I have tried, in recent months, to strike a balance between hope and concern about where we seem to be headed in education. Today I am going to sound an alarm bell. The pensions of teachers and other public employees are in jeopardy because a wealthy elite have decided they have better things to do with our money.

On Wednesday, listening to Talk of the Nation on NPR, I heard an expert on the auto industry, Paul Ingrassia, talk happily about the "tough love" the Obama administration had s...