We Can't Afford Teachers?

A friend posted the following on Facebook:

My son's teacher, pink-slipped

Last week, California's budget cuts put a pink slip in the hand on my son's teacher, Irma Navarette, one of the best educators I've ever met.

Robert Reich put it this way:

"Last year, America’s top thirteen hedge-fund managers earned an average of $1 billion each. One of them took home $5 billion. Much of their income is taxed as capital gains – at 15 percent – due to a tax loophole that Republican members of Congress have steadfastly guarded.

If the earnings of those thirteen hedge-fund managers were taxed as ordinary income, the revenues generated would pay the salaries and benefits of 300,000 teachers. Who is more valuable to our society – thirteen hedge-fund managers or 300,000 teachers? Let’s make the question even simpler. Who is more valuable: One hedge fund manager or one teacher?"