Are you seriously a University of Michigan student? This article is absolutely ridiculous.

What else do you think schools would spend money on? Of course it's teachers. I don't think they're going to spend money on state-of-the-art research and microscopes. But, really, thanks for educating me about the fact that the largest expenditure for schools is employees.

Before suggesting or implying we should cut teacher pay, why don't you at least examine the causality between quality of education and teachers rather than saying we'd be fine cutting pay? Don't tell me we should cut spending just because it's okay to move closer to average, because average is not something people should strive to be.

The column's author argues teachers' salaries should be cut, rather than eliminating programs and increasing classroom sizes to close budget gaps. As a previous commenter said, teachers are a hard-working, often underrated group who - like any of us - have to support themselves and continuous education. This is an important point to acknowledge, and I fully agree that cutting salaries is not a realistic solution. That aside, however, the author fails to recognize that there are schools in Washtenaw County that have been forced to trim down staff, eliminate arts and athletics, increase class sizes, and still face budgetary problems. What else should they eliminate?

Universities across the nation look for "well-rounded students"; students who not only study, but also are passionate about other activities. This is something the admissions office repeats and virtually every student realizes. I strongly feel that the extra-curricular experiences often defined my high school career and made me a convincing applicant to the University of Michigan two years ago. Since these programs are the first to be cut, it's more than evident that there are students in Washtenaw County who will not have that opportunity to participate in these activities. As a result, relative to other university applicants, Washtenaw County's (and Michigan's) students will suffer.

Michigan's leaders and citizens continuously emphasize that our students are a key component to the state's future recovery. Unfortunately, the decisions of voters and legislators in Lansing do not reflect this ideology. This state is home to some great public (and private) universities and it has been our goal to keep these young students in the state after graduation. The goal first, however, is to ensure these students reach college in the first place -- we want our students to be competitive, qualified applicants. For this reason K-12 funding is critical and thus absolutely necessary for Michigan to "give more money to education than 45 of its neighbors."

We should out source K-12 Education to China . Walmart could help us make the connections to make this happen.