that.