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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (4794)	8/12/2003 9:36:42 AM
From: John Carragher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793615

I thought Iraq got some of this tech from Germany but our military said they had ways to get around it... maybe uncle west can update us.?

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (4794)	8/12/2003 9:52:52 AM
From: LindyBill	Respond to of 793615

I have been pounding on just how bad the California School system is. This article lays out the problems. Where Even Good Is Bad California's education quagmire. By K. Lloyd Billingsley - NRO With the recall election only eight weeks away it is far from certain who will be running California next year. But whoever gains office can be sure of one thing. The state's public-education system is in miserable shape, even worse than recent assessments by the federal government. Data gathered as part of the federal No Child Left Behind Act found that about 70 percent of California schools fail to meet standards for yearly improvement. While shocking enough, that statistic fails to convey the depth of the problem. In California, even the best students read poorly. To qualify for the California state-university system, students must score in the top 33 percent of the high-school graduating class. Last year 59 percent of these students had to take remedial courses in English, mathematics, or both. At CSU Dominguez Hills, 75.4 percent of entering freshmen needed remedial instruction in math and 78.9 percent in English. At CSU Los Angeles, 64.3 percent needed remediation in math and 77.9 percent in English The high remediation levels confirm the failure of K-12 education and prompted CSE chancellor Charles Reed to state the obvious, that "a whole generation of kids can't read." If six out of ten of California's best and brightest need remedial work, one may conclude that many of the others are functionally illiterate. They advance due to a system of social promotion that sets up students for failure in higher education or the job market. According to the National Assessment for Educational Progress, a paltry 21 percent of California's fourth-grade students score at or above or the proficiency level. Put more simply, the vast majority of students languish below the proficiency level. The California Education Report Card, a report by the Pacific Research Institute, noted that last year only 36 percent of fourth-grade students scored at or above proficiency on the English portion of the California Standards Test. In other words, 64 percent of these students, a large majority, are failing to achieve the proficiency that they will need to advance. These results are among the lowest in the nation. California also ranks next to last in high-school graduates who had taken first-year chemistry, just 35 percent. Only 56 percent had taken geometry, 18 points below the national average. These and other dismal results betray a system marinated in mediocrity. The standard response of California educrats is that the state is not spending enough. The California Education Report Card reveals that claim to be false. In 2002-03, total education funding in California was approximately $9,200 per pupil, a nearly 29-percent inflation-adjusted increase over the amount spent ten years ago. Much of the money gets absorbed by layers of bureaucratic sediment. There is some hope in California's tough academic content standards, which emphasize core knowledge and skills. Schools that have seriously implemented the standards in the classroom are experiencing improved performance. Standards and accountability, however, are under attack by teacher unions. The state's high-school exit exam, a measure favored by current governor Gray Davis, has been postponed. Students would have to pass the test, at about a tenth-grade level, and with repeated opportunities, to received a high-school diploma. That state officials nixed the exam reveals a leadership afraid to face the full extent of its failure. Charter schools are another bright spot but also under attack. Teacher unions are fighting to block a charter school for low-income, minority students at the recently closed Sacramento High School, a project backed by former NBA star Kevin Johnson and one with first-rate staffing and strong community support. California's voter-approved ban on bilingual education has also yielded improvements. Yet English immersion is also under attack from legislators, including Jackie Goldberg, chair of the state assembly's education committee. The California Education Report Card reveals a state that produces low achievement despite high spending, a state where special interests undermine accountability and testing, and a state currently launching attacks on some of the few successful measures. A thorough study of this report should convince parents, taxpayers, and lawmakers of the tough tasks ahead for California. ? K. Lloyd Billingsley is editorial director of the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy. nationalreview.com

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (4794)	8/12/2003 10:35:13 AM
From: NickSE	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793615

What a great idea...diverting the bomb from a military target into the surrounding area where it can possibly kill and mame innocent civilians and cause collaterl damage...gg

To: Tom Clarke who wrote (4794)	8/12/2003 11:29:50 AM
From: LindyBill	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 793615

Some Generals never get the word. Clark seen planning Democratic nomination bid By Bryan Bender, Globe Correspondent, 8/12/2003 WASHINGTON -- In the strongest signal yet that retired US Army General Wesley K. Clark, the former NATO commander, is planning to join the Democratic presidential race, Clark told volunteers last week to step up their efforts and prepare for an announcement on Labor Day. If Clark, 58, does take on the nine announced Democratic candidates, supporters say he would offer a strong voice on national security issues and sell himself as a newcomer untainted by the political process. The grass-roots movement to draft the West Point graduate remains a campaign without a candidate. The Draft Clark Campaign 2004, which has no formal ties with Clark, has received pledges of nearly $500,000 and now has 98 chapters in 42 states. But Clark, who has never held elective office, increasingly sounds like a candidate, mixing bristling attacks on President Bush's Iraq policy with criticism of the nation's growing budget deficit. Last week, volunteers said, he sent word to supporters to "crank up" their efforts, while he confers with his family before making a final decision. Clark is now the only prominent Democrat still weighing a run for the White House. Senator Joseph R. Biden of Delaware said yesterday he would not seek the nomination. Clark has begun to showcase his political instincts. Last week, in an interview with National Public Radio, he called Bush's decision to invade Iraq without international support "one of the greatest strategic blunders the American government has made since the end of the Cold War." He has also moved beyond the realm of national security. Speaking on CNN, he recently blasted the Bush tax cuts, saying the growing deficit means "that the federal government can't do the kinds of things for America that Americans expect it to do. . . . That's things like taking care of our retirement security and Social Security." The Draft Clark Campaign is gearing up to hand over its organization to the general. "We are preparing for what we think is going to be a campaign starting around Labor Day," said Susan Putney, the volunteer director in New Hampshire of the Draft Clark Campaign. "We are reasonably assured he will throw his stars into the ring." A native of Little Rock, Ark., Clark graduated first in his class at West Point and is a highly decorated Vietnam veteran. He was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University and retired as a four-star general in 2000 after a 34-year career capped by the command of the successful 1999 NATO-led war to oust Serbian military forces from Kosovo. But Clark, who now runs his own investment banking firm and is a CNN military analyst, is relatively unknown outside Washington. And political observers say a fight for the Democratic nomination would be an uphill battle. Supporters admit he is more of a resume at this point than a person. "I think the fact that he is a general in a party that has a reputation as not close to the military and in fact has a rather wimpy reputation when it comes to foreign policy and national security makes him an interesting figure," said Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report in Washington. "But as a serious contender for the nomination, he is not very serious. It's too late. He has no organization; he starts at square one." Yet a groundswell has been building in the form of draft Clark websites established by such diverse supporters as Women4Clark, Veterans For Clark, and a series of online efforts in Iowa and other battleground states. Supporters are unbowed by the odds. "I think I have a sense of what's doable and what's not, at least in New Hampshire," said George Bruno, former state Democratic party chairman. "Time is running out, but there is still a window of opportunity here for a person with the kinds of credentials and talents that General Clark offers. The field isn't becoming more settled; it's becoming more unsettled." boston.com