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Michigan judge rules kids don't have a fundamental right to literacy
MSN ^ | 7/02/18 | Aris Folley

Posted on 07/03/2018 2:30:34 AM PDT by Libloather

A Michigan judge ruled last week that children do not have a fundamental right to learn how to read and write.

The ruling came in response to a lawsuit filed by Public Counsel, the nation's largest public interest law firm, on behalf of Detroit students that sought to hold state authorities, including Gov. Rick Snyder (R), accountable for what plaintiffs alleged were systemic failures depriving children of their right to literacy, according to the Detroit Free Press.

"I'm shocked," said Ivy Bailey, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, the newspaper reported. "The message that it sends is that education is not important. And it sends the message that we don't care if you're literate or not."

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: education; kids; literacy; michigan; publicschools; right
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To: nonsporting

I agree. I agree with everything everybody is pinging me back with. You cannot force a kid to learn and you cannot wait for the police to show up to defend yourself.

But we as taxpayers pay for these people to do jobs, or at least to think that they do those jobs. Then they go to court to try and keep the taxpayers from arguing about what they get.

As a disclaimer, I live a long way from where a policeman is every going to show up, and all five of my children were homeschooled. I just get tired of the hypocrisy of the groups who demand to be treated with respect and extra compensation, then suing the people who pay their paychecks for expecting anything.


61 posted on 07/03/2018 5:33:59 AM PDT by wbarmy (I chose to be a sheepdog once I saw what happens to the sheep.)
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To: Libloather
"The message that it sends is that education is not important. And it sends the message that we don't care if you're literate or not."

Who's the illiterate, Ivy? IMO the judge is correct. Of course education is important. Of course we care if children are illiterate. But that's not what the judge said.

62 posted on 07/03/2018 5:35:58 AM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Get in the Spirit! The Spirit of '76!)
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To: bert

I would argue that it is a true statement. Do people learn to read, write, and calculate without attending school? Yes, many do. Do people attend school but not learn to read, write, or calculate? Yes, many do.

Therefore, “school attendance is neither necessary nor sufficient” to produce citizens with adequate basic education.

Whether, on the whole, the current system is better than an alternative - even if the alternative is no mandate at all - is an entirely separate argument.


63 posted on 07/03/2018 5:44:30 AM PDT by Tax-chick (Fill in my standard rant.)
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To: Libloather

You can drive a fleet of Mack Trucks through the space that divides what is “important” from what is a “right”.


64 posted on 07/03/2018 5:54:29 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: wbarmy

The people who brought this suit were trying to drag Michigan down the same path as Kansas and Nevada where judges found this “right” and began ORDERING the State Legislature to raise taxes and spend more money on schools.

This judge was apparently too smart to fall for it.


65 posted on 07/03/2018 5:55:57 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Libloather

Step one in getting Sharia Law so muslim girls aren’t allowed to attend school.


66 posted on 07/03/2018 6:05:53 AM PDT by bgill (CDC site, "We don't know how people are infected with Ebola.")
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To: Libloather

And there you have it


67 posted on 07/03/2018 6:10:43 AM PDT by Nifster (I see puppy dogs in the clouds)
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To: Sa-teef
Parents have a responsibility to raise up their children properly and to see that they are learning.

My brother is an elementary school teacher and he often says he can tell the students who have books at home from those who don't.

68 posted on 07/03/2018 6:14:32 AM PDT by Drew68
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To: Libloather

I agree with this one. Just reading the first few lines, it seems like the Left is trying to find a new “Right” to use against the country when someone’s disagreeable behavior makes then uneducable (see inner city schools). They sue, and get set up for life, for being incorrigible, and obstructing others’ educations as well.


69 posted on 07/03/2018 6:17:11 AM PDT by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: Libloather
I agree--there is no fundamental right to literacy.

On the other hand, I think that the failing school systems are engaging in a tort--they are harming students. And yet we also must acknowledge that sometimes the parents/ family are at fault also.

70 posted on 07/03/2018 6:20:09 AM PDT by Lysandru
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To: Libloather

We need a federal judge to rule that taxpayers do not have a duty to pay.


71 posted on 07/03/2018 6:22:03 AM PDT by CodeToad
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To: Libloather
"hold state authorities, including Gov. Rick Snyder (R), accountable for what plaintiffs alleged were systemic failures depriving children of their right to literacy,"

This was simply a n attempted Leftist (read: Teacher's Unions) shakedown for tax money. It has NOTHING to do with teaching children, or finding new "Rights". Don't fall for the pretty language used by the paid-for journalism major covering the story. The Ruling is correct.

72 posted on 07/03/2018 6:22:06 AM PDT by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: wbarmy
The teachers at least have to try and teach you. This is not a case of leading a horse to water, this is a case of not even leading the horse.

Reread between the lines. They are suing the government for more money to be put into the schools. They are not suing individual teachers for not doing their jobs.

73 posted on 07/03/2018 6:24:32 AM PDT by Teacher317 (We have now sunk to a depth at which restatement of the obvious is the first duty of intelligent men)
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To: Widget Jr

Providing an education, or the opportunity to learn does not mean people choose to avail themselves of it. There are so many students who go to school, spend the day messaging on their phone, socialize and disrupt the learning of the kids who really want to learn. Third and fourth generation welfare recipients see little value in education and do not understand the connection between study and later work success. They have never known anyone that worked. You don’t need to learn to be able to get a check.


74 posted on 07/03/2018 6:26:38 AM PDT by cyberstoic
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To: Libloather

So, if they don’t have the fundamental right to learn how to read and write, then they aren’t required to attend school so the taxpayer isn’t forced to pay school taxes for ... kids that aren’t theirs what aren’t required to attend school or have the fundamental right to learn how to read and write.

Hmmmmm .... the left sure does want a nation of 3rd world illiterates. I guess, since the President is making it harder to import them and hopefully get rid of as many as possible, they just want to turn as many as the can. Awesome!!! How anyone with a brain supports the Left is beyond me.

Mindless moochers that would suffocate if breathing wasn’t an involuntary action.


75 posted on 07/03/2018 6:35:10 AM PDT by qaz123
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To: Libloather

Property taxes are taken from property owners & a vast portion of those taxes is for schools.

An educated populace is needed to run a business & a country.

IF you are taking my taxes for schools & NOT educating the children, then that is fraud.

Can I sue this judge & the school districts???


76 posted on 07/03/2018 6:45:15 AM PDT by ridesthemiles
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To: Libloather

This just begs for Idiocracy 2 - the sekwel


77 posted on 07/03/2018 7:00:45 AM PDT by Kommodor (Terrorist, Journalist or Democrat? I can't tell the difference.)
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To: Libloather

The fact that the teachers are upset with this outcome makes me VERY SUSPICIOUS, and makes me think this is another case of the teachers using the kids as human shields to advance their agenda, which, of course, has NOTHING to do with educating kids.

“The suit also sought fixes to crumbling schools that, among other measures, Detroit Public Schools Community District officials reportedly said would amount to more than $500 million.”

Yep, they wanted a SLUSH FUND...nothing more.


78 posted on 07/03/2018 7:11:40 AM PDT by BobL (I drive a pick up truck because it makes me feel like a man)
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To: skr

“School isn’t the only place one can become literate.”

More like “School alone is the one place one cannot become literate.” I doubt a SINGLE KID now learns to read exclusively in a public school, there is ALWAYS outside help to teach him the RIGHT WAY to read.


79 posted on 07/03/2018 7:14:51 AM PDT by BobL (I drive a pick up truck because it makes me feel like a man)
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To: BobL

Personally my mother made me literate, several years before I ever saw the inside of a classroom.


80 posted on 07/03/2018 7:48:29 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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