Even though the Cold War era is a distant memory, encased in glass forever like some museum piece, our government is still spending as if the Soviet Union was in its prime. If the arms race is a forgotten memory, then why is the military still spending 86% of what it was spending during the Cold War. It's not that us Americans do not want a solid military, we just believe that our military is wasting billions of dollars at the expense of our children's education and well being.

50 years ago our country, and the entire world was in disparate need of a strong U.S. military. We inflated our military budget, and gave the government and private businesses an enormous appetite. Without a major threat to the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union, our government seems to be in competition with itself. 50 years ago we sent tons and tons of troops overseas to fight in a foreign land, while we pumped private businesses up with the manufacturing of military equipment. The need for such products and the need for an over-healthy military allowance is long gone. While we sunk billions after billions of taxpayer's money on wars that we were boisterously proud to spend

National Parent Teacher Association (1996 November/December). School Funding: How much do we value good public education. National PTA Magazine, Cover story.

To achieve these goals for a better future for our kids and further more, our country, we need to make education our biggest priority. Adding up the military's inflated $290 billion a year, and comparing it to what's left over for all other spending, including education, a meager $246 billion (NCR, 1999). This is an insult to our children's development as growing intellectuals. 6% of the entire budget is allocated for our children's education, this states the true fact that their education is not important. The money is truly there, we simply need to redirect it and our governments priorities. Like stated by Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, " The winners and losers are not going to be determined by the size of their gunboats, but by the level of their children's level of education."

Currently the federal government only participates in 7% of the funding for our schools, while the state and the local community split the rest. This is an raises enormous concerns due to the fact that poorer communities are at a significant disadvantage. Some communities can spend up to five times as much as less fortunate ones (NATIONAL PTA, 1996).

So, where is all of the money going to come from to improve our children's education, well, remember our friend with that uncontrollable appetite? During the Cold War's prime the U.S. was spending $325 billion a year. And today, with the Cold War boxed up and put on a shelf, the military is still spending $290 billion a year (NCR,1999). This is an alarming figure that we are spending on a military without any outside threat to contend with, in fact it seems to be their only real

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