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 ...
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.
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.
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.
You can drive a fleet of Mack Trucks through the space that divides what is “important” from what is a “right”.
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.
Step one in getting Sharia Law so muslim girls aren’t allowed to attend school.
And there you have it
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.
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.
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.
We need a federal judge to rule that taxpayers do not have a duty to pay.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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???
This just begs for Idiocracy 2 - the sekwel
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.
“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.
Personally my mother made me literate, several years before I ever saw the inside of a classroom.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.