The Fall of Education

What is happening to the world of education??? Des Moines is laying off over 350 teachers to make up some of the 10% budget cut to education....my own school is going to "pink slip" some teachers....then there is Kansas City...they are going to cut 700 jobs....and close 29 out of 60 schools...by the fall of 2010.
I don't understand it...how can we stand to make these huge budget cuts that directly affect education??? What is going to happen? This might mean class sizes of 40-50??? So that might be an exaggeration...but perhaps not!