Is the land where football is king becoming too infatuated with the pigskin? Everyone knows that football is a religion south of the Mason-Dixon line, with football stadiums providing passionate fans with a place of worship. High school stadiums provide the mass on Friday, while college and professional venues are packed with worshippers over the weekend.
The attention to the sport is starting to affect the wellbeing of states and people in them, with high school taking a direct hit from the obsession.
A clear example of this occurred last week in anticipation of the Florida-Georgia rivalry game Saturday. According to ESPN, three counties in the state of Georgia had to cancel school on Friday before the big game.
The reason? With the amount of teachers taking Friday off to head to Jacksonville for the game, each county struggled to get enough teachers to staff classrooms.
Last year, 137 teachers of the Clarke Country School District, where the University of Georgia is located, called in sick the day before the Florida-Georgia game. The district only found 113 substitutes.
This shows the priorities of a state that has one of the lowest state education rankings, which includes a ranking of 45th for SAT scores in 2008 in the United States. That's a lot of high school exams that were cancelled just so high school teachers could witness the Bulldogs' 39-point loss.
The statistics are similar in other states where football reigns supreme. High school graduation rates in states that have a Southeastern Conference, arguably the best college football conference, are among the worst in the nation.
These include the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi, all of which have a commitment to strong high school football.
Imagine if education was emphasized nearly as much as football was in these states.
Sixty-six high school stadiums in Texas hold more than 10,000 people, far more than any other state.
The amount of money dedicated to these stadiums is unheard of. In 2004, two football teams in the Lone Star State moved into stadiums that each cost $20 million apiece, according to USA Today. That sure is a lot of tax money that could have helped lower class sizes or provide students with better textbooks.
Needs for education cuts don't affect the spending on football either.
Back in Valdosta, GA, more than $3.5 million was cut from the school system during a three-year stretch during 2001-04. Despite the cuts, Valdosta still budgeted over $300,000 a year during that span.
With the current generation gaining the reputation as the least intelligent in our country's history, more money and emphasis should be placed on education.
That won't happen when high schools will cut educational programs for a football coach making triple-digits and stadium maintenance doubling a school district's expenditure.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
