Posted on 07/20/2008 8:02:35 AM PDT by wintertime
If there's one thing you have to give Philadelphia's leaders credit for achieving, it's consistency. Under the "leadership" of every mayor and city council going back decades, the city has seen its population plummet, and with it, our prospects for growth and world-class status. Consider these gems:
Between 2000 and 2007, Philadelphia lost 4.5 percent of its residents, the largest percentage drop of any Top 25 city. As far as actual numbers, the only city which lost more people in that span was New Orleans, and I think the Big Easy had a weather-related incident which prompted that city's mass exodus.
With the track record Philadelphia amassed in those seven years, it would seem that the city was trying to best the results from 1990-2000, when the City of Brotherly Love's population losses ranked it No. 3 out of out 243 cities with more than 100,000 people.
(snip)
The only viable solution is to enact a comprehensive school choice program. Only when our children - every one of them - can receive a quality education at the school of their choice will the crime epidemic come to a halt. Only when parents can have a say in where their children attend school will we start to see a homegrown, educated workforce.
When children forego an education, they lose hope, faith and vision. And, unequivocally, that's what we're dealing with in Philadelphia. It's why we have the highest rates of poverty, murder and violence in the nation, and it's why the population continues to erode. Half of all students who enter ninth grade won't graduate. If we can't even keep kids in school, what makes anyone think we can keep businesses and families here?
School choice can affect change in a way no other reform can. When parents have a choice in their children's education, schools that do well will attract more students and succeed, and those that continue with the status quo will lose students and fail. The free market system that has served us so well will have the same effect on our educational product. And for the first time in generations, our students will actually learn the skills necessary to succeed in life. With a quality education, they will have hope for a better tomorrow, understanding that it is better to live in a stable environment with a loving family than be part of a criminal world in which the lifespan is shorter than those in third-world nations. Criminals today don't fear the crossfire because they feel they have nothing to live for anyway. Until that mentality is changed, Philadelphians will continue to be held hostage, and more people - including children and police officers - will die.
(snip)
Philly could be a **great** city. There is so much to recommend it....but...it is horrible place for a family to live and raise kids. The schools are abysmal and far too many of is neighborhoods are very dangerous.
I agree with the author. Two things would greatly help this city:
*School choice *Lowering taxes
Of course, if the city did that, Republicans might move in and start winning elections and the Demonrats can't have that!
The irony is that Obama wants kids going to the same public schools.
It’s McCain who is promoting school choice vouchers so that kids could pick better schools.
Good jobs; Safe Neighborhoods; Great schools. What is so hard about that?
“The irony is that Obama wants kids going to the same public schools.”
It will be interesting to see if Obambi sends his kids to DC public schools.
You are looking at a microcosm of the USA if the Obots have their way...
To teach the legacy of the welfare state, we should drive 3rd grad students up and down market st and chestnut st.
I have included your name on the list because, in the past, you have posted to me about education issues. I surely don’t wish to bother you, but I don’t want you to miss these education articles, either.
I will call this ping list:
“The All Opinions Welcome Government Education Ping List” ! “
He's been a US Senator for 4 years already. Where do his kids go to school now?
Great article. I and thousands of others left Seattle to settle in cities nearby because of the forced busing idiocy the Democrats succumbed to in the 70s. Democrats do not face reality well, and they want to take away your and my freedoms so their form of Utopia can pervade our country. They have a mental disorder, though, and that is displayed by them not having the ability to determine that people will not put up with this stuff unless they absolutely must. And, yes, that includes moving out of a city “for the kids’ sake.” Seattle used to have 100,000 children in the schools. It now has 40,000 (one third do not graduate high school). And it has more dogs than kids.
Regarding Obama, someone asked him about the school his kids were attending (in Chicago before he was elected U.S. Senator???). He gave some lame excuse like “I used to teach there” and “it was five minutes from the house.”
Sure, Barak. We really believe that.
I would add Broad St. and Germantown Ave. to the list.
Seattle used to have 100,000 children in the schools. It now has 40,000 (one third do not graduate high school). And it has more dogs than kids.
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There are government school defenders on Free Republic that insist that parents have choice. Their idea of “choice” is selling the house and moving! Only a government school defender could see this as a “choice”. I’d call it desperation!
There isn’t a thing that the government can’t ruin if it gets its hands on it.
Philadelphia’s onerous 4.2% wage tax forces people and jobs out of the city.
I surely agree. Ultimately we need complete separation of school and state.
Philadelphia’s onerous 4.2% wage tax forces people and jobs out of the city.
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Wasn’t it as high as 6% at one time?
Paleo Conservative:
He's been a US Senator for 4 years already. Where do his kids go to school now?
Here's what I found using Google.
The first listing was from WikiAnswers.
Q:Do Barack Obama's children attend public school?A:No
the Chicago Tribune sums up some of their answers:
"My kids have gone to the University of Chicago Lab School, a private school, because I taught there," Obama responded. "It was five minutes from our house. So it was the best option for our kids."
I believe the highest Philadelphia’s wage tax has been was about 5% for residents, and $4.3% for non-residents.
With revenues anticipated from legalized casinos in Philadelphia, rates are promised to drop further to as low as 2.8%. Interestingly, for the first time, non-residents will have to pay more than residents starting about 2013.
Of course, most localities in the area have wage taxes of no more than 1%. Philadelphia has to keep its unions fed.
http://www.philadelphiaforward.org/node/25
LOL...that will be the day...can’t have the “presumptive president’s kids” mingling with the common folk...
Amy Carter went to a government high school.
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