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Education Is Too Important for a Government Monopoly; It's time to let parents choose
Reason ^ | 2010-02-18 | John Stossel

Posted on 02/28/2010 11:36:03 PM PST by rabscuttle385

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1 posted on 02/28/2010 11:36:03 PM PST by rabscuttle385
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To: bamahead; Bokababe; metmom
*Ping!*
2 posted on 02/28/2010 11:37:01 PM PST by rabscuttle385 (Live Free or Die)
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To: rabscuttle385

bttt


3 posted on 02/28/2010 11:46:01 PM PST by stainlessbanner
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To: rabscuttle385

Calling Captain Obvious


4 posted on 02/28/2010 11:59:55 PM PST by philetus (Keep doing what you always do and you'll keep getting what you always get.)
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To: rabscuttle385
Since 1980, government spending on education, adjusted for inflation, has nearly doubled. But test scores have been flat for decades.

Kids have also been dumb for decades, too. I mean, look at the people that voted for the current occupant of the WH.

5 posted on 03/01/2010 12:14:16 AM PST by GOP_Raider (<----Click over there for a special message from GOP_Raider)
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To: rabscuttle385
"As kids continue leaving the system, we will lose teachers. Our very survival depends on having kids in D.C. schools so we'll have teachers to represent."

Wow, it's really mind-boggling that he actually SAID that to a reporter. Of course, all union leaders THINK this sort of stuff, but most of them seem to manage not say it out loud. But perhaps I shouldn't be surprised that the IQ of the head of the DC teachers union is down in the same cellar as the average IQ of DC public school teachers.

6 posted on 03/01/2010 12:16:56 AM PST by GovernmentShrinker
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To: rabscuttle385
In Texas, you can drive through any small town, and the only new building you will see if a school.

There are untold billions of dollars tied up in school buildings that arepredominately occupied by anchor babies from Mexico and Central America.

Meanwhile, the idiot Washington bureaucrat, Kay Bailey-Hutchison, is running for Governor of Texas vowing to fix (raise taxes and pour billions more into the education scheme) the high drop-out rate of said anchor babies who just want to get out of school and start their own lawn service.

In Texas, you don't own your home. You're simply renting it from the local school district. Don't believe me? Try not paying your school taxes for a couple of years.

7 posted on 03/01/2010 1:19:42 AM PST by Texas Jack (No, I'm the Tea Party leader)
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To: GovernmentShrinker

Public employees should never have been allowed to unionize.

The only time unionization can work is if the employees’ demands can be held in check by the prospect of their employer going out of business. In business, bankruptcy is a very real possibility — unless some idiot government bails out the business — but with public employees their employer can’t go BK without taking down the government itself.

Is there any mechanism that would allow dismantling of these public employee unions short of the entire government going into default ? The only one I can think of is a hiring freeze and outsourcing any new demand for services, which in the case of schools is what charter schools and voucher programs do.

It is economically not cost-effective to fire public school teachers due to litigation costs. However, if you don’t replace any that retire, you could have just enough left after ten years to run the reform schools where all the delinquents are placed that get kicked out of the new charter and private schools. We should institute this immediately, to take advantage of the higher than normal retirement rate of the boomer generation. Transferring them to schools in the worst neighborhoods and having to teach the violent and stupid kids should provide added incentive for them to retire as early as possible.

How do you like my plan ?


8 posted on 03/01/2010 1:21:55 AM PST by Kellis91789 (Democrat: Someone who supports killing children, but protests executing convicted murderers.)
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To: Texas Jack

The state should take those nice new properties away from the school districts, sell them to private operators, and issue vouchers to legal residents to attend.

Those that get kicked out of the new “private” schools (for violence, not making the grades, or because their parents object to the way the private school is run) as well as any kids who aren’t legal residents will still get their free education. They can attend the older, rundown, campuses where the unionized tenured public school teachers teach. If there aren’t enough older, rundown campuses, then new ones can be setup using those horrible “temporary” classroom trailers. Attending or teaching at a “public” school should be the least desirable option for all involved. That is the surest way to minimize the cost to the taxpayer.


9 posted on 03/01/2010 1:38:42 AM PST by Kellis91789 (Democrat: Someone who supports killing children, but protests executing convicted murderers.)
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To: rabscuttle385

In the district where I teach ( & Thank G*d, don’t live) Head Start has its main office- over many counties. It seems to employ all the prominent people of color in the district. Many of these women seem to dress up, lunch, & go on overnight trips ALL the time.

It exists as a glorified club of big paychecks & little actual work, except by the few people not in the cushy jobs. Head Start will never be allowed to fade away- it’s the country club job for minorities. Sorry. I said it. It’s true.


10 posted on 03/01/2010 3:31:49 AM PST by leaning conservative (snow coming, school cancelled, yayyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!)
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To: rabscuttle385; Abathar; Abcdefg; Abram; Abundy; akatel; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; ..



Libertarian ping! Click here to get added or here to be removed or post a message here!
View past Libertarian pings here
11 posted on 03/01/2010 7:02:59 AM PST by bamahead (Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master. -- Sallust)
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To: Texas Jack
There are untold billions of dollars tied up in school buildings that arepredominately occupied by anchor babies from Mexico and Central America.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Our rural county of 20,000 people just built a $70 MILLION dollar high school. Talk about indentured servitude to the teachers.

It is never enough.

12 posted on 03/01/2010 7:09:06 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid!)
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To: Kellis91789

What audacity! I just **love** it! LOL


13 posted on 03/01/2010 7:11:43 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid!)
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To: rabscuttle385
Today we spend a stunning $11,000 a year per student—more than $200,000 per classroom.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

$11,000???? Huh? That's only the operating costs. The true cost is double that!

Government schools have accounting practices that would make an Enron accountant blush!

In my state retired teachers are NOT considered a school expense. They are counted a state retired workers. Also, in my county new schools are bond issues and not school budget expenses. Also not included are the other county and state services that schools use. For instance lawn service, police surveillance of the halls or traffic control before school or during school events. The schools have access to county legal and accounting services as well. These are just some of the hidden costs never reported in school budgets.

14 posted on 03/01/2010 7:18:48 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid!)
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To: wintertime
I don't know if you're from Texas or not, but Kay Bailey-Hutchison is running ads talking about the drop-out rate in our high schools and how she has a plan to fix them.

As far as I'm concerned, she is pandering to the predominately demoRat teacher base and asking them to cross over in the primaries and vote for her. And when she gets in office, she will repay them with my hard earned money. Untold trillions of dollars have been sucked out of our economy to give half-educated demoRats a place to work while waiting for the next election.

I would rather vote for Lucifer himself than anyone saying they are going to fix the school problems.

It doesn't need to be fixed. It needs to be abolished.

15 posted on 03/01/2010 8:03:09 AM PST by Texas Jack (No, I'm the Tea Party leader)
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To: rabscuttle385; 2Jedismom; 6amgelsmama; AAABEST; aberaussie; Aggie Mama; agrace; AliVeritas; ...

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

This ping list is for the “other” articles of interest to homeschoolers about education and public school. This can occasionally be a fairly high volume list. Articles pinged to the Another Reason to Homeschool List will be given the keyword of ARTH. (If I remember. If I forget, please feel free to add it yourself)

The main Homeschool Ping List handles the homeschool-specific articles. Metmom holds both the Homeschool Ping List and the Another Reason to Homeschool Ping list. Please freepmail Metmom to let her know if you would like to be added to or removed from either list, or both.

16 posted on 03/01/2010 9:07:57 AM PST by Tired of Taxes (Dad, I will always think of you.)
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To: Texas Jack
I would rather vote for Lucifer himself than anyone saying they are going to fix the school problems.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My feelings exactly!

The government schools must be abolished! That is the only solution. Yet,...It amazed me the number of so-called conservatives that claim their child's government school is “different”.

17 posted on 03/01/2010 9:11:39 AM PST by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid!)
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To: wintertime
Dear wintertime,

Your school district ain't got nothing on Washington, DC.

I remember reading a couple of years ago that the operating cost per student in DC was only $8500 per year.

Wow. Quite a shock. I thought it was much, much higher.

And then I looked at the budget. The $8500 comprises strictly the salaries of teachers in the classroom. Not included in that figure included administrative staff, maintenance staff, associated faculty, central office staff, maintenance costs, electricity, gas, water, educational materials (you know - books & things), supplies, not even toilet paper!

The ACTUAL operating cost per student at the time was over $20,000 per year!

LOL!


sitetest

18 posted on 03/01/2010 9:17:28 AM PST by sitetest ( If Roe is not overturned, no unborn child will ever be protected in law.)
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To: Kellis91789

Personally, I think the best transitional approach is to go to a 100% voucher system — meaning 100% of the total per student cost of public schools — and make it freely useable for private schools, home schools (with payment made AFTER the student passes a standardized test showing reasonable improvement OR being at “grade level”), and public schools. Then the public school teachers will have an equal opportunity to compete for students and jobs. Most of the competent ones would quickly find employment in private schools (many of which would open in buildings purchased from the public school system). The incompetent ones can stay in the public school system and teach the delinquents whose parents don’t really care where or even *if* they go to school — those parents aren’t a powerful political force, and so aren’t likely to sustain a union with much clout.


19 posted on 03/01/2010 9:52:39 AM PST by GovernmentShrinker
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To: rabscuttle385
Parents have the choice now . They also have the same choice non-parents have regarding public education . Pay your property tax or lose your property .
20 posted on 03/01/2010 10:41:53 AM PST by kbennkc (For those who have fought for it , freedom has a flavor the protected will never know F Trp 8th Cav)
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