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Politics : Support the French! Viva Democracy! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: cosmicforce who wrote (4977)	1/31/2004 12:02:30 PM
From: longnshort	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 7845

DC gets about $12,000 per student and High school grads read at a fourth grade level, if that. You think if we spend 100k they would do better? LOL NOT

To: cosmicforce who wrote (4977)	2/1/2004 12:27:36 AM
From: epicure	Respond to of 7845

It's funny that money will work in Iraq to build schools but isn't useful here. I love the folks who try to say that money won't "help". yeah, right There may be waste in some districts- concentrate on them, fix them- that would be good. In our district administration is down to a very small percentage of burden cost- teachers and support staff (like secretaries and special ed aides) account for 85% of the budget. In California we have 30 year old formulas for spending which no longer work- it would be great to fix them. Unfortunately many of the formulas were in place before prop 13 happened- and ruined the property tax financing of California schools. The decline of our schools can be dated to that time. Compare Ca's rank in terms of how it's schools compared with other states at that time, to how it compares today. Immigration also factors in, but education is not some magical fairy land where money does not matter- and the Teacher's union, that mystical bugaboo that seems stuck in so many people's nether regions, has very little to do with how school districts spend money. Most districts spend mostly on teachers, and personnel- the union has nothing to do with our spending decisions/priorities. Having been involved with the board, and several school site councils, I can unequivocally say they do not enter into our discussions, except in terms of hiring and hours and schedules. Public education must remain strong in this country for it is one of the few things that unites our diverse population. Universal excellent public education should be a prime goal, and should be promoted, whereas private education should be an option, but not one that we encourage with any kind subsidy- because private education aids divisiveness, rather than ameliorating it. In a free country people must be able to opt out of the system, but for public policy reasons it's best not to encourage it- unless, of course, you're one of those folks who likes a divided society, where people have nothing in common. We all know how faith divides people, we've all seen it. It makes no sense to spend public money on private or faith based schools, when they do not promote a cohesive society. People don't have to be cohesive, but out society would be wise not to encourage people to be that way. After seeing how ugly people can get on SI when they differ over a silly think like politics or faith, it is quite clear we don't need institutions that encourage differences.