Local Opinion: Driving through a school zone? Do 30

Now that school zone signs are out, it’s time for us to slow down for more than a 15-miles-per-hour moment. It’s time to “Do 30” instead. Not 30 miles per hour through the school zone. “Do 30” for the kids inside the walls of a school you drive by. There’s 30 in each class. The next time you are throwing things in your shopping cart, pick one thing you needed when you were little.

And do 30 of it.

It can be almost anything. Throw in 30 plastic rulers or 30 boxes of Kleenex. Or count out 30 boxes of crayons. Have fun picking out 30 pocket folders or spiral notebooks.

And then the next time you drive by that school zone, drop off your bag at the front office. No need to chat. Just a nod and, “Please give these to some teacher.”

You can be that person that they wonder about for the rest of the day. For one day, one moment in time, every child in some classroom will have what all the others have.

And it won’t only be up to the teacher to make that happen. Because teachers can’t keep being the only equalizers in our society. The burden of our ever-decreasing public funds cannot rest solely on their backs alone.

The fact that educators receive a federal tax credit of $500 a year for expenses is laughable. Most spend that much each month. I did years ago. Arizona ranks even lower in its per-pupil support now.

Teachers provide breakfast cereal for their hungry kids at snack time so they can focus. They buy Band-Aids because school nurses were a deep cut years ago.

And they haul in cases of paper because they’re rationed to one ream per week — if they’re lucky. Think about it. One ream. For 30 kids. To last a week.

And yet somehow, we the public, want reading, writing, and math scores to go up. Throw in a few reams of paper, or boxes of granola bars, or Band-Aids when you’re shopping — if you can.

Because teachers are doing it, even if they can’t. You aren’t doing it for them. If you were, you’d be buying a 30-minute massage, 30 aspirin, and 30 ounces of wine.

No. You’re going to “Do 30” because you’re a good person. And you want to help in some small way. Buying 30 of anything that matches is a great start. Watch a teacher’s face when you mention 30 of even the craziest of matching items.

They’ll use them in a lesson. Every time. Go one step farther and “Do 30 for Science.”

Buy 30 small calculators, or 30 yardsticks or 30 logbooks. Because data collection can happen anywhere, any time with a few tools to measure time or distance.

“Do 30” minutes to find out which candidates support public education. Vote for candidates who value public education and increasing state funding.

“Do 30” by donating $30 to pro-public education campaigns. Ask 30 people if they’re registered and plan to vote. It all matters.

Because if you “Do 30” today you’ll also be doing it 30 years from now. The child you made smile because he finally has the same box of crayons as everyone else, will remember.

And the teacher whose day you just made will lay in bed that night wondering who stopped by without needing thanks.

“Do 30.” Just not in the school zone.