text: When basketball and other sports programs expand and the libraries get cut.... that is just plain wrong. Some rural school districts are following this strategy. Their "mission statement" and budget allocation do not match. Their budget is stating that the sports program is the most important part of the school. They will continue to charter planes so that children (4th-8th graders in addition to high school varsity) can fly around to participate in sporting events. Meanwhile, their reading scores bottom out, and their libraries are treated like storage rooms. My question is that for all the money spent on sports...how many students have professional sports careers? It seems that the districts have failed all the way around.