Closing Schools and Laying off Teachers

It seems like everytime I turn on the news there is something on the news about more school closings.  I understand the economy is bad.  But, seriously can we afford to cut back on educating our children?  Other countries school systems are more advanced than the educational system in the United States and they are closing schools and laying off teachers left and right.  Are we really returning to the dark ages?  During the Dark Ages there were no schools.  The Dark Ages began with the Fall of the Roman Empire.  During the Roman Empire there were schools and libraries.  The Barbarians destroyed and burned down all the schools and libraries.  The only difference is it is our own government shutting down libraries and schools.  In my daughters high school, they are laying off the librarian and closing the library.  They claim they the school doesn't need a library.  Why don't they start with cutting the salary and some of the fringe benefits the government officials take.  I think that would be a better place to start. Oh excuse me, we wouldn't want them to feel the hit of the economy. It is much better to over crowd the schools and cut back on educating our youth.