I keep hearing that one of the biggest problems facing public K-12 education is all those crappy teachers. I mean, that's the whole point behind the push for merit pay and eliminating seniority—getting rid of all those crappy teachers, right? Get some healthy competition and other market forces working on our public schools, I'm told, and all will be right with the world.

So it's in that spirit of capitalism, I guess, that our legislators are attempting to attract better teachers to the profession by cutting their pay!

One of the key budget deals struck during these last hours of the special session, making way for today's agreement: A 1.9 percent pay cut for teachers and a 3 percent cut for school administrative staff over the next two years.

Somebody needs to reread their Adam Smith.

The only surprising thing about this budget "compromise" is that lawmakers can cut teacher pay, increase class size, and slash a combined $1.4 billion from K-12 education, while still managing to keep a straight face when talking about their commitment to education reform. God I hope the state loses the pending "paramount duty" lawsuit. Now that's a special session I want to see.