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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Selectric II who wrote (469834)	10/2/2003 9:06:10 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Respond to of 769670

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To: Selectric II who wrote (469834)	10/2/2003 9:08:54 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

DC is above the national avg. About where you would expect. Average teacher salaries ranked by state, 2000-01 State Number of teachers Average salary % of U.S. average 1. Connecticut 42,512 $53,507 123.7% 2. California 299,897 52,480 121.3% 3. New Jersey 98,395 51,955 120.1% 4. New York 216,000 51,020 118.0% 5. Michigan 95,200 50,515 116.8% 6. Rhode Island 11,272 50,400 116.5% 7. Pennsylvania 114,700 49,528 114.5% 8. District of Columbia 5,000 48,488 112.1% 9. Alaska 8,136 48,123 111.3% 10. Illinois 128,817 47,865 110.7% 11. Massachusetts 79,473 47,789 110.5% 12. Delaware 7,466 47,047 108.8% 13. Maryland 53,673 45,963 106.3% 14. Oregon 27,900 44,988 104.0% 15. Nevada 17,838 44,234 102.3% -- U.S. average 57,908 43,250 100.0% 16. Indiana 59,728 43,000 99.4% 17. Ohio 113,000 42,892 99.2% 18. Minnesota 56,000 42,212 97.6% 19. Washington 51,164 42,143 97.4% 20. Georgia 93,636 42,141 97.4% 21. North Carolina 80,390 41,496 95.9% 22. Wisconsin 61,285 40,939 94.7% 23. Hawaii 10,785 40,536 93.7% 24. Virginia 82,616 40,247 93.1% 25. Colorado 42,100 39,184 90.6% 26. Texas 274,345 38,359 88.7% 27. New Hampshire 14,019 38,301 88.6% 28. Vermont 8,710 38,254 88.4% 29. Florida 133,545 38,230 88.4% 30. South Carolina 44,449 37,938 87.7% 31. Alabama 47,527 37,606 87.0% 32. Tennessee 56,971 37,413 86.5% 33. Idaho 13,900 37,109 85.8% 34. Kentucky 40,746 36,688 84.8% 35. Arizona 44,562 36,502 84.4% 36. Iowa 34,203 36,479 84.3% 37. Utah 21,500 36,441 84.3% 38. Maine 17,000 36,373 84.1% 39. West Virginia 20,337 35,888 83.0% 40. Kansas 33,010 35,766 82.7% 41. Missouri 64,000 35,091 81.1% 42. Arkansas 29,025 34,729 80.3% 43. Wyoming 6,895 34,678 80.2% 44. Nebraska 20,939 34,258 79.2% 45. Louisiana 50,366 33,615 77.7% 46. New Mexico 20,078 33,531 77.5% 47. Montana 10,290 33,249 76.9% 48. Oklahoma 42,120 32,545 75.2% 49. Mississippi 30,782 31,954 73.9% 50. North Dakota 7,713 30,891 71.4% 51. South Dakota 9,296 30,265 70.0% Source: U.S. Department of Education

To: Selectric II who wrote (469834)	10/2/2003 9:16:34 PM
From: Gordon A. Langston	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

Oops, looks like AS hasn't really been following the battle, only hitting the talking points. cse.org School Yard Showdown The battle over school choice reaches a critical point in the Senate this week. Will freedom prevail? RELATED ITEMS Vote Recap: House Passes D.C. School Choice School Vouchers Help Public Schools This Week in Policy and Politics The future of American education will be shaped this week in the U.S. Senate. Will the Senate choose a path of school choice and innovation, or will it choose to continue the same command-and-control policies that are stealing opportunity for an entire generation of children? The District of Columbia public school system is failing far too many kids. Despite spending nearly $10,000 per student—one of the highest per student spending budgets in the world—D.C. test scores are among the worst in the country. In fact, at only one District public high school can the majority of the students read at above the “below basic” level. How bad are D.C. public schools? D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, who compares D.C. schools to Hurricane Isabel and other natural disasters, is considering a takeover. We’ve spent and spent, and the result is the same. More money is not the answer. D.C. Mayor Williams also supports our plan to create scholarships for some of the neediest kids in the most troubled schools. It’s a novel effort that would bring new money and new opportunities for these kids. But the liberals in Congress and the teachers’ unions are dead-set against it. When I was in Congress, I passed similar legislation, but President Clinton vetoed it. George W. Bush, though, is a true leader on this issue, and that presidential veto won’t happen this time around. Let’s put this debate into context. The D.C. school system enrolls 67,000 students, pays 11,000 employees, and proposes spending $745 million next year. Comparatively, the Senate bill would award just $13 million in scholarships to low-income kids in the worst schools. These vouchers, at a maximum of $7,500 per student per year, would reach only about 1,700 of D.C.’s 67,000 public school kids. That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the need. The House bill is even more modest, with just $10 million in scholarship funding—enough for about 1,300 students. Not to mention that the entire program will be monitored and reevaluated by Congress in just five years. What are the liberals so scared of? They’re afraid it will work. The 2.7 million-member National Education Association (NEA) and other teachers unions know in their hearts that school choice will be a success. Better academic results for D.C. school kids will signal the end of the NEA’s control over a sprawling public education system that is more interested in protecting the status quo than doing what’s in the best interest of our children. The NEA knows that all D.C. parents, not just 1,700, will soon demand their own vouchers. And then, parents all across the nation will push for school choice in their own communities. That’s why the NEA is pressuring Representatives and Senators whose constituents live far from the District of Columbia to vote against the interests of the D.C. Mayor and D.C. families. As a result, the Senate debate thus far is completely unproductive. The usual Senate suspects—Ted Kennedy (D- Mass.) and company—are threatening a filibuster. But, thanks to the work of grassroots activists like CSE, there may be enough votes to beat the filibuster. Senators Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) are the swing votes, but according to media reports they’re not completely happy with the current proposal. According to the Washington Post, Senators Landrieu and Carper are proposing to extend a number of public school rules to private schools as a condition of receiving voucher students. For example, they want instructors in participating private schools to meet the same teacher qualification standards as those imposed on public school teachers. Sounds reasonable, but most private schools don’t meet these complicated, and often, counterproductive regulations. Private schools succeed in part because they are free to focus hiring good educators, not meeting union hiring guidelines. Senators Landrieu and Carper also reportedly want to impose a cap to would prevent participating private schools from charging more than $7,500 in tuition. That’s outrageous—if low-income parents want to supplement their children’s education by spending more than the scholarship maximum that should be their choice. Since when does the United States Congress feel an obligation to restrict the amount of money poor families spend on education? As a whole, many of these ideas are the exact opposite of reform and innovation The “reforms” put forth by Senators Landrieu and Carper are designed to make D.C. private schools more like the failed public ones. Applying the stifling public school regulations to private schools in D.C. will destroy the freedom and efficiency that lets them produce superior results to D.C. public schools. The hope is that we can give enough to Senators Landrieu and Carper to pass the bill without undermining the very essence of school choice. Depending on how this shakes out, the full Senate vote could happen this week. If we succeed, there will be a Conference negotiation as well as final passage votes in the House and again in the Senate. So, please use this opportunity to contact your Representatives and Senators and let them know that they need to support D.C. school choice!