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DEL.ICIO.USSchool choice welcome in today’s world
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Watching the final hours of legislative debate, when the Georgia House considers a bill that represents one of the most significant education reforms in ages, the stark contrast between two views of the role of government could not be clearer.
At issue was Senate Bill 10, legislation that would give a handful of Georgia parents of special-needs children a voucher that could be used to buy education services from private schools or from other public school districts. No matter your belief system or your impression of the job public schools are doing, SB 10 is nothing to freak out over.
It’s an evolutionary change, glacial really, in the relationship of parents to their government.
The great-grandparents of generations living today desperately needed government to gather up our children and educate them. The masses of farmers and factory workers lived hand-to-mouth and had neither the time, the money nor the education to school their children. They lived in isolation, on farms, in urban tenements and in mountain hollows. They needed schooling decisions made for them.
The problem with politics is the perpetual existence of one reality of representative democracy. That reality is that most elected officials — and editorialists, too, for that matter — are forever making assumptions based on the world as it existed during their childhood or formative years. New information is reinterpreted to fit the worldview we hold.
The consequence is that legislators are most always legislating for yesterday. In the case of education, that means they’re completely unmindful of the culture, of lifestyles, of the education marketplace that has evolved. Consequently, they keep trying to reconfigure the model, convinced as they are that if the class size is smaller, or if more money is made available for teacher salaries, or nicer buildings or newer books, the problems that existed a few generations ago would be cured. And they might. If this was then.
Reality is, however, that many children reach school with far more needs and far less appreciation for learning. Their families are often never formed, transient, overly litigious, demanding and altogether unreasonable.
Children, regardless of need or potential, are thrown together, sometime for no other reason than to achieve political correctness. And the teacher monopoly on talented women vanished decades ago.
We simply cannot configure government schools to serve all abilities and needs in one classroom. We can’t give up on efforts to make public schools better just because some parents are perfectly content to abdicate their responsibilities to government.
But because every child has one lifetime shot at the third grade, our elected representatives should give parents a genuine option to leave when they become convinced the child’s not being served. Special education parents, as they demonstrated in hour after hour of public discussion of SB 10, are informed and are capable of making responsible choices. Those who care can get the information to help them make those choices. Government collects tons of it. And if parents have the means, they can act on it.
Yet, a large contingent of legislators, close to a majority, is of the mind that parents are incapable of making responsible choices and, therefore, a government agent should. “SB 10 is not the solution for the families of Georgia with special education kids,” state Rep. Kathy Ashe (D-Atlanta) argued when the bill got to the House floor. A version of that advice came from a number of other speakers.
SB 10 said that parents who are satisfied with how public schools are educating their special needs child are free to stay. Those who have reason to believe their public school is doing a poor job can take a voucher and shop for services elsewhere. Choice.
Parents of limited means can, for the first time, exercise choice in k-12, just as they do in pre-k and college. How could anybody possibly object?
Lots do. And not just Democrats. Those who believe the role of government is to array us for its convenience and to educate us when, where and how the education establishment sees fit, opposed SB 10. Not only is the status quo the choice they’d make, they insist it’s the choice for the rest of us, too.
But for House Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram), the let-government-decide view would have carried the day. On the House floor, in the last day of the session, SB 10 fell one vote shy. Richardson, to his everlasting credit, cast the deciding vote that will bring choice into law.
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Comments
By jbmlaw
April 24, 2007 8:05 AM | Link to this
Good morning all. Certainly many of our brothers, past and present, believe all people must be shaped and formed to fit their idyll, that merely allowing freedom of choice can wreck the beautiful Leviathan so lovingly constructed. And, of course, they are right: if we allow mere rabble any freedom to think for themselves, they may prove uncontrollable. As Jim correctly notes, the “controllers” are not found exclusively within the ranks of the leftists. However, I would be intellectually dishonest if I did not quickly affirm that the leftist-controllers cause my greater concerns for my freedom, as they have so few who fight for freedom. Any government actor who reduces his direct control over our lives – whether through tax cuts, or through repeal of regulatory constriction – wins my applause. I owe appreciation to Mr. Richardson and to others who voted for SB-10.
By Pompano
April 24, 2007 8:20 AM | Link to this
The fact that so many teachers & school administraters were so adamantly against thsi bill is confirmation enough that it is on the right track.
I was especially appalled when the Supv of Gwinnett wrote a letter pompously announcing that the Gwinnett School system was against the Bill. I still do not understand why it’s not completely unethical for a hired County employee to declare a political stance on behalf of the department he was hired to run.
By Mid-South Philosopher
April 24, 2007 8:27 AM | Link to this
Good morning Jim, jbmlaw, and others.
I understand the need for parental involvement in the education of their children. I don’t see how anyone can argue against it. Albeit, it is sometimes more of a hinderance than a help.
I understand the desire to provide the widest possible parental choice in the education of their children. However, I keep coming back to the point that, that choice has to be mitigated by the fact that all, but the very wealthy parents, will be making their choices on my and other non-parental taxpayers dime.
When one makes use of government services, one has to take advantage of whatever level of ineptness is available. Remember, it is government.
Now, if the voucher were for an amount equal to the amount of school taxes that the parents paid, I could live with that.
Oh, I forgot, many, many parents pay no school taxes.
If we are going the way of vouchers, then let’s REALLY reform education. Privatize all schools. Place the government of each school in the hands of the existing school councils. Terminate local board of education. Let the state send $9,000 to each parent for each kid. Let parents and schools negotiate all phases of the educational experience of the child. Let the free market reign.
Ain’t gonna happen, boys and girls; ain’t gonna happen!
By Aquagirl
April 24, 2007 8:33 AM | Link to this
SB 10 was special interest legislation. Why should one group of parents get a choice while all others are denied the same opportunity?
This is just another instance of one group finding friends in high places, getting what they want, and leaving everyone else to drown.
Richardson’s deciding vote wasn’t for choice. He’s not some kind of “free us from the government” hero. It was for providing one set of rules for one group. If your kid isn’t special needs, I guess you’re just SOL. Chip Rogers pulled this crap with his bill about parents deciding on whether their twins sit in the same classroom.
Republicans aren’t bringing us more choice, they’re just bringing more choice to certain groups. That’s not equality, that’s elitism. Start sucking up now to your local GOP rep before you’re left out in the cold!
By JohnD
April 24, 2007 8:42 AM | Link to this
I feel certain the parents of special needs children, at least those parents who are unable to afford private school for their children, feel like elitists now that voucher legislation has passed. The same can probably be said for those parents of autistic and Downs children who use the Marta door-to-door service for thier children.
The only people “left to drown” are those who still look to government to solve their problems.
By jbmlaw
April 24, 2007 8:53 AM | Link to this
Dear Philosopher @ 8:27, I share your vision of the ideal, but I am less pessimistic than you. I think we are on the side of angels when we advocate vouchers and deregulation of the school houses. If any one jurisdiction ever finds sufficient political courage to try it, the vouchers will spread like wildfire.
By Pompano
April 24, 2007 8:59 AM | Link to this
I see where Boortz challenged Bookman to a debate regarding his editorial on the FairTax yesterday.
Any chance the cowardly Bookman will accept?
By jbmlaw
April 24, 2007 9:00 AM | Link to this
Dear Aquagirl @ 8:33, perhaps you have shard an epiphany in your note, “…they’re just bringing more choice to certain groups. That’s not equality, that’s elitism.” You are correct to set “freedom” and “equality” as mutually exclusive, as the former focuses on the playing field, and the latter on the result.
By jbmlaw
April 24, 2007 9:01 AM | Link to this
Dear Aquagirl, “shard” should be “shared” - I was not intentionally slamming.
By ABS
April 24, 2007 9:05 AM | Link to this
After years of being against any kind of voucher…I’ve changed my mind. I say, let’s go ahead and privatize all education. Let these elitist schools deal with No Child Left Behind and the CRCT tests. Let these headmasters and fundamentalists freaks deal with all the government bureacracy that goes along with accepting government money. Let these private school officials deal with the parents who insist that the only child that matters in a school environment is their own - and be damned anybody else. Let these elitist brats sit in class with kids from the hood.
I welcome it now…let the private schools deal with the same crap that public school teachers deal with everyday….let the games begin!
By Joe
April 24, 2007 9:13 AM | Link to this
Mr. Wooten wrote, “…convinced as they are that if the class size is smaller, or if more money is made available for teacher salaries, or nicer buildings or newer books, the problems that existed a few generations ago would be cured.”
In one sentence, Mr. Wooten simply dismisses evidence piled on top of evidence piled on top of evidence that shows that students perform better in smaller classes. Although Mr. Wooten claims to understand the “education marketplace”, in the very same sentence, he dismisses the basic marketplace principal that if we offer higher teacher salaries we’ll get better qualified applicants.
Wooten’s fantasy-based sentence is not yet complete. Thousands of school children in this country, especially in the South, attend schools where the furnace doesn’t work in the winter and the air conditioner doesn’t work in the late summer. Thousands go to school where the toilets frequently don’t flush, water leaks from the roof into their classrooms, and yes, toilet paper is sometimes non-existent. Such facts, however, do not stop Mr. Wooten from dismissing complaints about such conditions by labeling them as calls for “nicer buildings”.
And yes, outdated textbooks in under funded school systems are frequently held together by masking tape, and as a result, teachers often have to use their own money to purchase or prepare and copy teaching materials. Again, Mr. Wooten dismisses this reality by labeling efforts to correct such problems as calls for “newer books”.
These are fundamental problems with obvious and uncomplicated solutions. However, Mr. Wooten’s dishonesty about the reality of the problems with public school systems and the rest of his rhetoric about making “responsible choices” has a purpose. He and his Republican brethren seeks to eliminate public schools all together. If the Republicans have their way, K-12 in Georgia will be much like our higher education system. It will be a system subsidized by the State, but primarily, a system in which most of us will have to take out loans to educate our children in privately run schools. Such a system will work out wonderfully for the loan companies, the loan officers getting a windfall off of such loans, and the corporations running these schools.
On the other hand, the rest of us will regret the day that we allowed the Georgia Legislature to con us into thinking that Special Needs “Scholarship” was something other than the first step to chipping away at free K-12 education for all – a fundamental necessity for maintaining our status as a first-world industrialized country.
By Jim Wooten
April 24, 2007 9:14 AM | Link to this
Morning all. Philosopher, sign me up as a co-sponsor of your proposal to privatize them all and put the local school under the school council or any university or local government or teachers’ union or any other responsible group that has a school model it can sell to parents. Phase-in may take a few years, but there’s merit in the suggestion.
By Jeff
April 24, 2007 9:14 AM | Link to this
One must question the motives of those who start up schools virtually overnight to take advantage of state funding and then seem to disappear when the going gets tough. Mr. Wooten would be right about school choice if institutions were properly regulated and state and local ordinances regarding same were enforced to the letter of the law.
By Joe
April 24, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this
Thank you Mr. Wooten, for your appearance at 9:14 to confirm my assessment.
By JK
April 24, 2007 9:23 AM | Link to this
Let these headmasters and fundamentalists freaks deal with all the government bureacracy that goes along with accepting government money.
ABS, interesting sugggestion! You might be on to something. It always seemed to me that voucher proponents want to have it both ways: (Darn the public system that benefits America — we want private and we want tax breaks to pay for it) while ensuring that the majority would have it neither way (You’ll get the school you get, your taxes will pay for it, and you’ll have no voice at all.)
To the parents of special needs children: Bless you, and I apologize for the failings of the current system. You and your children deserve better. That anyone finds it acceptable that education is such a low (under-funded, under-respected) priority in this country and state is beyond my comprehension. To quote the President: “Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?”
By Shirley
April 24, 2007 9:30 AM | Link to this
Some people wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Jim wakes up in the middle of the night screaming, “Vouchers!”
By ABS
April 24, 2007 9:31 AM | Link to this
JK, you got my point exactly. I never thought I’d say this, but jmblaw is right — if you start one kind of voucher system…others will follow like wildfire, and voucher proponents have no idea what they are asking for. They think it is a panacea for all the woes of the world of education…absolutely ridiculous.
By Katie
April 24, 2007 9:39 AM | Link to this
Pompano at 8:59,
Read the posts from yesterday afternoon. If Bookman debated Boortz with the arguments posted yesterday, Boortz wouldn’t stand a chance.
You’ve been conned by the right-wing media (yet again). Learn to think for yourself, and stop being so gullible.
By Pompano
April 24, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
Sorry Katie, but I have read the book myself. Seems like you & the others are the ones incapable of thinking for yourself. Bookman presented several lies yesterday in his editorial - he now gets to sit back behind those lies while the uninformed zealots like yourself - incapable of understanding (or discussing rationally)- go forth and disseminate more false information.
Boortz would chew Bookman up - thus the cowardly stance. Bookman relies on the old tried&true lib strategy - if you can’y understand something then lie about it to the masses.
Let’s see Bookman step up
By bma507
April 24, 2007 9:53 AM | Link to this
Jim advocates vouchers under the premise of freedom of choice. I respectfully sumbit that Jim’s position is based upon very sincere political beliefs. However, I fear that many advocates of vouchers really want merely a tax break for the tuition they spend on their students who already attend private schools. I doubt that these same people would want to open the doors of their private schools to everyone with a voucher.
I have to ask, do you really believe that schools like Lovett, Westminster, and GAC will really open their gates to inner city children with vouchers unless they are D-1 athletes?
This new Georgia special education voucher is modeled after a FLorida program. The Tampa Tribune a year ago found numerous abuses of their program:
These amounts may not seem like much to people in the metro area, but such money in rural systems would be devestated if taken from their budgets.
Jim tries to point out that this voucher will be a win-win situation for everyone. However, the public school system is still required to provide services to special needs children who attend private schools (Federally Mandated). Public schools will have to send tax money and provide services simultaneously. For example, private schools will be able to request speech, occupational, physical, therapies and virtually any service from the public schools for students at additional local taxpayer expense. Sounds more like “I Win, You Lose.”
jbmlaw - I am not certain where you were going with your comment “…as they have so few who fight for freedom.”
I am a special education teacher in a public school system. However, I was also an active duty soldier for over five years and fought in the first Gulf War. I made the choice to devote my life to the service of others. I made the choice to sacrifice material things for my family because. I am perfectly happy with my choices. My actions have been very consistent with my religious beliefs to put the needs of other before the needs of your own.
However, the intense partisanship (from both sides) in recent years has become much too personal.
Before someone accuses a member of either side of the political spectrum of somehow not fighting for freedom, I would genuinely like to know what that individual has done to fight for freedom. I fear that the word “freedom” has become nothing but a euphamism for “selfishness.” I think that both political parties share equal guilt with this.
Gen. Powell had many sayings, but one that always stuck with me was his definition of integrity: “Integrity is displayed when your behavior matches your beliefs.”
By ABS
April 24, 2007 10:06 AM | Link to this
bma507 - very well put. My sentiments exactly. Of course those schools wouldn’t want these “inner city” kids sitting along side their precious darlings - even if they were great athletes, because then they would just complain that those kids took away their kids spots on the varsity team and lowered their chances of getting scholarships themselves!
And your example of the Islam school is great! Fundamentals would absolutely freak if some of these vouchers went to schools like that around here. I can just hear it now - I can just envision the angry blogs.
By Rod
April 24, 2007 10:18 AM | Link to this
Did ya ever notice…
After the Republican slaughter of last November, Jim has backed off voicing many of his opinions.
After Sunny sat on his fat a$$, forcing a special session, Jim hasn’t made any comments? Sunny showed he couldn’t care less about Georgians, just getting his way. When “his” people went against him, he forced a special session by sitting on the veto.
Yeah, when the going gets tough, Jim runs!
By Jules
April 24, 2007 10:30 AM | Link to this
Vouchers…do some of you really think that these vouchers are going to make these parents feel elite??? Do any of you have a child with special needs??? I can honestly say that it doesn’t make you feel elite to have a child with special needs and the ability to choose a different school. Give me a break.
By RJ
April 24, 2007 10:33 AM | Link to this
Pompano wrote, “I have read the book myself. Seems like you & the others are the ones incapable of thinking for yourself…”
And you believed everything you read. Katie is right. Yesterday, several people addressed comments made in the FairTax book head on. Instead of crying for a debate with your leader…read what others had to say and think for yourself.
FYI, calling somebody a liar without backing your claim (“Bookman presented several lies yesterday”) only makes you look like the liar.
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 10:49 AM | Link to this
Mr. Wooten, I just had time to read your column, and let me say that it is brilliant. It could have been written by a real teacher. So many teachers out there who would disagree with you are simply bureaucrats who have no other agenda than to keep the failes system in place and assure that their retirement stays as is.
Smaller class size is not the answer. Smaller school size is. Newer buildings and a lot of techology mean nothing if the children are not taught the basics in elementary school. I just had a discussion this morning with a math teacher who told me that her high schools students do not know their “times” tables. We were supposed to have those down cold by the end of 4th grade. Now students come to us in the 9th grade and cannot recite them and can only use calculators. Techology has actually hurt in learning the basics in many areas. We do not need to be using calculators in math classes. They become a crutch. We don’t need to be using computers for writing papers because now the kids cannot spell. Too many people will argue with you that the computer is wrong because it rejects ‘alright’ because no one bothered to tell them that those are two words - ‘all right’. That is just one example.
Are vouchers a magic bullet? No. Nothing is. But they would help by encouraging competition for students and they would encourage parental responsibility. Too many parents look upon schools as free baby-sitting services. Private schools don’t look upon students that way. If Johnny can’t read they teach him. They don’t make excuses. If Johnny won’t behave himself he is kicked out because there is almost always another child waiting for that spot.
Another reason for vouchers, especially for special education students, is that inclusion does not work for most special ed students. We can get into the big argument about that with people vested in the current system, but the fact is that both special and regular ed students are short-changed by such a system. We have also fostered as system that perversely makes special education at times preferable to regular ed because students get preferential treatment, so they actually feign bad behavior or a learning disability.
Vouchers are used in Europe and they work quite well. Parents (and children) should have that choice. We cannot continue to operate a cookie cutter system where one size fits all. Yes we should have some standard goals which should be met for promotion and graduation, but parents should be able to decide how their children get there.
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 10:51 AM | Link to this
Please excuse my numerous typos, I wrote the foregoing in hasted during a short break. Mea culpa.
By GodHatesTrash
April 24, 2007 10:54 AM | Link to this
The great-grandparents of generations living today desperately needed government to gather up our children and educate them. The masses of farmers and factory workers lived hand-to-mouth and had neither the time, the money nor the education to school their children. They lived in isolation, on farms, in urban tenements and in mountain hollows. They needed schooling decisions made for them.
Nothing has changed, especially in Georgia. There are damn few people in Georgia smart or educated enough to make decisions about their children’s educational welfare.
Let’s face it - Georgians by and large are too stupid to reproduce safely. They and and their children are demographic accidents waiting to happen.
Trash begets trash.
If we really want to do something about education in Georgia, take children from their parents and put them in orphanages. Tie the tubes of all the slatternly redneck women.
Then education might stand a chance in Georgia.
By Killin' Time
April 24, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this
bma507,
I feel that I must come to jbmlaw’s defense. I think there might have been some miscommunication here.
I suspect the freedoms that you infer from jbmlaw’s posts are not the freedoms that jbmlaw means. You’re thinking of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, etcetera.
However, Mr. jbmlaw is referring to freedoms that you won’t find in our constitution. He wants government employees to have the freedom to receive kickbacks from private companies as university loan officers receive when they steer an unsuspecting student to a more expensive loan. jmblaw want ConAgra to have the freedom to sell food products tainted with salmonella, as the Bush administration allows with his lax enforcement of food safety requirements via the FDA.
In short, jbmlaw wants to provide corporate freedoms to lie, cheat, steal (legally, of course), pollute and kill. And — he is proud that his son is willing to fight and die for such freedoms.
No bma507. I’m afraid that you read jbmlaw wrong.
By Tray
April 24, 2007 10:58 AM | Link to this
Teacher, you are mistaken - If Johnny can’t read, they’ll kick him out because they don’t want Johnny to bring down their statistics, because yes, there are people waiting to get those spots.
Eurpoean nations do not have the ethnic diversity we do here in America - they are much more ethnocentric, so what works in Europe, won’t necessarily work here - you forget, most European nations also have socialized medicine. Do you think that would work here? Ha ha.
Private schools do not have to make excuses because they can simply expell those who do not follow their rules.
You are also wrong to group all teachers who disagree with the voucher system as those with their own agendas. They disagree with any voucher system because it will not work.
By deegee
April 24, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this
Human nature being what it is, I predict that under a voucher program we will have a 3-tiered system of public, semi-private and exclusive schools. Eventually the semi-private tier will perform like the public tier and we will be back to start.
By ABS
April 24, 2007 11:05 AM | Link to this
Deegee, Which sounds exactly like the type of schools they have in Europe! It’s really all the same thing…just a sneakier way of seperating the socio-economic classes.
By Louise
April 24, 2007 11:08 AM | Link to this
“Private schools don’t look upon students that way. If Johnny can’t read they teach him.”
I appreciate teacher’s point of view, but his or her generalization regarding private schools are not backed by the evidence. The fact is that ther are many charter and/or private schools nationwide that have opened and closed for lack of accomplishment. In addition, many studies indicate that, overall, students coming out of private schools are not better prepared than students coming out of public schools).
Georgia’s public schools system is in trouble, to be sure. But for reasons that have to do with the first amendment (taxpayers funding religious education), corporate profit motives (as more people leave the public school system, private tuitions will become even less affordable) and actual evidence regarding the effectiveness of private vs. public education, the prescription is likely to be worse than the disease.
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 11:09 AM | Link to this
Tray - that was spoken by a real socialist who has no idea how most private schools work and someone who has a vested interest in public schools continuing their reign of error. Private schools do not kick Johnny out because he cannot read. I know because I WAS JOHNNY IN A PRIVATE SCHOOL.
Also, your assertion that a voucher system will not work is made out of either arrogance or ignorance. Voucher systems work quite well in Europe. In fact, all schools in Ireland are private schools - either secular or religious - and the students are very well educated. The parents take their voucher to the school of choice. Discipline is not a problem because the parents have a vested interest in making sure their children stay in those schools of choice. Voucher systems are used in France and other European nations as well and when the Socialists tried to end the system in 1981 as anti-egalitarian literally hundreds of thousands took to the streets in protest. Where it is tried, people want it.
Also, you must not have visited Europe lately when you made the positively ignorant statement about ethnic diversity. It exists now as it has never existed before. European nations have always been a polyglot of ethnic divisions - just look at the demographics of France and Spain - but today with mass immigration from Africa, South Asia and East Asia European nations are almost as ethnically diverse as many parts of the United States.
Tray - you really should check your facts before you start running off at the mouth. Aristotle and Socrates would have given you an ‘F’ in rhetoric because you don’t have the facts to logically back your argument.
By Dennis
April 24, 2007 11:09 AM | Link to this
What does it require to understand that every child in public schools (private too, for that matter) is a “special needs” kid?
By Joe April 24, 2007 9:13 AM is on target as is By bma507 April 24, 2007 9:53 AM.
Mr. Wooten is another of those pundits who wouldn’t make it in a public school classroom. The kids would eat him up. And would he teach on the salaries teachers are paid?
Mr. Wooten says “more money is not the answer.” What about less money, Mr. Wooten? What about less? Is that the answer?
The fact is (ONCE AGAIN) that public education in this country has NEVER been overly funded, or for that matter, even adequately funded.
It’s nuts to think that vouchers for a few and privitization of education will produce a better student.
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By Pompano
April 24, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
RJ wrote: “calling somebody a liar without backing your claim (“Bookman presented several lies yesterday”) only makes you look like the liar.”
That’s why I’d like to see this debate between Boortz & Bookman. You lib types don’t have the logic for such an endeavor. You spount off at the mouth that “Bush Lied” and swallow all the Global warming crap like cult members.
Then your defense is some childish snippet like the above.
Come on - encourage your Boy to be a man. If you really think he can handle Boortz then you should be as welcome as anyone to see this happen. However, I forgot that libs can’t handle dissenting opinions & might cry is someone disagrees with them.
BooHoo RJ
By Private School teachers would be shaking in their boots
April 24, 2007 11:14 AM | Link to this
SB 10 is much bigger than SB 10. Georgia Republicans are just testing the waters to see if they put forth a full voucher program. Conservatives often point to high achievement in private schools versus public schools. That’s generally unfair because private schools choose their student body and have the right to throw any student out for any reason. Jim, When you talk about school choice your so one-sided. It’s really more the “schools choice” than the parents because the PRIVATE SCHOOL can reject a kid or expell kid at their discretion. I went to a rural public school, but in college I worked as a substitute teacher in both a public system and at a high brow private school. Was behavior and focus better in the private school. Yes, but it had little to do with the quality of the teachers or the curriculum. With the exception of the really elite schools like Lovett and Pace most private school staffs are less educated than their public school counterparts. Furthermore, the private schools in rural Georgia are little more than segregation academies and their graduates generally score lower on the SAT than most PUBLIC Schools in the metro area. Mr. Wooten, I know you and your ilk. You think private schools are better because your an elitist. You often rail against liberals for being elitist, but you and your ilk are the ones who live in gated communities and send your kids to 95% rich white private schools. Here’s something to consider. This couldn’t happen, but this would be the only fair way to judge who’s better private schools or public schools. Let’s take all of the students in a challenged Atlanta city school and enroll them at a ritsy private school.(no staff changes) Let’s take all the students at that ritsy private school and enroll them at the city of Atlanta school.(no staff changes) I think the so-called elite private school teachers would be VERY ineffective if everyone in their class wasn’t bound for an elite college. It’s much easier to teach students under those circumstances! As far the city of Atlanta school the teachers would probably have solid classroom management and the students(of priviledged backgrounds) would achieve because they know what path their parents took and they emulate it in hopes of the same success. What does that have to do with the quality of the teacher or the school? Are the students who attend elite private schools(not the rural/small town segregation acadamies that dot the state) generally higher achievers. Yes, but, it’s totally unfair to compare the job to public school teachers to private school teachers. Private schools are not better because their teachers are smarter or their curriculum is better. Give them twenty kids from difficult circumstances and most of them would be shaking in their boots.
By GodHatesTrash
April 24, 2007 11:16 AM | Link to this
The poor performance of Georgia students predates the Great Society and even the New Deal. Georgia students have always performed poorly in school, since they started schooling here.
The problem is not the schools, it is the culture of superstition and stupidity that is glorified in Dicksea.
Trash culture begets trash people. Stupidity and superstition begets stupid and superstitious people. Garbage in, garbage out.
Wooten thinks the answer is to let superstitious stupid people make even more decisions.
That’s retarded.
By Redneck Convert
April 24, 2007 11:18 AM | Link to this
Ain’t nobody getting nothing from a bunch of schooling. All you turn out is libruls. Give me the good, unschooled conservatives every day. Show me a GA conservative and I’ll show you a person that don’t have to think very deep.
Don’t let kids go to schools where they run into Those People and learn to think they are all right. And don’t let the kids get exposed to a bunch of diffrent ideas. They might not stay good conservatives.
Us parents got a right to send our kids to schools that think just like we do. Schools try to wash the kids brain. I say give the parents the money and let them gang up and fire the people that run the schools and ain’t good conservatives. I would rather have a kid of mine dead than send him to a school that will turn him into a librul.
Well, I know you all are glad to have me back from Panama City beach. I won a contest down there. It was for designing the best state flag. I made one for GA that was real good. I started out with lots of blood splotches on it because us rednecks love war. Then I put in a picture of a redneck stepping on the neck of one of Those People because us GA rednecks hate Those People. Then I added the good old stars and bars because that is the real state flag and a reminder of what we really stand for. Anyway, I won a 6-pack for it.
I went back to the beer run today. I hope TFTT is out of the mental hospitle by now. I really missed reading stuff from him, Sister Dusty, Van, jbmlaw, and the other good conservatives that don’t have to think too hard to come up with thought on a issue. I hope the libruls that was on this blog when I left are dead by now. Though I see this God Hates Trash fellow is still slamming us rednecks. Calling us ignorant and such. Not that I hate libruls or anything. I just don’t want them living in my state. Except maybe in a prison.
Let me know when I can expect my state check for schooling little Sonny Zell George in the right way to think. Then when he gets big enough I can send him to a private school that don’t teach diffrent ways of thinking and he will stay a redneck. We have to keep up our number up to run this state, you know.
By Carol
April 24, 2007 11:19 AM | Link to this
Teacher wrote, “Tray - that was spoken by a real socialist…and someone who has a vested interest in public schools…Aristotle and Socrates would have given you an ‘F’ in rhetoric”
Teacher,
I give you an ‘A’ in rhetoric. Unfortunately, you lost my respect at in the process.
People see problems, and their trying to find a solution. If you think you can win a debate by calling somebody a socialist and accusing them of having a vested interest in their argument, then you’re not as thoughtful and open-minded about these issues as you appeared in your earlier post.
Teacher or not, you lost all credibility in this discussion with your thoughtless, mean-spirited post at 11:09.
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 11:21 AM | Link to this
Dennis (and Joe) - another two who would be given ‘F’ in rhetoric by Aristotle or Socrates. The fact is is that education has NOT been underfunded in this country in quite a while. We have thrown tons of money at it. We spend more per pupil than any nation in the world. You can look it up. Even a liberal can check those facts. Atlanta city spends close to $13,000 per student and it is a disaster area. It is typical of liberals to claim that we just need to spend more money and the problem will be fixed. That is just flat out stupid. The system must be fundamentally changed. And I seriously doubt that you would last for more than a few minutes in a public school classroom or that you have even tried. I have done it for the past twelve years after years of being in the business world dealing with some real beautes there.
The fact is I can tell in an instant a child who went to public or private school. The reason is discipline and learning and motivation. The system we have now is not working in public schools and it does work for private schools.
It really amuses me that you make the claim that there is no difference, but even the most rabbid defenders of public education in our Congress will not send their children to public schools - Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Jay Rockefeller, John Kerry and many others all send their children to private schools, even over those “wonderful” public schools in suburban Viriginia and Maryland.
And Louise - you made my argument for me. Many private or charter schools have closed for lack of accomplishment. That is what happens in the marketplace when groups or individuals fail - they go out of business. Public schools just go on and on and on fail or not!
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this
Carol - I am sorry that you found my response to Tray “mean spirited”. It was not meant to be. I was only pointing out the obvious. He must have a vested interest because he gave the stock, socialist answer which is usually given. I believe in being plain spoken. If the truth offends, then so be it.
By Dennis
April 24, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this
By Private School teachers would be shaking in their boots April 24, 2007 11:14 AM
“Let’s take all of the students in a challenged Atlanta city school and enroll them at a ritsy private school.(no staff changes) Let’s take all the students at that ritsy private school and enroll them at the city of Atlanta school.(no staff changes) I think the so-called elite private school teachers would be VERY ineffective if everyone in their class wasn’t bound for an elite college.”
BULLS EYE!!! DEAD CENTER!!!
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By Shelly
April 24, 2007 11:27 AM | Link to this
Teacher appears to be more interested in attacking those with a different point of view than participating in a thoughtful discussion. In fact, I’m starting to believe that she’s not a teacher at all (It looks like Teacher’s “short break” was suddenly extended somehow).
I’m with Carol. Her credibility is shot.
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 11:29 AM | Link to this
Dennis - you are right. If you take those kids in Atlanta city who have never had an encouraging word from their parents and who have been told by their peers that it is uncool and acting “white” to do well in school the we all know what the result would be. However, if you take those out of Atlanta schools whose parents do care and put them in a good learning environment, then they would succeed. That is what school choice is all about. You don’t have to be a blind liberal not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By Teacher
April 24, 2007 11:33 AM | Link to this
Shelly - I am sorry that you feel that way. I am indeed a teacher and my planning period will be over in exactly eight minutes. You will not hear from me again today. I am not “attacking” anyone personally. I am only attacking the position they are taking and questioning why they are taking those positions (e.g. the agenda). I have taugth foreign language and social studies in public schools for twelve years and I am used to being called names all of the time. I did not realize that “socialist” was a dirty word. If it is, I apologize.
By liberals are verminous SCUM
April 24, 2007 11:49 AM | Link to this
I see the resident leftist filth are back with their usual envious, “we” hate better educated conservatives bile. Instead of driving a stolen fantasy beer truck why doesn’t the always racist inbred rednekkk do something useful with its pointless life and get a late night job in Iraq delivering beer and smoked ham, bacon and magic mushroom pizzas in the Sunni triangle.
As for these whining sad cows who incessantly puke up the empty “mean spirited” jibe … one naturally assumes these are blubbery lard arsed obese hesitant liberal mini-van drivers who selfishly clog the roads and the fast food drive thrus whilst endlessly yapping on their glued to their earhole cellphones about the noisy catty far left betches who infest The View and their latest bottle blond L’Oreal hair dyes etc.
By Jim's a Cherry Picker
April 24, 2007 12:11 PM | Link to this
I really don’t know a whole lot about education politics, but I am seeing a theme here:
Every solution that is proposed & supported by Jim & his fellow conservatives has that “too good to be true”, late night infomercial feel to it. Bookman’s right, it’s generally kinda cultish.
It’s all easy and you’re an idiot if you don’t believe it or understand it, but yet none of the stuff that is enacted seems to work. And when it doesn’t work, they blame the people they put upon for not doing it right.
As for Boortz, he’s nothing but a loudmouth bully. I’m sure he loves this renewed attention that Bookman has brought him.
By BobinBuford
April 24, 2007 12:22 PM | Link to this
Once again, Jim Wooten has not idea what he is writing about. My wife is a special ed teacher in Gwinnett County. She has 6 kids with Autism - from severe to moderate. She is usually at work until at least 6 every night.
Tell me “teacher”, what subject do you teach at your school?? Tell me about your planning period - my wife’s begins when her kids go home, and sometimes she has to go to school on weekends. Do you?? You say that you can tell the public school kids from the private school by the reason of “discipline and learning and motivation”. Really? I have two sons that attended PUBLIC schools here in Gwinnett County - one is in the Master’s program at GSU and one is a paralegal in NYC. According to your ideas, that means they HAD to go to Private schools, right?? Tell me “teacher”, which private school would take a 4 year old with severe autism? And what happens when they do not do well at their new private school?? Back to the public school, of course. My wife has dealt with these so-called “special schools” - all they do is tell the parents what they want to hear about their little darling and collect the checks. Then when these kids get to the public schools, the parents find out what really is going on with their kid.
Will these schools have teachers with special education certification? And if they don’t, what then?? Since it is a private school, what difference does it make?? All I know is that they are getting my tax money. Remember, these private schools CHOOSE who they accept - they don’t have to take everybody. Unfortunately, the public schools don’t have this choice.
Admit it “teacher” - this bill is nothing more than the Republican Party’s latest attempt to break up public schools.
By Truthsayer
April 24, 2007 12:38 PM | Link to this
BobinBuford - You seem to have made the Teacher’s argument for him/her. I for one will admit that I do want the public school system, at least as it exists now, broken up. I also cannot imagine a bigger nightmare than teaching Gwinnett County Schools with all of its bureaucracy and failure to discipline students. I too have relatives who teach in that county and they all are in agreement with the Teacher here. He/she might even be my cousin Espie who teaches Spanish in that system. I’ll have to call and find out. And by the way, special education certification is one of the most overblown things I can think of! You cannot teach people how to teach - it is an art, not a science. That is why many don’t last in either public of private school.
By &&
April 24, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this
BobinBuford - I am another teacher on lunch break here. I just wanted to let you know that special ed teachers do have it rough much of the time, especially with profoundly disabled children. However, if regular ed teachers are good teachers and good planners, once in a while we have a planning period when we have some “me” time. I feel sorry for your wife working in public school. I now work in private school and it is much better.
By Barb
April 24, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this
Speaking for all public school teachers, TruthSayer informs us that they (or most) believe that all private schools do a better job of educating than all public schools. These public school teachers also believe that anybody who disagrees with that assessment is a socialist with an private agenda. Got it.
By catlady
April 24, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this
I think SOME of our handicapped students’ greatest handicap is their parents!
By Private School teachers would be shaking in their boots
April 24, 2007 12:52 PM | Link to this
When you talk about private school vouchers the subject of race always comes up. Usually conservatives only talk about minority failures in school or blacks acting “white” when spinning their arguments on education. BTW, I am white and a graduate of predominately white school in rural northeast Georgia. Half the students at my school got free lunch, half dropped out and less than half of my graduating class went to college. You know why? Because REDNECKS do exactly what you all claim a lot of urban blacks do. If you try to be smart you’re said to be of “acting uppity. The crab bucket in rural Georgia is just as bad as in the inner city. Of course, most of these uneducated, knee-jerk militaristic, white trash fundamentalists morons have Bush/Cheney stickers on their truck next to their Sonny sticker. I saw a stat a few years ago that showed where if you took minorities out of the mix completely Georgia would still be in the bottom third of states in terms school achievement and per capita income. I am not saying inner city schools and minorities don’t have challenges, but you conservatives rarely address the fact White Trash Rednecks(rougly half the state)are doing more to effect our education systems than minorities. Of course, you all don’t care about that. You need bright people like them who think; Saddam attacked us on 911, Dinosaurs were running around 6,000 years ago and that stem cells are capable of doing Trig in order to keep a conservate majority in this state. FACE IT, The Georgia Republican Party is owned by white trash.
By Truthsayer
April 24, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this
Excuse me Barb, but Truthsayer did not say that at all. However, many who oppose vouchers do so because they have agendae which would be thwarted by meaningful school reform. And by the way, how do you know vouchers won’t work if you don’t try it? We do know that Socialism won’t work because we have.
By harold
April 24, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this
harold went to georgia public school’s.
thus todays article is way too long for harold to read.
By It's all about the parents
April 24, 2007 1:01 PM | Link to this
These are the children who will succeed anywhere if given a chance, but the parents make the difference. Draw your own conlcusions, but please read this short article:
Kids with religious parents are better behaved and adjusted than other children, according to a new study that is the first to look at the effects of religion on young child development.
The conflict that arises when parents regularly argue over their faith at home, however, has the opposite effect.
John Bartkowski, a Mississippi State University sociologist and his colleagues asked the parents and teachers of more than 16,000 kids, most of them first-graders, to rate how much self control they believed the kids had, how often they exhibited poor or unhappy behavior and how well they respected and worked with their peers.
The researchers compared these scores to how frequently the children’s parents said they attended worship services, talked about religion with their child and argued abut religion in the home.
The kids whose parents regularly attended religious services — especially when both parents did so frequently — and talked with their kids about religion were rated by both parents and teachers as having better self-control, social skills and approaches to learning than kids with non-religious parents.
By It's all about the parents
April 24, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
The entire article can be found in Live Science and was written by Melinda Wenner.
By Dennis
April 24, 2007 1:03 PM | Link to this
By Truthsayer April 24, 2007 12:38 PM “BobinBuford - You seem to have made the Teacher’s argument for him/her. I for one will admit that I do want the public school system, at least as it exists now, broken up.”
I have said many times that public education was never set up right in the first place. But that was caused by circumstances, I think, more so than intent.
As example, in the early days of this country, the small rural school house may have had only 12 students, but they varied by age and abilities, all in one classroom, and one teacher (who must be a christian and wear at least 3 slips under her dress, a lot of lace at her chin, and not date) was expected to meet the needs of every student.
As the nations population and public education grew, the method and expectations and especially the financing didn’t change with the times. The financing in particular. And it hasn’t kept up today.
Interestingly, the public is always asked how much it wants to spend on education, but never how much to spend on a new bomber or tank or unnecessary war.
But you watch closely, those who scream loudest about wanting quality education are the same ones who scream loudest about paying for it.
You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
By liberals are verminous SCUM
April 24, 2007 1:10 PM | Link to this
One of the more amusing/revealing things about ‘diversity’ in both US and UK public (i.e govt run/tax payer funded) schools is that black boys/teens are generally (though obviously not always) dimmer and less able than anyone else. And its NOT because of a lack of funding or the usual lefty lies about racism. Its an attitude/cultural thang. Black girls happily actually do much better than black boys in the admittedly now severely dumbed down by liberals GCSE’s in the UK, which shows its NOT any kind of racism - just a wilful ignorance and refusal to learn. Usually Indians and some pakis i.e. asians and most orientals generally do better than the typical average white kid although in fairness many paki kids and many bengalis (Bangladeshis) do as badly as blacks. Again its a cultural thang, not racism. Black boys tend to be more thuggish in school so they get expelled more often - purely on ‘merit’.
Liberals have destroyed the gold standard of A levels and neutered what used to be ‘o’ levels - turning them into undemanding GCSE’s that are worthless compared to the standards I was used to back in the early 1970’s.
Multi-culti bollocks and the refusal to properly discipline disruptive brats has destroyed the UK school system. Heavy reliance now on undemanding purely ‘taught for the course’ course work instead of just ALL exams covering the whole syllabus at 16 has meant that many UK college kiddies are now nearly as dense/poorly educated as their American counterparts who have the HUGE advantage of an EXTRA TWO YEARS to achieve the same level. UK pupils are literally TWO years ahead of US pupils because in the UK kids at 16 (the legal school leaving age) do what kids at 18 do in the USA. The difference being that UK kids only get ONE go at the leaving school exams (if they fail or get poor grades they have to resit at the next exam cycle) which are done subject by subject … not repeated attempts to pass the now joke of a HS diploma which is now utterly pathetic academically, with the hugely demanding 14 year old maths and little more advanced levels of English.
Liberalism is a corrosive mental disorder and its systematically destroyed the school systems in many western countries .. still no worries -eh? … so long as the spoiled honour student kiddies feel special and have high self esteem - until they are actually tested and challenged outside school!!
By James (P.E.)
April 24, 2007 1:22 PM | Link to this
“Teacher”@11:20- * but even the most rabbid defenders of public education in our Congress will not send their children to public schools - Bill Clinton, Al Gore, Ted Kennedy, Jay Rockefeller, John Kerry and many others all send their children to private schools,*
Chelsea Clinton attended Chelsea attended Little Rock’s Forest Park Elementary School, Booker Arts Magnet Elementary School and Horace Mann Junior High School. All public schools before her father was elected president.
By GodHatesTrash
April 24, 2007 1:22 PM | Link to this
Stupid limey fool, the crisis in Georgia education has nothing to do with liberalism. GEORGIA SCHOOLS HAVE NEVER WORKED, AND THEY NEVER WILL.
Unless and until the chidlren are taken from their idjit trash parents, nothing will improve.
By Truthsayer
April 24, 2007 1:23 PM | Link to this
Dennis - Anyone, including you, can look up the statistics on how much we spend on public education in the United States per pupil. We spend much more than any other major nation in the world, including the much lauded Japanese. Money just is not the answer. Over 50% of the state’s total budget is spent on education or education-related matters. We have an excellent university system in this country. That is because of competition between public and private institutions for students - and their money. Why don’t we try some of that competition with primary, middle and secondary schools?
Yes, our system is antiquated, and you want to stay with the old system. The system has to change. We also need to do away with “inclusion” for special needs children. It does not work. I know, I was the responsible adult for one of those special needs children. We ended up sending her to a private school because of “inclusion”. She was not getting what she needed. The teachers at the private school did not have the “credentials” that those in public school had, but what they did have was a lot less red tape and a lot more compassion. She did much better there than at public school.
Another physically disabled cousin of mine had the opposite experience, but her parents at least had the choice of moving her. She went to public school and did moderately well socially, but she did admit that academically the private school was better.
My point is (and I do have one) that each case is individual and we should not deprive children and parents of those choices.
You don’t have to be a blind liberal not to see it, just an ignorant one.
By Truthsayer
April 24, 2007 1:29 PM | Link to this
James (P.E.) - you are right, but after one year in Washington, DC public schools Chelsea transferred to the Sitwell Friends School in DC and when asked about that bit of hypocrisy Mr. Clinton defended himself by saying that it was a matter of personal choice for his family. You want to deprive others of that choice he had. Clinton also attended private schools, including Georgetown and Yale Universities.
By Tray
April 24, 2007 1:35 PM | Link to this
Whoa, I went away for a while and really p** off a anti-socialist teacher! Thanks, guys for sticking up for me.
Teacher, if you come back, I know EXACTLY how private schools work - do you think you are the only person on this blog who went to a private school? Do you think you are the ONLY person who teaches school (or in my case used to teach school)?
You are calling me arrogant and ignorant? Oh please, you spewed more ignorance and arrogance in your 11:09 rant than I could have all day.
I’m also really glad that’s how you spend your planning time - bashing people who disagree with you. You must be a great teacher in the classroom, especially social studies. Do you teach your students intolerance of differing opinions?
My son’s history teacher has a poster in his classroom that reads something to the effect (not verbatim), “Make it a good day - make a liberal mad.” You must have the same poster in your classroom. I just love how history and social studies teachers try to spew their hate and anger towards our children and teach them to be sheep who just follow the herd.
By getalife
April 24, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this
Government is not the answer lying liar.
Have you been in a coma the last 6 years.
Wake up.
By deegee
April 24, 2007 1:39 PM | Link to this
What about vouchers for defendants? What if you get arrested and find that your public defender isn’t meeting your needs? Should the taxpayers provide you a voucher to help you find better legal representation?
By liberals are verminous SCUM
April 24, 2007 1:40 PM | Link to this
I note the yankkkee leftist anal wart infested hate pig Godneedstokillthistrash completely ignores the reasoned, incisive points I made about education and merely pukes up more of its envious unhinged anti-Southern bigotry.
Clearly this fetidpileoftrash was swiftly taken from its own inbred extra chromosomed yankkkee parents in the abbatoir and this is why it is so obsessed with seeking replication of such a fate for all the others in this beastly cruel and harsh world that are vastly more evolved than it is. Such is the compulsive deranged leftist search for ‘social justice’.
This is just part of the unassailable case for why compulsory euthanasia for bedwetting slobbering cut and run liberals should be on the next GA ballot. I would cheerily and proudly vote a resounding YES for such a far sighted, socially and genetically responsible programme.
By Truthsayer
April 24, 2007 1:51 PM | Link to this
deegee - they do. Just ask Bryan Nichols.
By James (P.E.)
April 24, 2007 1:55 PM | Link to this
Truthsayer,
Are you saying that Mr. Clinton or Mrs. Clinton went to private schools? Do not count colleges this time, totally different.
By liberals are verminous SCUM
April 24, 2007 1:57 PM | Link to this
*Government is not the answer lying liar.
Have you been in a coma the last 6 years.
Wake up.*
STFU maggot brain … those treasonous cut and run voices in your pointy empty head need another psychotropic prescription … see if the alBore will let you use the same quack he gets his Bush derangement pills from!!
Witty practical thought for the day:
If global whining liberals are only going to use one square of toilet paper they will obviously STINK EVEN WORSE than they do now!! Which means the rest of us will smell them coming that much faster and be able to avail ourselves of water cannon, long green hosepipes etc. This way we spray a liberal for the environment and have fun at the same time. Though I’d rather spray them with plastic bullets - at least the bullets could be recycled - making shooting liberals relatively eco-friendly.
By Truthsayer
April 24, 2007 2:03 PM | Link to this
Tray - what is your point? My cousin had a history teacher who repeatedly told the class before the 2000 election that Republicans would burn down African-American churches and that Bush would bring back slavery and that he would do away with the HOPE scholarship. When I challenged him on this he stated that he had a right to “teach” his own opinions as fact. Teachers should not do this, but I would venture to say that many more liberals do this than conservatives.
The Teacher might not be doing this. If this teacher is who I think it is, she does not. She does complain that many liberal teachers do.
By Kelly
April 24, 2007 2:04 PM | Link to this
“We have an excellent university system in this country.”
I don’t agree at all. The costs are astronomical, and college graduates today are having trouble moving into the middle class because of the astronomical loans they have to take out to attain a college education. In addition, the cost of a college education continues to rise significantly faster than the rate of inflation.
This UGA grad is not happy at all with the education I received relative to the money I spent (most of my professors/teaching assistants just went through the motions and relied mainly on the overpriced textbooks). As indicated in the movie, “Good Will Hunting”, I could have receive a better education with a free library card. But, I stuck with it to get the degree.
One more thing. A former friend who dropped out of UGA during his sophomore year lied on his resume and lies on his website telling employers and potential customers that he has a Bachelor of Science degree from Georgia. I contacted the University about this, and they said that there is nothing they can do.
So, my advice — don’t waste your money on a college education. You can just put it on your resume, and unless you’re a Notre Dame football coach, nobody will ever notice or care. The rest of us who paid so much money and worked so hard are chumps.
By deegee
April 24, 2007 2:08 PM | Link to this
Not true, Truthsayer. Brian Nichols is still being defended by the Public Defender’s office. The trial is being postponed until the legislature replenishes funds statewide for the public defender’s office.
By Blind Homer
April 24, 2007 2:09 PM | Link to this
Responsible government would fix the public schools for the benefit of the many instead of financing escape for the few. But that’s typical Republican elitist behavior. They’ve allowed us to be overrun by ignorant and often criminal illegal aliens just to provide cheap labor for the already wealthy, because they live in gated communities and can afford the best private schools and health care.
SPED is a pretty broad category. Who are we talking about here, behavior, ADD, Down’s, what kind of SPED kids get the vouchers?
By Tray
April 24, 2007 2:12 PM | Link to this
My point is that this