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DEL.ICIO.USThe voucher delusion
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“We shouldn’t be trying to raise our test scores above Alabama’s,” state Sen. Eric Johnson pointed out in a recent speech on education. “We are not competing with Alabama anymore. Georgia should be trying to raise them above Austria’s and South Korea’s.”
As a statement of goals, the senator is exactly right. He recognizes that our children will have to compete in a global marketplace, against the best and brightest from around the world, if they are to continue to enjoy the quality of life that America has provided their parents.
Unfortunately, his primary prescription for attaining that goal — taxpayer-funded vouchers to finance private-school education — is founded more on ideology than on common sense or experience.
Johnson, who has announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor in 2010, claimed in his speech to the Georgia Public Policy Foundation that the only way we can match the education performance of other nations is through the magic of competition. As he put it, “That kind of success will only be created by the marketplace, not a monopoly.”
That is of course demonstrably false. If that kind of success can be achieved only by the marketplace, how can we account for the educational achievements of Austria and South Korea, the very nations Johnson chose as standards? Schools in those nations are controlled at the federal level far more rigidly than American schools. There and elsewhere, nations have somehow accomplished what Johnson claims cannot be done here in America.
Johnson’s proposal also ignores the poor record of voucher programs here in the United States. While he promises that “if we offer every parent the freedom to choose the best school and allow the funding to follow every child to their chosen school, Georgia will skyrocket to the top of every educational measurement,” nothing in the research data justifies that lofty claim.
Most important, Johnson ignores the true nature of Georgia’s challenge, which is as much cultural and multigenerational as institutional.
For far too long, education wasn’t considered important here — not by government officials, who feared the taxes required to build a first-rate system; and not by business, which in addition to fearing taxes saw ways to make profits with a lesser educated work force that also demanded lower wages.
That is no longer the case, as many government and business leaders, including Johnson, acknowledge. But decades of neglect under that previous strategy have left Georgia a difficult cultural legacy. Parents who themselves have a poor education often aren’t able to help their children with higher-level math, science and English demanded in a modern curriculum. More importantly, they are also less likely to stress the importance of school and to be involved in their child’s education.
That’s the crux of the problem. If you talk to teachers and administrators, the single most important indicator of a student’s success is the involvement and commitment of their parents. Children of involved parents already excel in test scores, graduation rates, etc., while those of uninvolved parents do not. Those are the children most in need of help.
Unfortunately, that is a hard dynamic to alter, and it can change only over time and generations. But rather than try to address it, Johnson’s approach would compound the damage.
His premise is that, armed with tax vouchers, parents who had previously not been involved would be transformed into active, informed consumers who investigate and make smart choices about their offspring’s education. There is no reason to believe that miracle would occur.
Johnson’s approach also ignores the chaotic, even reckless, nature of the marketplace. For-profit, private schools would indeed pop up to attract voucher-bearing students, but as in any line of business, a good percentage would be run by incompetents or those looking to make a quick buck.
In most endeavors, that “creative destruction” would be tolerable. But to a student with one good shot at an education, it would be a disaster.
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Comments
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this
Well, Jay, I think this guy may be on to something here with the vouchers and his claim that we need to compare favorably with others such as Korea, China, Saudi Arabia, India, etc. In fact, a hybrid solution of sorts is probably in order. Therefore, I suggest that we give our children $1000 each and a plane ticket to a country of choice. After they have been properly educated at the lowest possible cost in this foreign land, they can return to this country and go directly to work for the US company of their choice. Who knows, maybe those US companies will even pick up the $1000 tab in exchange for a year’s servitude.
By Tug
August 11, 2008 10:42 AM | Link to this
Any chance you can get Wooten to read your column? Welcome back. Hope you had a nice vacation.
By "The Corporal"
August 11, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this
Many parents want vouchers so they can afford to put their kids in schools that educate them instead of indoctrinate them in areas they do not agree with. If that means more students in private and religious schools then so be it.
By GodHatesTrash
August 11, 2008 11:09 AM | Link to this
Education has never worked in Georgia.
Long before public education, long before the New Deal, long before the Great Society, long before NCLB, Georgia and Georgians severely lagged the nation in education and literacy in reading, mathematics, and science. That’s just the facts, my silly inbred redneck friends…
The problem with Georgia schools can be described very very simply - Garbage in, garbage out. The children of superstitious stupid hillbillies will likely grow up to be the same.
Why spend any money at all trying to teach Georgia kids? Take them away from their parents and they might have a chance. Instead of building schools, build orphanages.
Georgia is, was, and always be a haven for the superstitious and the stupid.
By Copyleft
August 11, 2008 11:23 AM | Link to this
Many parents want vouchers so they can afford to put their kids in schools that educate them instead of indoctrinate them in areas they do not agree with.
I thought conservatives favored the free market? If you want to put your kid in a private school, YOU pay for it.
And if exposure to ideas you don’t agree with is a concern, you’re living in the wrong country. Especially if those “ideas” are facts like racial equality, equal rights, evolution, and the shameful history of the Confederacy.
Don’t like it? Get involved with your school board and try to change things to your point of view. See what it’s like to be one small voice among a tidal-wave majority who want their kids to get some ACTUAL education, not religious brainwashing.
By GodHatesTrash
August 11, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
There are probably a few good private schools in Georgia, but the vast majority are fundamnentalist indoctrination centers, where students are fed all sorts of superstitious nonsense by inadequate moronic teaching staff. Of course, another main motivation for private schools in Georgia is racial segregation. It is more important for most rednecks to keep their kids away from black people than it is for them to get a decent education.
The dregs of public school teaching end up in the private schools, since the vast majority of private schools pay less than public schools with far less benefits.
Do you really think any of the regular right-wing posters on this board are smart enough, well-informed enough, or ambitious enough to pick out a decent school for their children??
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
I’ll vouch for the fact that “education” is a very generic term. Further, one could say that any successful endeavor to instill an education in another, in any form or regarding any subject matter, is indeed nothing more than an indoctrination into a set of beliefs as presented by the particular indoctrinator.
By hillbilly ragger
August 11, 2008 11:40 AM | Link to this
Taxpayer @ 11.27, good point. I’d say that wingers use “indoctrination” in discussions about education in a strikingly similar was as they use “judicial activism” in discussions about the legal system.
Basically, it’s ok to indoctrinate, and to be judicially “activist”, if you are conservative. If you are liberal, not so much.
Also, as an occasional political commentator (if only at my own crummy blog ) I just wanted to express my deep appreciation to Jay, for writing an entire column about Johnson that contained not a single d!ck joke.
I know I’d never manage such self-control, myself.
By me
August 11, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
welcome back jay!
By "The Corporal"
August 11, 2008 12:16 PM | Link to this
To Copyleft:
I would be happy to pay for it……just back out the school taxes I am forced to pay.
When I was in school we had no computers, no air conditioning :o), no socialist indoctrination, school was out at Memorial Day and didn’t start back until Labor Day and guess what? Our SAT scores were higher !!!
By Hillbilly Deluxe
August 11, 2008 12:25 PM | Link to this
Welcome back, Jay. I appreciate the fact that you try to keep the name calling, etc. to a minimum in here.
I can see good points on both sides of this argument. In the long term vouchers might help raise the level of education. In the short term there would be a certain percentage of fly by night operations as there are in any business. Many children would fall through the cracks there I’m afraid. Don’t really know what the solution to that problem would be. As to the point of parental involvment, that is where the real solution lies. Of course you can’t legislate parental responsibility, that is an educational process in itself. I think back to my own upbringing. My Daddy left school in 10th grade to help support his family. Times were hard then and the world was a different place. The strictest rule he had was that we would all finish school. This wasn’t a matter that was open to discussion; we WOULD do it. He worked 2 jobs for many years and he passed on his work ethic by example. We sort of had the best of both worlds. We saw that there is honor in hard work and manual labor but that education would bring us an easier path.
If only all children were blessed with such role models this problem would solve itself.
By hutch
August 11, 2008 12:27 PM | Link to this
two comments:
“Many parents want vouchers so they can afford to put their kids in schools that educate them instead of indoctrinate them in areas they do not agree with.
I thought conservatives favored the free market? If you want to put your kid in a private school, YOU pay for it.”
i pay my taxes, so by giving me a voucher, you “let” me pay for it once instead of twice. a free market is only truly free when people have the ability to choose where their money goes. if government removes that option, it also removes any ability of the free market to work.
“I’ll vouch for the fact that “education” is a very generic term.”
we should separate the idea of education and schooling for purposes of this debate. if we’re behind the idea of g-ment providing education, it seems perfectly appropriate to let the g-ment provide the funds for education and let the parents choose the location of the schooling. going back the point above, giving the g-ment the monopoloy on schooling isn’t very efficient and doesn’t quite jibe with a “free market”.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 12:42 PM | Link to this
By God’sTrash August 11, 2008 11:09 AM The problem with Georgia schools can be described very very simply - Garbage in, garbage out. The children of superstitious stupid hillbillies will likely grow up to be the same.
The highest SAT scoring school in Atl Metro was a private school.
The next 200 highest SAT scoring schools are all predominately populated by “rednecks.”
The lowest SAT scoring schools were in Atlanta City proper.
Bwahahahahahahahahahahahaha, moron.
By Mrs. Godzilla
August 11, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this
No vouchers! No way!
We should be building a world class educational system for the future. Not pulling the rug out from under the existing systems.
Fo the gentle poster who has no objection to paying for private schools as long as he does not have to pay taxes to support the school system…..Does that mean I can have back all the taxes I have paid to support the occupation in Iraq? Since I have been against the invasion from day one, can I get that future debt on my grandchildren cancelled as well?
Oh, and I want a rebate on that whole Bush/Cheney thing too!
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this
I’m with Mrs. Godzilla. Cut me in on that taxing issue of the government doing things with my hard-earned money that I don’t want them doing including the never-ending wars.
By GodHatesTrash
August 11, 2008 1:01 PM | Link to this
Highest scoring schools in Georgia - that’s like winning the Special Olympics. Georgia finished 46th out of 50. A state full of morons will do that.
And those inner-city kids have hillbilly ancestry too, you racist candi POS.
By gttim
August 11, 2008 1:07 PM | Link to this
“i pay my taxes, so by giving me a voucher, you “let” me pay for it once instead of twice.”
Well then, since I do not have kids, if parents are given vouchers for not sending their kids to public schools and sending them to private instead, I damn sure better get a voucher or a refund on my property taxes that go to education, as well as any state taxes. I do not mind supporting the public schools system, and believe it can be great- as other states have shown. I will fight like hell, however, to make sure my tax money is not given to rich families so they can get a discount at a private school.
Taxes support a community, state or nation. Even if you do not use everything that our taxes fund, everybody still contributes and uses what they need. I don’t use any of the public baseball fields, but realize some people do. I may use bike paths, while others may not. There is no option to try and pay for only what you want to use.
By hutch
August 11, 2008 1:09 PM | Link to this
Mrs. Godzilla,
go back and look at what the comment regarding taking money for private school out of taxes was about. making someone pay twice for something is the objection.
and frankly it applies to both ends of the spectrum. if a middle class family wants to put junior into a better-than-average school, they have to pay for his public education as well as his private education. similarly, if a low income family wants to put junior into a better school than the underperforming public school he’s currently attending, they would have to pay for both the public and private schools. which family has the better chance of improving the lot of their child? obviously, the middle class family. is that fair to you?
if the existing system is not functioning, there is no reason not to pull the rug out from under it. the communist wasn’t working; i’m glad they pulled the rug out from under it. i’m not saying that public schools are akin to communism, but if you have a system that isn’t working, don’t keep throwing money at it and preventing people from pursuing other options.
and as for bush/cheney and iraq, thems are the costs of a democracy. you were in the minority (aside for the popular vote in 2000). yes, a lot of people have changed their minds, but it doesn’t change the facts of what was decided.
By "The Corporal"
August 11, 2008 1:10 PM | Link to this
To Copyleft:
Please see my comments at 12:16pm.
I’m waiting.
By gttim
August 11, 2008 1:16 PM | Link to this
“and as for bush/cheney and iraq, thems are the costs of a democracy. you were in the minority (aside for the popular vote in 2000). yes, a lot of people have changed their minds, but it doesn’t change the facts of what was decided.”
Well, since the public school system ha been the predominant method of education and has been accepted by the majority for most of the history of our country, why should we change it since a few people want to send their kids to private school? Kind of the cost of democracy!
You have completely argued against yourself! Lets not even get started on your grammar, other than to say your grammatical style is that of a complete idiot, as is you grasp of logic.
By GodHatesTrash
August 11, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this
Let’s face it and not sugarcoat it - Georgia’s inbred, violent, superstitious gutter culture is its biggest obstacle to providing education to its children. Throwing money at the problem, or moving money around won’t solve this problem.
Stupid people beget stupid children. Superstitious morons beget superstitious morons. Violent sociopaths beget violent sociopaths. Rapists beget rapists, and murderers beget murderers.
We need to break the cycle - remove these poor unfortunate children from their abusive moronic sociopath parents.
Group homes and orphanages.
By Mrs. Godzilla
August 11, 2008 1:25 PM | Link to this
Hutch,
You read a lot into “I would be happy to pay for it……just back out the school taxes I am forced to pay.”
No one is making anyone pay twice…If one opts out of the existing system for their own purposes one should pay their own bill.
If I choose to pay for private security at my home, should I ask for a refund from the Fire and Polices services?
If you are not saying that “public schools are akin to communism” then why bring it up? Smacks of sensationalism.
The system is not working for some….it also works for some. See here:The Top of the Class The complete list of the 1,300 top U.S. high schools
One of the costs of Democracy is also the education of our children. That’s a cost I have always been more than happy to pay!
By Mrs. Godzilla
August 11, 2008 1:30 PM | Link to this
Here’s a little reading on school voucehers…..take the test if you dare!
By hutch
August 11, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
serious? i didn’t realize i was being graded.
yes, you and i are in minorities, and that (since you don’t like figgers of speech) is a cost of a democracy.
just because something has been around for awhile isn’t a reason not to resist it (think feudalism or slavery). the reason to change it isn’t so a few (more) people can send their kids to private school. i live in a pretty good school district, so if given a voucher, my kids would stay where they are. in most, most of my neighbors would do the same thing b/c the nearest private school wuold cost more than any marginal benefit to sending them there.
you see, i fortunately make enough money to buy a home in a good school district, so vouchers don’t help me out very much. in effect, i do have school choice: i choose to live in a good district.
“the poor” don’t have the same option i do. they live where they can afford to live and then are forced to send their kids where the g-ment tells them to send them. if the school is poor, tough. come up with the money to send them to a private school (which won’t happen) or deal.
with vouchers, private schools would be created that charge no more than the value of the voucher. the rest of the cost of schooling, if necessary, would be paid for using private grants and donations or cost cutting. if cost cutting is your concern, if the parents take them out of the public school, they obviously feel that a school like that would provide a better education than the school their currently attending.
if the concern is that the public schools will be left with nothing to educate the kids whose parents don’t care enough to pull them out, you can do something like they tried to do in utah. the voucher was for less than what the school received per student and the school got to keep the difference if the child left. the result is more money per student.
please explain the logical fallacies.
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 1:39 PM | Link to this
I have enough Georgia education (that would be through Southern Tech and Georgia Tech — not that dump out in Athens) to know that I’ll be paying at least threefold for the Iraq War — once up front, then interest on the loans to avoid paying the “once up front” now (which will probably run the final tab up by at least a factor of two all by itself) and again when we start buying Iraqi oil to quench our thirst for gasoline.
By @@
August 11, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this
Jay? If lack of parental support is at the crux of the problem, and THAT support may be absent for generations, what do we do in the meantime? Sacrifice the achievers in the interest of the underachievers while we get our act together.
How do you mandate parental participation? Heck, I’ve seen the ACLU intervene in the mandated dress codes.
When people begin to see education as a privilege rather than a right, we’ll be good to go. In the meantime, give parents a choice. Believe you, me…..local politicians will figure out a way to make up for the loss in funds. They can hide it. That’s what they do.
The cost of government to educate a child with special needs exceeds, by three times, what it costs us at our private school. And…..the child receives more effort, energy, and education from our teaching staff and administration.
By hutch
August 11, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this
“No one is making anyone pay twice…If one opts out of the existing system for their own purposes one should pay their own bill.
If I choose to pay for private security at my home, should I ask for a refund from the Fire and Polices services?”
if i pay taxes that subsidize and ultimaetly pay for public education and then i pay private school tuition, yes, i am paying twice for my kids’ education. how is that not so?
say we go to a system that installs security systems paid for and monitored by the government (ie my taxes). now let’s say i want to upgrade to a private system because my neighbor just got robbed and it was an hour and a half before anyone showed up because the monitoring facility was understaffed. then, you’d be paying twice for the service. the fire and police services don’t fill the same role as any kind of private security at your home.
“If you are not saying that “public schools are akin to communism” then why bring it up? Smacks of sensationalism.”
i’m saying that public schooling is not communism. but i guess you’re right: it is akin to communism in that they are both systems that don’t always work. in theory, they both work fine, but when the rubber meets the road, they ran into problems. thanks for pointing that out.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 2:08 PM | Link to this
By God’sTrash August 11, 2008 1:22 PM Stupid people beget stupid children. Superstitious morons beget superstitious morons. Violent sociopaths beget violent sociopaths. Rapists beget rapists, and murderers beget murderers.
You know this Goebbels wannabe brings up a good point, if she’s mothered any children, they will probably grow up to be race hating bigot dullards like their mom is.
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 2:09 PM | Link to this
I personally am in favor of choice. In today’s environment, parents, students and teachers all need as much flexibility as possible with the options available to deliver course content and to confirm an adequate delivery. For one thing, I would like to be able to let my child take some course work at home via the Internet while possibly taking other courses at high school or even at college. Then, at other times, I’d like to be able to home school her while we are out traveling and not be tied down to a physical location. Flexibility in delivery and uniformity in taxpayer funding would be a good start. For example, hutch’s county could fork over some of that excess money that they have been blessed with so that others living in poorer counties can have a shot at equal opportunity. So, let’s get with it. All the school districts need to pool their resources and divide it up equally amongst all students. Either that or we could just all move in with hutch.
By hutch
August 11, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
“Either that or we could just all move in with hutch.”
maybe not. but i’m flattered at the interest.
the truth is, most people who support vouchers will readily admit that it won’t be tremendously beneficial for people who live in decent suburbs. it’ll help, but only marginally. i’d support it even if it was only available to students in below-average schools, meaing that “rich kids” couldn’t take advantage.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this
Welcome back Jay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hugh Atkin has been studying Obambi speeches and appearances. He’s discovered the hidden message behind it all.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 2:33 PM | Link to this
Mrs. G. @ 1:25,
Are you saying we should just blindly pay for any and all government services no matter how incompetent?
As screwed up as most of government, and particularly government schooling, is now I’d hate to see how bad it could get if everybody shared your attitude.
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 2:36 PM | Link to this
Well, hutch, I sense that you may be trying to touch on that issue of motivation. Wouldn’t it be great if people were always compelled to tell the truth like in that movie with Jim Carrey. Then, we could just start asking each other those more poignant questions such as “Why do you want vouchers?” Of course, one Pavlovian response will eventually be that certain people will simply not make themselves available for public questioning or they could provide a prepared statement to their hired hands to share with the public when asked…
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this
Mrs. Godzilla,
How do you suggest we proceed with the elimination of funding for the never-ending wars. I am certainly interested in seeing an end to that money-pit of death and destruction.
By Paul
August 11, 2008 2:44 PM | Link to this
Mrs. Godzilla 12:43
[[We should be building a world class educational system for the future. Not pulling the rug out from under the existing systems.]]
Nice point. Rarely have I seen those in gov’t say, in effect, “we can’t do the job very well, so we’ll give money to people to leave our system and go elsewhere.”
Another point - all kids should graduate with certain core knowledge. That’s the essence of No Child Left Behind - at least it was until administrators began building empires and conniving for more Federal funds. But it does mean private school and home school students should take the same “test of core knowledge” tests as public school students.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 2:53 PM | Link to this
Another point - all kids should graduate with certain core knowledge
Paul,
They do. All government educated graduates are required to be able to put a condom on a cucumber.
By hutch
August 11, 2008 2:56 PM | Link to this
motives can be a funny thing. it isn’t coincidence that the teachers unions are leading the charge against vouchers. guess who loses control of education if vouchers take off? why do you think d.c. area unions oppose the school choice program despite the fact that it’s only available to the poorest students?
motives will always be involved. because i don’t trust the motives of almost any politician (most are more concerned with re-election than with wise policy; see earmarks), i prefer to have government involved in as few aspects of my life as possible. i realize that having them involved in no aspects of my life is nether possible nor desirable, but dictating which school a child attends doesn’t have to be one of them.
By Abomi Nation
August 11, 2008 2:57 PM | Link to this
I love the idea of vouchers. My business will greatly benefit. It will make me a millionaire.
Please excuse the spam, but for those of you interested my school will begin enrolling students immediately after the voucher bill passes. In fact I will be starting a waiting list soon.
My school will be a religious school based on the Muslim faith. The name of the school is American Public Instruction Group Schools or American PIGS for short.
We will be fanatical in our effort to educate your child. We will go to the extreme to make sure your children receive the education they deserve. Our foreign language program will teach your child Arabic in no time. The first 1000 children to enroll will receive a very special backpack! FREE!
Call your state reps now and demand education vouchers. NOW!
By Paul
August 11, 2008 3:03 PM | Link to this
RW-(the original)
Effective program, eh? New cucumbers everywhere.
BTW - don’t know if it’s one of yours shows, but Fox began a repeat of the first season of Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles. Continues tonight, one episode a night. Don’t know if it’s on all nights - new season begins shortly.
Nice to have you back, Mr. Bookman.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 3:08 PM | Link to this
We’ve all heard Bill Richardson’s name bandied about as The Dunce’s running mate because of his foreign policy experience, but I’m beginning to believe he either doesn’t have it or wants to make the boss look smart.
RICHARDSON: My view is that the United States — if we had a stronger relationship with Russia, we could exercise strong diplomacy to stop this effort against Georgia. We should immediately go to the United Nations Security Council, condemn Russia’s action, and then get the Security Council to pass a strong resolution getting the Russians to show some restraint, and possibly at the same time generate some U.N. peacekeeping troops. The problem, though, is that we don’t have the kind of influence and strength in our relationship with Russia to persuade them. This has been one of the failures of the Bush administration, failing to build a strong relationship, a mutually beneficial relationship with Russia, so we’d have the kind of influence to persuade them to stop some of these very, very dangerous efforts within their territory.
Russia has a veto on the UN Security Council you moron. Why do I get the feeling Bill was government educated?
By "The Corporal"
August 11, 2008 3:22 PM | Link to this
To everyone who had addressed this issue, the reason the government schools issue is different (i.e., give me a voucher or drop my taxes for schools) is that the government “forces” you into a particular school. You have no choice. You are assigned that school period. Use of public parks or anything else you have a choice to use them or not.
How would you like the government telling you that you can only go to a public park in YOUR area?
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 3:26 PM | Link to this
We need to get prepared for four degrees of global warming, Bob Watson told the Guardian last week. At first sight this looks like wise counsel from the climate science adviser to Defra. But the idea that we could adapt to a 4C rise is absurd and dangerous. Global warming on this scale would be a catastrophe that would mean, in the immortal words that Chief Seattle probably never spoke, “the end of living and the beginning of survival” for humankind. Or perhaps the beginning of our extinction.
When these environmental terrorists lie, they don’t play around, you know it?
Climatologists have used various techniques and evidence to reconstruct a history of the Earth’s past climate. From this data, they have found that during most of the Earth’s history global temperatures were probably 8 to 15 degrees Celsius warmer than today. In the last billion years of climatic history, warmer conditions were broken by glacial periods starting at 925, 800, 680, 450, 330, and 2 million years before present.
The period 900 - 1200 AD has been called the Little Climatic Optimum. It represents the warmest climate since the Climatic Optimum. During this period, the Vikings established settlements on Greenland and Iceland. The snow line in the Rocky Mountains was about 370 meters above current levels.
No credibility whatsoever, hysteritics.
Street corner doomsday mental defectives.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 3:27 PM | Link to this
New cucumbers everywhere
Paul,
I guess they failed. Thanks, but I’m not really a fan of those kinds of shows. I would never have watched Heroes if around week 8 my wife hadn’t made me. Later that night I scrambled to find the first 7 on line. I found them on a foreign site and even though they were in English they had French subtitles. Good thing they weren’t just dubbed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Looks like Silky didn’t convince ABC the other night.
“The affair began long, long, long before she was hired to work for the campaign almost half a year before she was hired to work on those videos,” O’Brien said in an exclusive interview with ABC News.
Do those of you that contributed to his campaign feel like your money was well spent?
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
For his efforts, Obama has received “100” ratings from Americans for Democratic Action, Planned Parenthood, the AFL-CIO, the American Federation of Government Workers, Citizens for Tax Justice (i.e., for raising taxes on the “rich”), Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, the National Education Association, and the National Organization for Women. He has received “F” grades from the National Taxpayers Union, the National Rifle Association, and U.S. English, a 13 rating from Citizens Against Government Waste, 7 ratings from the Club for Growth, the American Conservative Union, and the Eagle Forum, and zero ratings from the Family Research Council, the National Right to Life Committee, and Americans for Tax Reform.
I know which side I’m on.
And it ain’t with “planned parenthood,” murderers all.
By Paul
August 11, 2008 3:34 PM | Link to this
RW-(the original) 3:08
[[he problem, though, is that we don’t have the kind of influence and strength in our relationship with Russia to persuade them. This has been one of the failures of the Bush administration]]
One thing that will get old, very quickly, in an Obama administration, is if we hear over and over, “we can’t do it because of Bush…”
It’s not working too well with the Congress. Obama’s having a little better luck with Bush/McCain, but as a preview of the Obama Administration? Ouch.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 3:52 PM | Link to this
AJC/DNC-M,
If it was possible to go above 100% they might just give it to The Dunce. He voted against a bill that would make doctors administer care to babies born alive during abortions. He’s used the excuse that he voted against it on a technicality that involved a disclaimer about the bill note being used to undermine Roe V Wade.
Turns out he’s lying through his teeth.
The documents prove that in March 2003, state Senator Obama, then the chairman of the Illinois state Senate Health and Human Services Committee, presided over a committee meeting in which the “neutrality clause” (copied verbatim from the federal bill) was added to the state BAIPA, with Obama voting in support of adding the revision. Yet, immediately afterwards, Obama led the committee Democrats in voting against the amended bill, and it was killed, 6-4.
By Where Oh Where
August 11, 2008 3:54 PM | Link to this
By GodHatesTrash August 11, 2008 1:22 PM Let’s face it and not sugarcoat it - Georgia’s inbred, violent, superstitious gutter culture is its biggest obstacle to providing education to its children.
From whence doth one with such a grasp of Southern culture descend?
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this
Paul,
Obambi isn’t even going to be the nominee if Hillary gets the word out that he isn’t Constitutionally eligible to hold the Presidency and I’m not talking about the birth certificate confusion. Or I guess Congress could run back into session real quick, but the Republicans will make them tack on offshore drilling to fix the problem.
US Law very clearly stipulates: “If only one parent was a US citizen at the time of your birth, that parent must have resided in the United States for at least ten years, at least five of which had to be after the age of 16”
Barack Obama’s father was not a US citizen, and Obama’s mother was only 18 when he was born, which means although she had been a US citizen for 10 years, his mother fails the test for being so for at least 5 years prior to Barack Obama’s birth.
By @@
August 11, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this
And it was OBlahMa’s dishonesty on the Born Alive Infant Protection Act that told me early on that he was not trustworthy.
His first victims under the bus were babies born alive.
Been a lot more since then but at least they were somewhat culpable in their own demise.
By Dusty
August 11, 2008 4:40 PM | Link to this
Ah the Bookman blog…
God Hates Trash loves attention (like a dog constantly barking.) He is worried about the offspring of Southerners whom he calls RedNecks.
He ignores the many Southern leaders of this country, starting right from the beginning. Where do you think Washington, Jefferson and Madison spent their childhood and received their education? And that was just the beginning.
The question that really bothers me is: DOES GOD HATES TRASH HAVE ANY OFFSPRING?? If so, that is a scary something to worry about and security in all schools should be alerted.
As to school vouchers,public schools, private schools, charter schools or home schooling, I don’t care as long as the children receive quality education. That is the point of the whole thing and I am not sure which is the absolute way to go.
Needless to say, parents are the usual key to open the minds of children to the necessity of good education.
By Dusty
August 11, 2008 4:46 PM | Link to this
RW-the original @4:04,
If Hillary can pull that one off about the parents of Obama, maybe we could make a few adjustments and get ARNOLD (Schwartzennegger, of course) to be VP with McCain. Now that is what I call an interesting ticket..
By getalife"whiners"
August 11, 2008 4:51 PM | Link to this
Well, they have two weeks to declare the foreign one ineligible.
Putin is not messing around.
“PUTIN’S OFFENSIVE TELLS BUSH, CHENEY, WORLD LEADERS TO BACK OFF”.
While the foreign one plays golf , w will give a speech.
Georgia president is scared s**.
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 5:02 PM | Link to this
Didn’t I read somewhere that other schools scarfed up all the good athletes from Clayton County. I wonder if they got vouchers so they could afford to leave. Also, didn’t Fayette County come down hard on any prospect of taking on a bunch of students from Clayton County. Maybe if that voucher was big enough to actually cover the cost of the student, other school systems would be more willing to take on the extra students — as long as the students are there to learn. Of course, if things get bad enough where you live, you can always move to the county that you want your children to be educated in. Maybe hutch knows of some good low cost apartments for the poor near where he lives since he’s not willing to take in those in need.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this
Dusty,
If the law was changed to a situation that would view him as a natural born citizen in 1986, but didn’t retroactively change the status of people in that 1954/1986 gap the challenge could probably be made, but I think the courts would side with Obama. It sure would be entertaining if she tried it though.
By RealityKing
August 11, 2008 5:08 PM | Link to this
The fallacy of Jay’s argument is that..,
to an American student with one good shot at an education, our current system is already a disaster!! A progressive disaster that continues to fail them 40+% of time.
And as our children fall further and further behind, we have yet to hear anything but partisan attacks from the left? America’s world ranking in education is proof positive that it’s not about the money!!
By Bud Wiser
August 11, 2008 5:23 PM | Link to this
Godhatestrash is what he reviles, a Southerner. His own self hatred becomes apparent with every word he writes. That is why I, and others with an educated sense of propriety, scroll past his moronic rantings.
I do wish however, that I owned the concession that sells him the paper towels to wipe the foam from his pie-hole once he lets loose. He needs to stay away from the computer and load his 400 pound carcass into that electric wheel chair at WalMart so he can resupply himself with Cheetos, Twinkies and Ho Ho’s. He would be so much happier.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 5:41 PM | Link to this
Taranto nails it:
Great Orators of the Democratic Party
“One man with courage makes a majority.”—attributed to Andrew Jackson
“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt
“The buck stops here.”—Harry S. Truman
“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”—John F. Kennedy
“America is—is no longer, uh, what it—it could be, what it was once was. And I say to myself, ‘I don’t want that future for my children.’ ‘”—Lord High Dimwit, Thee Most Splendid Foreigner In All Thee Land.
By JAY BOOKMAN
August 11, 2008 5:46 PM | Link to this
Trash, your most recent comment is pulled and you are banned for the day.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 5:48 PM | Link to this
For those of you that miss cartoons that don’t suck
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 5:53 PM | Link to this
Budwiser: My guess is when that rancid, maggoty POS shows up at Walmart, all of the patrons flee in disgust away from his putrid, bloated, inverted female cadaver, and that is why he hates all of us.
Like it is our fault or something.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 5:57 PM | Link to this
Oh man, I didn’t get to see the most recent filth retched forth from the AJC Blog Bigot, one peek, Jay?
By JAY BOOKMAN
August 11, 2008 6:07 PM | Link to this
His malfeasance was similar to yours, Management, an expletive-based personal attack…. be careful out there.
By JAY BOOKMAN
August 11, 2008 6:22 PM | Link to this
Poste Haste, do you have documentation of your claim of viral problems?
Pending that, your post is pulled.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 6:25 PM | Link to this
Now, now Jay, you know just as well as I do that I’ve been on my best behavior, well, most of the time, anyway.
By the way, when is Tuck gonna answer the question?
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 6:32 PM | Link to this
Polly,
I told you years ago to use protection when traveling around these intertubes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Dunce has got the teleprompter going for him, but McBushie has got a far better ad team.
By @@
August 11, 2008 6:33 PM | Link to this
Jay:
You must have returned from vacation invigorated. Whole lotta pullin’ goin’ on here.
That ^^^ was intended in the language of decency, not the language of dissent.
So please don’t pull it. (ISH) <——Insert smile here.
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 6:41 PM | Link to this
Jay,
Polly has been running that same riff about links on all the AJC blogs for years and he seems to just pick a name out of a hat for who he wants to blame that day. I don’t really think anybody pays any attention to him that posts and hopefully the people that only read are smart enough to ignore him too.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 6:54 PM | Link to this
So, yes, major combat operations appear to be over, and to that extent one can belatedly say, “Mission accomplished.” If there is any Iraqi nostalgia for the old party and the old army, it is remarkably well-concealed. Iraq no longer plays deceptive games with weapons of mass destruction or plays host to international terrorist groups. It is no longer subject to sanctions that punish its people and enrich its rulers. Its religious and ethnic minorities—together a majority—are no longer treated like disposable trash. Its most bitter internal argument is about the timing of the next provincial and national elections. Surely it is those who opposed every step of this emancipation, rather than those who advocated it, who should be asked to explain and justify themselves.
I believe Hitch is talking to you, Jay.
By @@
August 11, 2008 7:21 PM | Link to this
RW:
McCain’s ads are improving. Did you catch OBlahMa’s recent endeavor to disclaim?
Hilton’s mom called it “frivolous” and a waste of money, but Obama adviser Tom Daschle, the former Democratic Senate majority leader, says the celebrity ads contributed to a dip in Obama’s poll numbers.
So what does the “innovative thinker” do in retaliation?
The Democratic presidential candidate, vacationing in Hawaii, released an ad, titled “Embrace,” that paints McCain as both a regular on the TV talk show circuit and a consummate political insider, chummy with President Bush and lobbyists alike.
The ad shows McCain on ABC’s “The View” and NBC’s “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno. And it shows Bush - hugging McCain, being hugged by McCain and kissing McCain on the forehead.
“As Washington embraced him, John McCain hugged right back,” the spot says. “The lobbyists - running his low road campaign. The money - billions in tax breaks for oil and drug companies, but almost nothing for families like yours. Lurching to the right, then the left, the old Washington dance, whatever it takes. John McCain. A Washington celebrity playing the same old Washington games.”
In his attempt to retaliate against McCain, he just painted a self-portrait except for the kissing Bush part. OBlahMa’s too busy kissing himself in the mirror to realize how self-incriminating this ad was.
Big Pharma and Big Oil are both Big contributors to OBlahMa’s campaign.
Go sit in the corner Senator OBlahMa.
By Copyleft
August 11, 2008 7:22 PM | Link to this
GTTIM already answered your question, Corporal.
EVERYBODY pays into the fund for public education, even those who don’t have kids. So no, you don’t get an exemption just because you want to bail out.
By Copyleft
August 11, 2008 7:30 PM | Link to this
RW: I’ll assume you honestly don’t know your citizenship story is ludicrous, so I’ll make a single effort to educate you.
Obama was born in Hawaii. That makes him a citizen, period. http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/citizen.asp
Everything else has been right-wing smokescreens and hysteria… kind of like the “closet Muslim” hysteria and the “Black Panthers activist” hysteria.
You poor right-wing saps are desperate to discredit our next President, aren’tcha? I guess it’s because you know you’ve got nothing to offer and can smell your impending defeat on the wind. (snicker)
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 7:31 PM | Link to this
My, my…Barry might have a little Edwards problem. They don’t touch on it at the link, but Hillary’s people have raised the possibility that Edwards staying in may have kept her from winning.
Well, that certainly raises a few questions. Baron’s largesse towards Rielle Hunter and Andrew Young supposedly never came to the attention of John Edwards, but the implications seem rather obvious. While Edwards denied the affair and the paternity of Hunter’s child, money went to both of the two people who could claim first-person knowledge of the affair through the Edwards campaign. That seems extremely curious, especially given the late-night visit of Edwards to Hunter’s hotel room in Los Angeles last month — when he would have at least been curious how she managed to support herself over the last several months while hiding out from the press.
Now we have Baron raising money for Obama as well. Did Obama and his team know about Baron’s arrangement with Hunter, too? And if Baron knew about the affair, did he let his new boss in on the old boss’ secret, especially when Edwards vied for the second slot on the national ticket, or when Obama and Edwards appeared together?
Why is it that ABC in general and Jake Tapper in particular seems to be the only investigative reporter out there doing any investigating?
By RW-(the original)
August 11, 2008 7:53 PM | Link to this
copycat,
I already said that were he challenged on this that the courts would likely side with him. Your Snopes link tells quite a whopper though and one that a Supreme Court near you will be visiting soon enough. That bit about anyone born in this country to two non citizens is what we assume to be a citizen at this point, but Constitutional lawyers aren’t nearly in full agreement with each other on that. Snopes flat out says they are, end of discussion.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 8:18 PM | Link to this
“Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century,” the president said in a televised statement from the White House, calling on Moscow to sign on to the outlines of a cease-fire as the Georgian government has done.
I know, I know, all of you dimwits out there are saying that Saddam was “elected” too, but you are irrelevant, so hush.
Georgia’s president said his country had been effectively cut in half with the capture of the main east-west highway near Gori.
Sounds desperate, don’t it?
“We don’t see anything that supports they are in Gori,” said a U.S. defense official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I don’t know why the Georgians are saying that.”
The United States has among the most powerful tools for monitoring brewing conflicts, from spy satellites to reconnaissance aircraft and drones capable of scooping up radio signals or capture real-time images of forces on the ground.
Info like that has got to totally unnerve the Russians, for they know that if we can see it, we can kill it.
Sure, they are lookin good tearing through tiny little Georgia, but this is only after months of preparation and the assembly of their most elite fighting forces.
But what remains of their military is in tatters and ill repair, and they know we know that.
So do what a man would do and call the bluff.
Will not all of Europe be forced to man up considering that their rear end’s are the ones in a sling?
Is Russia willing to risk extinction?
Only good can come of this and it ain’t going to be good for the Russians.
Prestige wise, that is.
By AtlFan73
August 11, 2008 8:27 PM | Link to this
An interesting topic to say the least. As a native Georgian, I believe that I can add some insight. I grew up in a small town in Middle Georgia with a mostly black/poor white public school system, and a “Segrgationalist Academy” made up of local elite (in their mind) white kids that was founded about the same time that the public schools were being integrated. in my senior year, the “Star Student” from the public school scored a 990 on their SAT, and the “Star Student’ from the “elite” school scored a 1000 (I went to military school, albeit not by choice, and scored much higher). Was the 2500.00 or so yearly in 1990 dollars worth 10 points…I think NOT). The bottom line is that the private schools in this state are no better than the public schools, and that the distinction between schools overall hinges on location and local mindset. Simply put, “vouchers” are code for resegregartion of schools - if you want to improve your child’s school - GET INVOLVED and stop boo-hooing about “government” schools v. “clean and wholesome” private schools. With apologies to rural readers, the prople who are keeping this whole thing alive are those white trash peckerwoods whom are so afraid of their child going to school with someone who doesn’t look like they do. Oh, and “Corporal”…Sonny Perdue must be about the same age as you, and he graduated from Vet School at UGA…what does that really say about education and test scores during your time?
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 8:59 PM | Link to this
Well, if Perdue had graduated from Georgia Tech, then he could have sought employment in a more satisfying and respectable profession — engineering, that is — rather than being forced into an unfulfilling life of political servitude under the thumbs of his campaign financiers and subsistence from feeding on the blood of the taxpayers. Oh well. It’s a dirty job and someone has to train people to do it. Thank you, UGA…I think.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 11, 2008 9:09 PM | Link to this
Obama’s principal occupation before entering politics was as a “community organizer” in Chicago. By his own admission, these efforts achieved only “some success,” and none worthy of highlighting on his campaign website. Obama then served eight unexceptional years in the Illinois Senate, and was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004, where he is not even considered one of the Democratic Party’s legislative leaders.
And this man believes he is “the one we have been waiting for”?
This is “the one” I’ve been laughing at, hahaha, suckers.
By Taxpayer
August 11, 2008 10:15 PM | Link to this
Perhaps if Bush had stayed awake in class and demonstrated some proficiency in economics, by making good grades for example, then he could have at least left a legacy of a non-failed economic policy to help offset the multitudes of failed policies — mostly foreign. I suppose graduating with honors was not at the top of his “college years” to-do list either. I wonder what was.
By AJC/DNC Management
August 12, 2008 5:54 AM | Link to this
In a phone interview, Chambliss, who was campaigning in South Georgia on Monday, said that while some people had been calling his office to complain about his position, far more were supportive.-Urinal/DNC
Those are the dimwitocrat seminar callers, Saxby.
Chambliss said he is explaining to constituents that to win the right to drill for more oil, Republicans will have to agree to some Democratic demands for greater support for alternative fuels.
“Once people got the real facts, they say, ‘That’s not so bad,’ ” he said.-Urinal/PMS
Just ask yourself one question, little dhimmis, if alt fuels are so promising then why do you have to raise taxes and subsidize just so you can pay for them?
You might have seen its ads on TV, such as the one where a poverty-stricken mother and child, freezing in their unheated home, is saved by Joe Kennedy and his delivery truck, bringing them oil at 40 percent off.
But why is Joe bringing them oil at all, let alone cheap oil? Shouldn’t he be bringing them solar panels or manuals on energy conservation, or perhaps a gold star for this family’s low carbon footprint? Why is he supporting their oil habit instead of helping them break it? (Ironically, given the notoriety of South American drug sources, Joe’s discount oil comes from Venezuela.)
Gosh, maybe we cannot do without oil, you reckon?
*Christy wrote in the Wall Street Journal last November, “My experience as a missionary teacher in Africa opened my eyes to this simple fact. Without access to energy, life is brutal and short.” *
~~~~~
Democratic National Committee and its chairman Howard Dean have whitewashed the party’s horrific and lengthy record of racism. The omission is in the section of the DNC website that describes the party’s history.
There is no reference to the number of Democratic Party platforms supporting slavery. There were 6 from 1840-1860.
There is no reference to the formation of the Ku Klux Klan, which, according to Columbia University historian Eric Foner became “a military force serving the interests of the Democratic Party.”
There is no reference that three-fourths of the opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Bill in the U.S. House came from Democrats, or that 80 percent of the nay vote on the bill in the Senate came from the Democrats. Certainly there is no reference to the fact that the opposition included future Democratic Senate Leader Robert Byrd of West Virginia (a former Klan member) and Tennessee Senator Albert Gore, Sr., father of future Vice President Al Gore.
Say hello to the KKKlintons for me, y’all.
~~~~~
Russian bombers have also hit residential and industrial areas, making a mockery of Moscow’s charge that Georgia is the party indiscriminately killing civilians. Russian claims of Georgian ethnic cleansing now look like well-rehearsed propaganda lines to justify a well-prepared invasion. Thousands of soldiers and hundreds of tanks, ships and warplanes were waiting for Mr. Putin’s command.
By Taxpayer
August 12, 2008 6:19 AM | Link to this
Education. It’s a wonderful thing. Some people get it, some people don’t and there’s no amount of vouchering that will change that.
By GOPs got to go
August 12, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this
Unfortunately public schools are not at all equal in what they offer to students. The curriculum as well as the physical building is vastly different depending on where ones children live. Inner city poor schools are left to crumble whilst affluent suburban schools have college level facilities. I happen to live in one of those affluent areas and have helped to fund the sports and arts facilities at my school. I have also witnessed first hand the discrepancies in the curriculum when moving from Dekalb to Gwinnett. My children noted that in Dekalb they could easily skate through their assignments while in Gwinnett they had to learn how to study. I believe in supporting the Public School system so I choose to move to a district where the schools were considered better. It paid off for my children, they excelled and were prepared for college. I was fortunate to be able to make that choice financially, others are not that fortunate.
We as a nation are failing our children. When buildings are dilapidated and nothing much is expected of students they tend to live up to that expectation. They receive the message loud and clear, you are not worthy of our attention. You will never excel, you are destined to remain in poverty or in prison.
I personally do not support vouchers. I think it is a way of having the taxpayer fund the private school tab that some parents choose to pay for.
In my opinion teachers are grossly under paid. To attract good teachers the pay must be comparable to a salary they could obtain in a business market. Teachers are the second most important person in a child’s live after their parents. Good teachers can affect a child for the rest of their lives by instilling a thirst for knowledge and a self esteem that makes them think they can achieve anything they strive for. When naming the 5 people that affect a change in your life I can most assuredly say at least one of those people would be a particular teacher who inspired.
Anyway, I made a choice of inconvenience in locality to my job for the benefit of good schools for my children. It is a choice I am glad that I made. Lets invest in our schools instead of investing in expensive foreign wars that drain our coffers.
By hutch
August 12, 2008 11:26 AM | Link to this
GOPs got to go:
because you can move to a better school district means that to a degree, you have school choice. you value the education your children receive, so you decided to make the sacrifice to help them out. the parents of children in underperforming schools don’t have that option. a voucher would give them the ability to go to choose to send their children to a better school, just like you did. you bailed on dekalb schools because you had better options. why would denying people the ability to pursue better options be any worse?
“In my opinion teachers are grossly under paid.”
part of the reason for that is the teachers unions oppose any kind of performance pay. you can’t just jack up the price across the board and just hope that it will attract the best teachers. the bad teachers want to get paid more just like the good teachers.
By Mike
August 12, 2008 12:20 PM | Link to this
Vouchers…let’s see, where to begin? Yes conservatives believe in free markets and yes many, including myself, make the sacrifice so that our children can attend a school that is more concerned with teaching them how to read, write and add than they are about little stevie who has two mommy’s or the nonsense that we are causing the earth to warm by using fossil fuels…the sad thing is, many minority parets who would love to do what I am doing but can’t afford it and are stuck in under-achieving schools all in the name of diversity…the real issue for liberals is if we give vouchers to parents, they might take their children out of our leftist school systems and their children might actually learn the truth that has so often been ignored when pushing the leftist agenda…after-all if you can capture the mind of a child, you will have a leftist for life…
By GOPs got to go
August 12, 2008 1:56 PM | Link to this
I too believe that they should be given raises based on merit.
Lets also give enough money to the inner city schools to improve them. It is criminal to have schools in various states of decay. Americans have been ignoring our abysmal performances in schools long enough. Education is the key to poverty and breaks the cycle of welfare which every one loves to moan about. Think of all the tax money saved if we could educate poor kids and get them off welfare. Stop being penny wise and pound foolish
By Mike
August 13, 2008 8:17 AM | Link to this
Jay,
Most of your analysis is on the mark. There is one huge flaw. What about the parents who actually do care and appreciate education, who live in a school district where the vast majority of parents don’t? They don’t have a choice. I invite you to send your children to the most dangerous, worst performing schools, so you can actually see what a predicament some parents are in. I don’t think you’d do it. Why? Are your little darlings more precious than theirs? To you, no doubt they are. However, those parents need a choice. Put yourself in their place. Now write another column. Oh, and please don’t say “move into another district” or “send them to a private school”. That may not be an option for them. They may not have as much money as you.