American Family Association is delighted to announce the 2nd annual Cincinnati Midwest Homeschool Convention!
This exciting Convention will be held March 27-29, 2008. It features an incredible lineup of speakers and a wide variety of the very best educational materials and curriculum. It is being held at the 165-acre campus of Landmark Cincinnati, 1600 Glendale-Milford Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45215-1231.
A PARTIAL LIST OF SPEAKERS INCLUDES:
Tim Wildmon
Jessie Wise
Amanda Bennett
Jeannie Fulbright
Mike Riddle
Gary DeMar
Julie Hiramine
Mark Hamby
Andrew Pudewa
Todd Wilson
David Quine
Michael Donnelly, Esq.
Dr. R. W. Keller
Susan Kemmerer
Dr. Durrell Dobbins
Kathie Morrisey
Jessica Hulcey
Jim Weiss
A PARTIAL LIST OF VENDORS & EXHIBITORS INCLUDES:
Answers in Genesis
American Family Association
A Beka Book
Alpha Omega Publications
Sonlight
My Father's World
Classical Academic Press
Math-U-See
VideoText Interactive
Gravitas Publications
The Book Peddler
Peace Hill Press
American Vision
Excellence in Writing
Lamplighter Publishing
Generations of Virtue
Analytical Grammar
Artistic Pursuits
Cornerstone Curriculum
HSLDA
Please see http:www.midwesthomeschoolconvention.com for more information, or send an email to info@MidWestHomeschoolConvention.com
Wow. I just happened upon a news report for a small town school board race. Voters had to pick one of the following candidates. Using their own words, translated from newspeak, here are your choices:
Candidate #1: Incumbent. Has been board member for 8 years. Was a teacher in the education system for 25 years. Goals: raise test scores, no matter whether kids actually learn anything. Use racist hiring practices to discriminate against people based on the color of their skin. Find more cash to spend on "education." Stop people from having the freedom to build houses on their own land.
Candidate #2: Incumbent. Board member for 10 years. Be nicer to teachers. Spend more taxpayer money on teachers. Spend more "corporate" money on teachers. Will make decisions for everyone else based on what he, personally, wants for his child, no matter what anyone else actually needs.
Candidate #3: College professor since 1982. Wants to shake down private companies and force them to "donate" land to schools. Wants to shake down private companies for "donations" for schools. Also wants to base hiring decisions on the color of someone's skin, rather than on their actual qualifications.
Candidate #4: Clerical assistant at the school. Wants to reduce class sizes even though it does absolutely nothing to increase learning. Wants to increase test scores, no matter the cost or actual learning. Wants to base more decisions on which kids go to school based on their skin color. Wants to "prevent" teachers from leaving the school.
Candidate #5: Former Assistant superintendent. Wants to spend more money on teachers. Wants to spend more on technology, no matter what people need. Wants to force corporations to "give" money to education. Wants to maximize spending opportunities.
Holy crap, what choices, eh? Remember -- the government education system, as can be very clearly seen here by school board candidates -- is about SPENDING MONEY. It has NOTHING to do with educating children, learning, or anything else. They just want more money so they can spend it.
Think I could win this one?
Candidate #6 (Ogre): Thinks the government-run monopoly on education is crap. Will vote against spending any more money for anything related to education. Will not discriminate based on skin color.
Yeah, me neither.
Oh, how I yearn for freedom.
A school board in Montana says:
Allowing him to finish school online could have opened the door to allowing other students to take a high number of courses online, reducing the need and benefits of a regular school setting, the board decided.
In other words, their STATED purpose is to put students in a "regular" school setting. They honestly have no interest in education. They don't care about high school diplomas. They honestly do not care if someone learns anything. Instead, their ONLY purpose, according to the school board itself, is to put students in a "regular school setting."
If someone were interested in education and learning, they would have said something along the lines of, "Gee, we'd like this fellow to get an education, and we're willing to work with him and his family to ensure that he gets one." But no, instead they said they ONLY wanted students. They want warm bodies in seats because that's where they get more cash. Nothing else matters to the public school system in America. Seriously.
If your child is in a public school in America, keep in mind those who are "Educating" them are only interested in them as a body to get them cash. The system seriously does not care if they learn one single thing.
I was send a link to a video about school choice and education issues in Ghana. I haven't had time to view the whole thing yet, but it looks at least reasonable. I did notice, early in the segment, statements about the MASSIVE problems with government-provided education -- that the government system absolutely and completely fails to educate, well, anyone. Does that sound like a system you know?
If you want a list of TV stations that plan on broadcasting the show, that's here. Or, if you like, you can just check out the previews for the segment.
It's amazing how far away from freedom this country has really moved. How about a study that measures the "cost" to government for public school drop outs? Yes, this group claims that it costs the state of North Carolina $169 million a year due to students that drop out of high school -- because of medicaid costs, less tax income, and prison costs.
How stupid is this? Presumably, based on this report, if the government would just issue kids high school diplomas when they turned 18 (we could just mail them), then the government would "save" $169 million each year. Since it's such a big savings, perhaps we should just include a check for a couple million in each diploma government mails to them.
What crap.
How about we stop paying for Medicare for people? Yes, it IS possible for people to get healthcare without government buying it -- it's happened for hundreds of years. Yes, it's possible for people to earn a living without a (useless) government diploma that says they've learned, well, nothing. It's been going on for thousands of years.
How about a study on how much money the state would "save" if they stopped spending money on a failed education system that simply does not educate anyone? How about a study on how much the government would save if people learned by themselves and at home, where they will learn a great deal MORE than they could ever learn in a government institution? My guess is we'd have a MUCH more educated society AND save tens of billions of dollars a year.
Well, at least they're being honest. A new government bureaucratic legislative panel has been formed to "increase high school graduation rates" in North Carolina. But hey, they'll be spending $7 million to "encourage" successful initiatives.
Please note what the "panel" is not concerned with: education. They honestly do not care about education or learning. The public schools are NOT interested in how much anyone learns, seriously. Once again, some within the system (the teachers) may be concerned with that, but the public school system DOES NOT CARE.
If you want to know why the education system exists today, please read this book. Again, it's long and detailed, but it's scarily honest:
In 1840, the literacy rate in America was between 93 and ONE HUNDRED percent.
By 1940 the literacy rate for whites was 96%, for blacks, 80%.
Six decades later, at the end of the twentieth century, the National Adult Literacy Survey and the National Assessment of Educational Progress say 40 percent of blacks and 17 percent of whites can’t read at all. Put another way, black illiteracy doubled, white illiteracy quadrupled. Before you think of anything else in regard to these numbers, think of this: we spend three to four times as much real money on schooling as we did sixty years ago, but sixty years ago virtually everyone, black or white, could read.
In most businesses, if you lie, you get fired. They expect you to tell the truth. But in government, if you tell the truth, or even have someone visit who's telling the truth (even when you counter-balance that by inviting someone who lies), you get fired. Well, that is if the ACLU and CAIR dislike the truth.
At issue in Raleigh is Robert Escamilla, who dared to invite a Christian in school to talk about the Bible IN BIBLE HISTORY CLASS. He will be on Hannity and Colmes tonight at 9pm. He's got a web page up listing a chronology of events -- facts. And the school board, by releasing confidential personnel records, has boosted his case -- that's he's basically been fired for disagreeing with Islam.
This is blatant and open religious discrimination. The man has simply been fired because he disagrees with Islam. It's not even because he's a Christian, but because someone WHO DID NOT HEAR his guest was "offended" and called the ACLU and CAIR. And everyone knows that government only supports those two religions (atheism and Islam) -- if you disagree with those religions, you cannot work for government, plain and simple.
According to the government, Mr. Escamilla was a near-perfect teacher for EIGHTEEN years. But suddenly, in the period of one week, he went from near-perfect to being "unfit" to teach in public schools. What's the difference? He invited a Christian to speak at the school. Keep in mind -- he also invited TWO Muslims to speak to the same students as well. Yes, if you now even TALK to Christians, you're "unfit" to be in a public school.
I keep telling you that public schools are the cesspool and garbage pits of America today. KEEP YOUR CHILDREN AWAY. Unless you're atheist or Muslim, the public school system honestly hates you.
From 1942 to 1944, 18 million men were tested on basic literacy to enter military service. 17,280,000 were judged to have minimum competency to read basic roads signs and directions. This is a 96 percent literacy rate (and a drop off of 2% of WWI applicants). These men were educated in the 1930s
From 1951, for the Korean war, several million more were tested and 600,000 failed basic literacy tests. The basic literacy rate had dropped to 81%. These men were educated in the 1940s, and had more years in school with more professionally trained personnel and more scientifically selected textbooks than the WWII men, yet it could not read, write, count, speak, or think as well as the earlier, less-schooled contingent.
From the mid 1960s to 1973, more men were tested for military service. The basic literacy rate was down to 73%. These men were educated in the 1950s and 1960s, an era when Public schooling was expanding rapidly and expenses on government education was increasing exponentially.
The more money we spend on education, the less literate we become. I know some who read here suggest that the "poor" won't get educated if there's not a public education system. I would suggest that NO ONE is getting educated since there is a public education system, and somehow we all managed to learn A LOT more and were MUCH more educated before the government started public education.
Those who read here regularly (thank you!) know my position on public schools (aka government monopoly schools). They stink. I mean, they really, really stink. They're garbage. I know, YOUR schools is okay, the rest are bad. No, I'm sorry, but YOUR public school is crap, too. If you want a very long read about the actual history of schools, check this one out. It's LONG, but it's accurate.
I know some of you are school teachers, or know school teachers, and you're quite sure that they are doing all they can. Well, you can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. "Our problem in understanding forced schooling stems from an inconvenient fact: that the wrong it does from a human perspective is right from a systems perspective." In other words, schools are about the SYSTEM, not people -- and therefore it destroys people.
Here's a couple recent news stories that help illustrate how bad public schools have gotten (they're NOT the school you went to years ago):
In California, two-parent families are banned. Seriously. Any person who is sending their child to ANY public school in California is doing a great disservice to that child. And yes, it's EVERY school there now. It's not about "protecting" gays, it's about openly discriminating against heterosexuals and two-parent families. Your children WILL be taught that they might be a different sex, despite what they know. Your children there will share bathrooms and locker rooms, regardless of their gender. And using the words "Mom" and "Dad" is basis for a lawsuit. California is lost.
Keep in mind: it's about the SYSTEM, not people.
And since it's about keeping kids in the system (so the system gets cash from other government agencies), if you DARE to take your child out once they're in the system, your children may be taken from you! I expect to see much more of this in California if people start running from the discriminatory system. I strongly suggest that anyone with children have a "bug out bag" with cash and clothes to flee, should social services EVER show up at your door. These are no longer conspiracy theories, they're happening right now.
In addition, another trend in public schools is the forced medication of your children, without parental permission or knowledge. After all, 11-year olds needs to have sex, right? That's what some schools are claiming.
Oh, and are you ready for the views of those who voted to encourage your 11-year old to have sex?
If my daughter were not able to talk with me about something, if she couldn't reach me for whatever reason, to keep her safe and healthy, I would want to make sure she had access to those resources from trusted adults.Richard Verrier
"If I suck so bad as a parent that my child won't talk to me about something as important as sex, I think she should talk to some strange adult who will encourage her to have sex. I'm glad that these strangers, who are government employees, and therefore completely trustworthy, but who might be pedophiles, will encourage my daughter to have sex often, perhaps even with them."
And much, much worse is what's also implied by this statement:
"In addition, not only do I trust complete stranger adults encouraging MY child to have promiscuous sex at age 11, I DEMAND that every other adult in the state of Maine equally trust random, unknown adults to encourage every one of their children to have open sex at age 11, too." Mr. Verrier, you are an evil, horrible person. I don't want ANY 11-year olds having sex, and you are horrible to demand that I allow ALL 11-year old girls to have rampant sex.
At the same time, religion will NOT BE permitted in these horrible institutions called "public schools." You see, if you're a government employee, you're simply not permitted to have ANY religion other than the ACLU and government-approved religion of atheism.
When you subject your child to a government school, you ARE giving up nearly ALL rights to that child. That's not exaggeration. Various courts have ruled that the school is allowed to act as a parent -- and ANY decision the school makes cannot be overridden by any parent.
Public schools are beyond repair. They are beyond hope. I implore you, if you care about your child, you will not let them into such evil places. Again, it's about the SYSTEM, not about your child, education, or ANYTHING else.
Update: The government has "backed down" in attacking the homeschooling parents -- but left them with VERY ominous warnings: "We will be watching you." Anita Nicoli, I suggest you pack up and RUN from that state RIGHT NOW. Social services will not surrender so easily. I suggest you head to New Hampshire as quickly as you can (and so should anyone else looking for freedom).
Van Helsing puts a face on this nightmare.
Well, you know how bad hugs are, right? You know how evil they are and how many people are injured and killed with hugs? Finally a school in Oak Park, IL has had the guts to ban those evil things. That's right, according to the government in Oak Park, if you're in a government school building and hug someone, you're in BIG trouble.
I'm so happy they've banned these things. Now if only more governments would see this progressive attitude and ban more of them. After all, I'm so offended when I see someone hugging someone else. I'm often late because I have to walk all the way around those people. And they waste so much time. See, students were late for classes because they were hugging and now that it's been banned, no one will be late any more. Isn't that wonderful? If only we had more government banning more things, utopia truly would exist here on earth.
So why do you parents keep sending them back to this penal institution known as "public school?"
Have you ever read "The Underground History of American Education?" If you want to know how and why the "public" education system in America works, you might want to. It's not a couple minutes' read, but it is quite enlightening. It starts out:
Our problem in understanding forced schooling stems from an inconvenient fact: that the wrong it does from a human perspective is right from a systems perspective.
I want to open up concealed aspects of modern schooling such as the deterioration it forces in the morality of parenting. You have no say at all in choosing your teachers. You know nothing about their backgrounds or families. And the state knows little more than you do. This is as radical a piece of social engineering as the human imagination can conceive. What does it mean?
What exactly is public about public schools? That’s a question to take seriously. If schools were public as libraries, parks, and swimming pools are public, as highways and sidewalks are public, then the public would be satisfied with them most of the time. Instead, a situation of constant dissatisfaction has spanned many decades. Only in Orwell’s Newspeak, as perfected by legendary spin doctors of the twentieth century such as Ed Bernays or Ivy Lee or great advertising combines, is there anything public about public schools.
Go read the entire thing if you truly want to understand why I, and many others, feel there is absolutely nothing redeeming about the entire government-run school system. But be prepared to be shocked and amazed. If information is power, this reading is an atom bomb.
Government education is horrible. I haven't written much about the government education system recently because I simply don't have words to describe it. If you think the current "public" education system is even remotely interested in educating your children, you're deeply confused. The government education system exists to support itself, and has absolutely NO other purpose.
Have you seen the "evil" sketch that got a student suspended in Arizona? The silly thing doesn't even look like a gun. But worse, the government bureaucrats (teachers and administrators) are actually defending their actions. At this point, I'm now beyond saying that it's just the bureaucrats -- the teachers are just as bad these days.
Why do I say that? Because in order for this event to happen, a teacher had to see the drawing. The teacher had to look at the picture and either think, "Oh, I'm scared;" or "That's against the rules." The TEACHER then had to report the student. Then the moron that is the principal then had to agree, "Oh, this is dangerous." Then the idiots that are the district administrators had to look at this and say, "This is absolutely a threat."
Every last person in that chain of events is a stupid moron. I don't say that lightly. You people who look at a poorly drawn imaginary "gun" (it's even a LASER gun that doesn't exist!) and are threatened should be locked up in an insane asylum. You're fools. You're the worst type of government employee. And with this many people involved that are total idiots shows that the entire system is utterly and completely infected by morons.
No, there's NO way to compare this to Columbine, as the idiot administrators actually did! There was NO THREAT. It was an imaginary drawing of an imaginary object. There was no blood. There was no one dying. There was nothing even remotely threatening. This would be exactly the same as a person drawing a monster and people being "threatened" by that.
The government education system, from the administrators on down to the teachers, are completely and totally hopeless. They are useless. They serve NO purpose other than to consume your tax dollars, literally. They do not educate. They do not teach. They have no value. The government education system is completely and totally beyond repair and has nothing worth saving.
What a shocker. The Charlotte Observer strongly supports throwing enormous piles of federal cash (taken from working taxpayers) at the government education system (which has nothing to do with educating people). This time it's called the "Graduation Promise Act" -- and costs $2.5 billion. Like everything else associated with government education, it has absolutely no value and will help no one except bureaucrats.
This one claims to help "reduce dramatically the number of high school dropouts." If they really want to increase the graduation rate, just start printing diplomas for anyone who reaches the age of 18. Seriously. Then they can claim much higher graduation rates and everyone will be happy -- and it would cost a LOT less.
These socialists and bureaucrats who literally want nothing but more money taken from those who work are playing on your emotions. After all, don't you WANT to help the poor and underprivileged? If you don't support this, you're heartless! Of course, this is in direct opposition to the fact that some people simply are not capable of learning enough to be considered educated. But don't worry, government can solve that problem, too -- with just a little more money.
What are they crying about and trying to get you to support massive new taxation?
More class time, immediate intervention and targeted help for each student who fails or falls behind, intensive focus on language and math, plus more challenging and inviting learning environments make a difference for struggling students.
Most of these strategies are already a part of N.C. Gov. Mike Easley's New Schools Project that aims to help transform conventional high schools into ones that are relevant and effective.
But gee, if we'd just spend a few billion more, all the problems would be solved.
Actually, if the entire government system of schools and "education" -- from age 3 to graduate schools -- would shut down overnight, EVERYONE would be SUBSTANTIALLY better off. Well, everyone except the government bureaucrat employees who live off other people's hard work.
The government-run socialist school system continues to brainwash unsuspecting youth. Note this essay by Danielle England and Kori Nunes. They support complete removal of the Second Amendment. Why? Because they don't trust me. I guess since their god, the US government, claims I'm a terrorist, they believe their god and don't trust me. But they really think the world will be safer without guns. Guess they haven't heard about Japan. Good thing they don't have guns and are only beheading and dismembering people.
But this is a result of the government school system. The government run system is telling your children that all guns are bad all the time. They are being told that you cannot trust anyone with a gun because you will kill people. The government run system is pointing out and teaching this vulnerable kids that anyone with a gun, other than government agents, is a bad person. And the kids believe them.
Arm yourselves now, because when these kids get to voting age, they're going to do all they can to disarm you so that only the government will be armed. Of course, the kids are also not taught that every single time that has happened in all of human history, government then starts killing anyone they don't like.
And once again, government schools illustrate their utter worthlessness to a free country.
Isn't this nice? Trust your government and your government schools. Why?
It was a 5-minute learning experience.We got together and discussed what we would have done in a real situation.
We can learn from this.
It will have a positive result of growth for all of us.
They're great teachers.
If (the assistant principal) loses his job, I will break into tears. He's the best assistant principal I've ever had.
Oh, but did you want to know what they were doing? Yes, the teachers and administrators were terrorizing the students. 69 sixth-graders were victims of terrorism. They trusted their teachers and the teachers lied to them in order to "teach" the students how to be scared witless.
The children were in that room in the dark, begging for their lives, because they thought there was someone with a gun after them.
You just go ahead, keep supporting those government schools. Keep telling yourself, "Gee, that might happen over there, but it won't happen in MY government school. MY school is better than that." Sorry. If it's a government run school (aka "public" school), it's no better than the steaming pile left by that brown cow in the field. Government schools have zero interest in education.
The ACLU gets most of it's operating funds from suing government -- claiming punitive damages. Punitive damages should be illegal when suing government -- school boards and other boards DO NOT CARE. It's not their money, so you are NOT punishing them. On to this week's Stop the ACLU blogburst:
April 11, 2007 10:08 PM
NewsChannel5.com
A federal judge has granted permission to a group of parents to try to stop a lawsuit filed by the ACLU.The suit claims Wilson County schools violated constitutional separation of church and state.
It alleges Lakeview Elementary school in Mt. Juliet and the Wilson County school board endorsed and promoted religious activities on campus that led to constitutional violations.
Very short article, lacking much information, but here is an Oct.2006 piece from Alain's Newsletter that gives a bit more detail.
Old Hickory, TN –
U.S. Senate candidate Bob Corker today said the Tennessee chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is woefully wrong to have filed what he called a "frivolous liberal lawsuit" against the Wilson County School District alleging a morning prayer endorsed by Lakeview Elementary School officials is a constitutional violation of church-state separation."When the President declared September 14, 2001 — just two days after the attacks of 9-11 — a National Day of Prayer, no one sued him for crossing some arbitrary line between church and state," said Corker. "We just bowed our heads and prayed. When a school in Wilson County or anywhere in our country allows children to do the same on the National Day of Prayer, or at a gathering at the flagpole, the courts ought to stay out of the way."
Corker said he supports the efforts of Mt. Juliet Commissioner Glen Linthicum, who said it was time for the community to take a stand against the ACLU lawsuit recently filed against the Wilson County School District. Linthicum co-sponsored a resolution unanimously approved last Monday night by the Mt. Juliet City Commission that encourages the elementary school and the Wilson School District to fight for their rights to religious expression.
"Like many parents across our state, I pray for my family everyday," Corker stated. "We should never force anyone to believe a certain faith or pray a certain way," Corker continued, "but if a school decides to set aside some time to allow children who wish to pray to do so, we ought to support that school and community. That is precisely what it means to protect our freedom of religious expression — and I will fight to do just that in the U.S. Senate if elected."
It appears that the ACLU has set it's sights on this school district...The ACLU Targets Christians
This was a production of Stop The ACLU Blogburst. If you would like to join us, please email Jay at Jay@stoptheaclu.com or Gribbit at GribbitR@gmail.com. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll. Over 240 blogs already on-board.
Permalink: http://stoptheaclu.com/archives/2007/04/12/parents-can-stop-aclu-lawsuit-against-wilson-co-schools/
Let's face it -- you cannot be everywhere. You can't watch all the news and keep track of terrorists everywhere. So how about someone that will do this for you:
reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds
(H/T to GM Roper).
So, do you think that an annual salary of over $70,000 qualifies someone as in the "rich" category? The US Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the US average salary as just $36,000. And Democrats continue to claim, over and over again, that they're for the "working man" and for "the poor." Well, the NC House (majority Democrats) just voted to give a 12% raise to certain state employees earning over $70,000.
House Bill 1299 just passed the House and it gives that raise. Oh, but it's okay because it's "for the children." This 12% raise is for teachers who make over $70,000. What? You didn' t know there were such things? You thought that all teachers made $12,000 a year, didn't you?
And if you read the formerly mainstream media, I'm sure you will have trouble understanding that on average North Carolina teachers make $2,700 more each year than their peers across the country. You might also not know that teacher pay in North Carolina has increased almost TWENTY percent in the past five years. So, have you gotten a 20% raise in the past five years -- for doing NO additional work? I know I haven't.
Once again -- that's North Carolina Democrats giving a massive 12% raise to state employees who already make in excess of $70,000. That's how they "help the poor."
Government is incapable of education. The current education system in America is honestly not interested in educating anyone. Instead, the current system is 100% about cash -- getting it and spending it. Anyone who claims different is either uninformed or lying. I seriously believe that the entire government education system should be shut down -- starting with the federal department of education.
However, that would require people to work. That would require people to actually DO things. It would require people to raise their children, instead of handing that task over to the nanny state. So I guess that's not going to happen -- despite the absolutely HUGE economic impact that would happen if all government education shut down today. Instead, for now, I'll have to settle with the next best thing: homeschooling. It works, and it is good. If you want your child to be educated with your values (and you're not a liberal), you have almost no other choice. Sure, private schools are an option, but they can be expensive.
So, in further support of homeschooling, I present this week's Carnival of Homeschooling. Well, actually I'm not presenting it, Principled Discovery is -- I'm just giving you the link so you can go check it out. So what are you waiting for?
"Smart Start." It sure sounds nice, doesn't it? Heck, if you're opposed to "smart start," then you must like "Dumb Start." You must be a racist if you oppose this one. It fits in the same category as "Smart Growth." SURELY you wouldn't DARE to oppose a program with such a wonderful name as that, would you?
Wait, before you answer, I need to tell you one more thing -- it's for the children. No, wait, it's for the POOR children. If you haven't heard anything about this program, don't worry, you will. There's no way ANYONE can oppose this. It has a good name and it's not just to help the children, but it's to help poor children. Do you support it yet?
Well, it costs billions of dollars and produces absolutely ZERO measureable results. Sounds like a Democrat's dream come true, doesn't it? Well, it is. And socialists gathered by the thousands hundreds dozens last week to "celebrate" this wonderful program that sucks tens of millions of dollars out of the pockets of working people to help the poor children, yet produces absolutely no results -- to ask for more money. And it's being held up as a model for the rest of the socialist nation. Just try to hold on to your wallet.
The concept is that since poor black children are doing bad in school, if we just give them money and train them before they enter school, since their parents aren't doing it, then they will do better. The concept sounds great. Let's take those who are "pre-disposed" to do poorly in school and get them up to the level of everyone else so that everyone starts at the same level. Then everyone will be wonderful.
One problem: it doesn't work. There has been no decrease in dropout numbers for participants. And the reports in the linked article are blatant lying -- they actually claim that a program started in 1991 produces people who are "more likely to ... be employed at age 40." For those slow on math, those who started the program in 1991 at age 4 are now only 18 or 19. So even graduation rates cannot even be measured yet! But dropout rates can. And they're bad.
But, like any good socialist program, all they need is a little more money. They measure success by how much money they spend, not by how many people are actually helped. Smart start is nothing more than yet another income redistribution plan that punishes the working and rewards the lazy.
It's perfectly okay, according to the United States government, the government of Idaho, and the education establishment in America, to tell captive students to assassinate those who vote Republican. According to the members of the ruling class and the education bureaucracy, that's fine because it's "to get ... students to think."
However, if someone tries "to get them [students] thinking" -- but DARES to refer to the Bible, you're out the door as fast as the very same people can throw you.
Can someone please explain to me how this is not a double standard? If the educrats are trying to induce students to think, why is it okay to suggest murder to get one to think, but not okay to refer to a book that's sold more copies than any other book in the history of the world?
Go ahead, try and convince me that Christianity isn't under attack in America. Someone please explain to me that suggesting outright slaughter of vast numbers of people in America is fine, while using a book that has provided a pathway to freedom, prosperity, and peace for millions is bad.
Once again -- when government gets involved where they should not be -- education -- they can do absolutely nothing but make a horrible mess of it. This provides yet more evidence that government is completely incapable of education. They cannot do it. They were never authorized to educate the populace. They should not be in the business because they absolutely stink at it. Go ahead, trust your children to be educated by a system that openly despises the Bible, yet praises those who suggest mass murder.
The march for forced acceptance, no matter the cost, continues for the gay movement in America. They continue to use the absolute force of government to demand that you completely and totally accept and approve of their lifestyle choices. This time, they're doing it in Deerfield, IL.
The militant gays are using the power of government schools to not only force 14-year olds to listen to graphic depictions of gay sex acts, but they are using that same force of government to force children to lie to their parents. And if the children dare disobey the all-powerful government, you can be assured that they will be severely punished. There's no word from the school district as to whether they will require all students to start wearing brown shirts. It was not clear at the time of this writing whether students are being asked to turn in any parents who attempt to pry the truth out of their children.
There is a reason that Ogre supports homeschooling. No matter how much you might think that YOUR government-run school isn't this bad, it is. I bet every single parent of every child in Deerfield High School thought that THEIR school was just fine and that they wouldn't have to put up with the radical leftist agenda being forced down their throats before this.
EVERY single government school in the country is suceptible to this truth-twisting by the left. The left will continue to work and penetrate every school they can get to -- and as you can see, they have absolutely no qualms about lying to get their agenda forced down the throats of the young people. You can be that in this secret presentation, in which children were forced to LIE TO THEIR PARENTS, there was no equal time for any other side of the debate. The entire discussion appears to have been about how being gay is wonderful, including graphic descriptions of gay sex acts -- and you can be sure there was NO discussion of the risks and societal consequences of those same acts.
Government schools stink. They have absolutely NO redeeming value AT ALL. There is absolutely NO reason to send your child to ANY government run school anywhere in the country. Those that run the school only want your child because it gives them cash from your pocket. The left only want access to your child to ram their viewpoint down their throat while unopposed. YOUR CHILD WILL SUFFER if you send them to ANY "public" school in this country. You can teach your child everything that is taught in a government school in about 15 minutes a day -- seriously.
For those who are going to cry about your child not getting to "socialize" with others -- keep in mind this gay lobby assault. Your child is learning to socialize by being told to lie to you and to approve and participate in gay acts.
There is absolutely NO VALUE at all to any government school. They should all be shut down immediately.
For those who read the Charlotte Observer, their socialist position should come as no surprise. For those who actually read that paper and expect unbiased news, you'll be in for a rude awakening.
This time, they're supporting socialist education. They honestly believe that everyone else should pay for ANYONE who wants to go to college. They think that college should be completely "free" -- which means working people will have to pay for it, instead of the people who will actually attend and benefit from it. But that's how socialism works -- a few people work to support those who do not.
They're complaining not that the cost of education has gone up -- including salaries to their pals in the education bureaucracy -- but that the tuition might go up. They think that their friends and allies that work in education should get a lot more money, but they don't think that students who will gain the education and degrees should pay for it. Instead, those who are working should pay.
They do not care that the costs of higher education are rising across the country -- they don't think students should pay. Oh, and if you're not from North Carolina, they support you getting a free education here, too. Socialists unite in North Carolina behind the Socialist Charlotte Observer. Productive working people? Get out while you still can.
Absolutely incredible. You are an innocent, law-abiding citizen. You're minding your own business. You're not breaking any laws and you're not disturbing anyone. Then, some government bureaucrat decides to tell you to be somewhere at 10am on Tuesday. No, it's not even to investigate wrongdoing. It's not as a witness to a crime. In fact, no crime has been committed.
In addition, the bureaucrat is not from the executive branch, nor are they associated in any way with law enforcement. They have nothing to do with taxes (other than living off yours). They have absolutely no force of law behind their request at all.
You, being rather busy doing something like working to earn enough to pay that bureaucrat's bloated salary, decide that you cannot get the time off from work and so you choose not to follow the bureaucrat's "request" to meet them on their terms at the time of their demanding.
In a free country, that would be the end of the story. However, the United States is not a free country. Instead, in Texas, if you DARE to refuse a non law-enforcement bureaucrat, they want to make that a misdemeanor crime that will cost you $500 and possible jail time.
Now go ahead and read the story and claim "it's for the children." That's crap. It's damn wrong, no matter how you frame it. To give unelected bureaucrats the power over people's lives like that is completely and totally wrong. If you want to hold parents responsible for their children, kick the children out of the school.
Of course, that will NEVER happen because schools don't do that at ALL any more. Short of committing a murder on school property, no child is ever removed from a public school. Heck, Charlotte openly welcomes convicted sex offenders into the classroom so others can experience diversity.
Some days I really wonder if there is any hope for freedom left anywhere on this planet.
Once again, we see the bias apparent in the press if you only look. An article that doesn't appear on the opinion page, says
The gap in funding between North Carolina's richest and poorest school districts is among the widest in the nation, an advocacy group for low-income and minority students reports.
If you twist the numbers just right and hold your head the right way, it would appear that there's a tiny difference in spending between poor people and rich people -- rich people apparently spend more, a bunch of scum-sucking slimeballs that rely on greed and jealousy to steal their income from taxpayers and works full-time to take from those who work to line their own pockets report.
The most appropriate response, yet again, to these envious, lazy bastards is, "SO WHAT?" You know what? People who work hard and earn money actually spend more. I know that the "Education Trust" people actually seriously HATE that people who work hard earn more money. They despise that people work and earn money -- they sure don't do it, I'm sure they wouldn't know how. But they sure do work at taking money AWAY from those who earn it.
And more importantly, show me ONE STUDY, go ahead ANY study that actually shows ANY difference in the level of learning based on money. There isn't one. Every time a scholarly group actually tries to find a causal relationship between money and education, it simply CANNOT BE FOUND. Money DOES NOT equal education.
But these scum at "Education Trust" not only know that, they honestly don't care. They want money for their own pockets and they're perfectly willing to take it from those who produce it. Scum-sucking leeches, the lot of them.
Lexington schools are considering banning evil at schools. And of course, when I speak of evil, I'm not talking about The Great Evil (Bush), but all that is evil, smoking.
They are considering making their school "100% tobacco free," meaning no one, including teachers and administrators, will be able to use any tobacco on school grounds. Since tobacco is a legal substance, I'm not quite sure how this is possible for a government agency to ban a legal activity on it's own grounds. Of course, this is perfectly legal for a private company to do this, but government isn't a private company and has it's own rules.
In addition, since this is government, they don't have to follow ANY rules, because they just make up any rules as they see fit. As long as NC is led by Democrats, no one will complain -- especially since this is not only evil, it's "for the children" which means it's perfectly okay, no matter what.
I wonder what it would be like to live in a truly free country.
Have you seen the recent happenings in Germany related to education? Oh, the left in America would absolutely LOVE this to happen here. Seriously. I'm not trying to be funny or exaggerate at all:
On Friday 20 October 2006 at around 7:30 a.m. the children of a home educating family … were brought under duress to school by police
Of course, remember, the education establishment in America is also honestly NOT interested in education. Their primary purpose is to spend money and secure teacher jobs (to be paid with MORE government money). In case you didn't know, the amount of money given to all government (public) schools in America depends DIRECTLY upon how many students attend. Therefore, the more students you have at your school, the more money you get. Homeschoolers are the enemy to the state.
Go ahead and elect Democrats and watch them crush this enemy, too.
Govn'r Easley has decided that to fix education, he needs to spend some money. Since it's For The Children (TM), then it's okay. He wants to audit all the schools in the state.
The audit, Easley said, was an effort to ensure that money was being spent wisely. The review is expected to cost the state $300,000.
Look, government has failed. Government cannot educate our children. It really doesn't matter how much money is spent, they are completely incapable of completing the task at hand. The education system across the country, not just in North Carolina, is not even interested in educating children. They're interested in passing tests so they can get more money. The government school system should be shut down. It simply does not work. It's the largest waste of money in the entire state budget. Since it cannot educate children, it's alleged purpose, then why should we keep paying for it?
Of course, if you ask anyone in the education system, they will claim they are a success -- and they are if you accept their terms. To the average person, the purpose of the education system is to educate children. If that's your view, then clearly the program is a complete and total failure. However, if you accept that the purpose is to obtain and spend money, then it's a monumental success! And that is the purpose of the education system to Democrats and bureaucrats.
So, if you want a system to raise and spend money, be happy with the education system in North Carolina, because it's a complete success. However, if you want a system that educates people, the North Carolina education system is an utter failure. Shut it down. And yes, I'm serious.
Oh, the poor children. It's the end of the world for children because the state is utterly incompetent. Therefore, the state needs to raise taxes and spend more money to hide their inability to educate.
That's the summary of this article that describes a potential plan to pay even more money to teachers in North Carolina -- as much as 57% more. They claim that there is a retention problem with teachers and by spending more money that problem will go away. It hasn't worked in the past, but like every other Democrat program, the solution is always just a little more money.
Teachers aren't leaving the industry due to lack of money. They're leaving the public education system because it stinks. They have no control over their classrooms. They're punished if they say the wrong thing at the wrong time. They're not allowed to throw disruptive students out of the classrooms. They're punished if they don't pass enough students. More money isn't going to solve that problem.
In addition, in a capitalist system, you earn money for doing one of two things -- doing something no one else can do, or something that no one else wants to do. Programming a computer is something few people can do -- therefore those who CAN do it get more money. Picking up trash is something few people want to do -- so they earn more money. Brain surgery is something that few can do and few WANT to do -- so they earn even more.
Teaching is not a difficult thing to do -- and there are currently a lot of people willing to do it -- so it does not command a high salary in a capitalist society. Government is interfering with the supply and demand, so the rules don't completely apply. But throwing more money will simply allow the people who are already doing it to earn more -- but that's not going to solve all the other myriad problems associated with public education.
If you don't believe me, compare the attrition rate of government school teachers and private school teachers -- it's not about the money.
"Of the bureaucracy, For the bureaucracy, and By the bureaucracy..."
That is how the government of this United States is set up, right? It certainly has nothing to do with the PEOPLE today. Just an example, a few quotes from a GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEE, who is supposed to work for the people:
UNC Charlotte Chancellor Phil Dubois plans to convene a committee this summer to study how rapidly the campus should grow over the next decade or two.
Dubois has previously said he thinks UNC Charlotte's student population probably needs to be much larger
Dubois also told trustees that he's confident that the N.C. General Assembly will approve UNC Charlotte's request for a $45.8 million
This is 100% backwards from how this country was founded. The government was supposed to work for the people. The people were to tell the government what to do, not the other way around. This just gives further proof that the government is absolutely, completely, beyond control.
The only remaining question is whether the government can be brought back subservient to the people with or without violence.
I seriously, honestly, want to know if ANY government-run school has EVER NOT asked for more money because it was the end of the world and all children would fail or die if they weren't given more money. Johnson schools has asked for a 15% increase for the year. And of course, it's a major crisis if they don't get it:
Some of this is not even break-even, we’re just trying to keep our heads above water
It's a bare-bones budget
The Ogre received an email entitled, "The Dukes of Cary?" As most people who get piles of email every day, I thought, "Spam," got hungry and readied the "delete" key. But I missed the delete key and read the email by mistake.
I found a reference to a printed letter to the editor in the Raleigh News and Observer. If you've followed politics in NC at all and know the politics behind the current Duke Lacrosse team, you'll get a kick out of the letter.
Nice one, Mike!
That's the message to the North Carolina General Assembly from the North Carolina Community College System. They want more than $1 billion, an increase of THIRTY percent over last year's budget. Why?
Because we've never been fully funded
Community college officials said they would prefer to keep tuition affordable for working people, so the extra money needs to come from taxpayers.
The theory is that the students will get higher-paying jobs and generate more state tax revenue in the future to ease the burden on the taxpayers who now being asked to foot the bill.
If that theory is so true, can anyone tell me the last time that ANY education system EVER asked for less? At what point will there be a reduction in burdens on the taxpayer? In North Carolina? The morons who run this state can't even make do with cost of living increases -- they're asking for THIRTY PERCENT MORE. No, that's not a theory, that's a blatant lie.
The Community College system might have a purpose, but it's no longer being used to educate -- it's being used to redistribute wealth from those who work and earn money to those who do not. It's wrong -- but the Socialist Democrats running the state disagree. As long as you support Democrats in North Carolina, they will continue to spend and waste money taken from those who work.
Remember, later this year, as across North Carolina you are absolutely inundated with calls for increased spending, increased taxes, more funding, and bond package support that's For The Children (TM) and government-run "education."
Since the 1997-98 school year:
Cartaret County lost 300 students through decreased enrollment -- but gained 117 new employees.
Craven County lost 278 students -- yet gained 142 new employees.
Rutherford County lost 115 students and gained 146 new employees.
In a total of 36 of North Carolina's school districts, there was a reduction of nearly 10,000 students -- and an increase of 800 new "administration" and other employees. Across the North Carolina system, enrollment is up 11% while the number of employees has increased 19% -- to a tune of over $1,000,000,000.00 in the last TWO years.
Remember that the next time an elected official tells you that ANY increase in taxes or education funding is "For The Children" or even for educating the children -- they're just outright lying.
Continuing the discussion regarding the 7-point NC Conservative Agenda. Today is Point 4:
Help Communities Build Schools
The lottery is a fact. It was named “The Education Lottery†and sold that it would be new money to help improve education. Now Governor Easley has admitted that the largest portion of lottery proceeds for lower class sizes and “More at Four†will be used to replace the money budgeted for these categories.Both lower class sizes and More at Four will require additional classrooms, but the lottery proceeds barely address the problem of providing new classrooms. Conservatives should amend the lottery law establishing the distribution of lottery funds and designate more money for school construction. More at Four and lower classroom sizes will not be affected because they are already funded in the budget while school construction is not.
Local school districts that are experiencing phenomenal growth should receive preference in the distribution of funds, instead of the present formula that gives extra lottery dollars to counties with declining school populations.
Now I do realize that these agenda items are items that people have a hope of getting through the General Assembly THIS YEAR, so they can't put up there "Removal of the public school system" -- even if they should. This agenda items suggests that conservatives modify the lottery law to distribute funds differently. I disagree.
If you want to modify the lottery law, just remove the damn thing. It's state-sponsored, monopolistic gambling. If you want gambling in North Carolina, just legalize gambling and be done with it. You would get much better establishments than just the "lottery" if you did -- and there'd be competition and much less blatant lying if you did that.
This item also doesn't mention much about these "smaller class sizes" and "more at four" programs. Those are governor Easley's pet projects that he loves -- because they give him more power, more control, and more money -- not because they actually DO anything, because they DON'T.
After years of reducing class sizes and years of Easley's trademark "more at four" programs, there is absolutely ZERO correlation between participating in those programs and educational process. In other words, reducing the class size from 30 to 18 has NO effect on education -- other than making it cost more because more teachers are required.
There's supposedly a teacher shortage in North Carolina -- yet no one seems to make the connection that it's because of smaller class sizes -- which, once again, has NO EFFECT on the actual education received. NONE. Same with the "more at four" programs -- they're supposed to give "more opportunity" to "disadvantaged" youths. While there may be evidence of very short-term benefits, over the long run (into middle- and high-school) there's NO effect when comparing those who participated and those who didn't.
Of course, this fits into Easley and the Democrat's plans -- they WANT education to cost more. They WANT more money and more power for education -- and they don't care in the least that their ideas and programs don't actually educate. In their mind, the education system exists so they can spend money and spread power around, and for no other reason.
So no, I don't support "rewriting" the lottery to build more schools. If we want to change school funding at the state level, how about completely eliminating any funding for "English as a Second Language?" Seriously! There's BILLIONS being spent on that, and we shouldn't be spending a dime. If you can't figure what amounts are being used there, it's even easier -- if a school district even HAS an "English as a Second Language" program, that district gets no state money. Can anyone give me a reason why not?
Will this pass? It's hard to say. The lottery is such a hot topic up there, I'm thinking the Democrats will be afraid to touch it at ALL.
Previously:
Introduction
Point 1
Point 2
Point 3
I sure hope that the North Carolina Community College system doesn't teach economics. They just demanded asked for more money because
Growth has created challenges. Those challenges can only be conquered with an infusion of financial support.
So the complaint is that there has been an increase of 50,000 students in the system (since 1999), and they don't have enough money to teach them all. Anyone with a 6th-grade education that wasn't supplied by the government-run monopolistic school system can see the simple answer: charge more money.
But no, not anyone associated with government. Instead of actually asking the people who are getting something from the state, they want everyone ELSE to pay -- through more taxes. And they don't want a little, no, they want $141 million. Of that, only $31 million is to pay for students.
According to the NC state library, there are over 750,000 students enrolled. The average number of courses taken is 2, with the an average credit enrollment of 6. So, if the students paid a whopping extra $7 per credit hour, they'd pay for their own education. What a concept.
But that's not all they want. They want $33.5 million to give "faculty and staff" a seven percent raise. When is the last time YOU got a 7% raise? And being state employees, don't think for a minute that they're not already getting an annual cost-of-living raise -- that's built in for all state employees.
Once again, government fails to make any sense in a free and capitalist society. I think community colleges are a good system -- but the state is utterly incompetent in running that system.
The education system in North Carolina is really, really broken. Those who work inside it have zero interest in fixing it -- only in obtaining more power, money, and control. Keep that in mind when dealing with the government-run monopoly education system -- they are NOT interested in education, just money and power.
That's why I love reading about homeschooling, especially in North Carolina. I've mentioned before how much homeschooling is growing in North Carolina, mainly because of the poor "school environment" in North Carolina.
This news is regarding sports -- North Carolina Homeschooling just held the largest state championship for homeschoolers in the country for basketball -- there's over 42 teams in 11 cities. So much for the homeschoolers and their "lack of social interaction," eh?
There's other good news in the report, too, including music, debate, and other arts. Go read the good news!
...So you know it's got nothing to do with the hopeless cesspool that is government-run "public" education system. Homeschooling is on the rise in North Carolina. It's up 36% in the last 5 years and continues to grow each year at a rate of about 8 to 10%. That's awesome. This shows that more and more people are acknowledging that the government is incompetent at teaching, well, anything.
And no, for those who know nothing about homeschooling other than what the liberal news media will tell you, it's not just religious nuts. The #1 reason that people are giving for homeschooling in North Carolina is "concern about the school environment."
Gee, you mean parents disagree with Mecklenburg County's School Board king Joe White, who says that children should experience the "diversity" of sitting next to convicted sex offenders in public school? Or maybe it's the arbitrary division of people by age, rather than by ability.
Homeschoolers ARE a success, by all measures. They are more educated, they are more well-rounded. They score higher on standardized academic tests and they are more socially adjusted (see here, and here) than those who have been sheltered in the walls of a school.
I used to say that homeschooling isn't for everyone -- I don't think that's quite right. You should get your children out of, and away from, the filth and waste that is the government school. If you can homeschool, that IS the best option -- I have yet to meet ANYONE who has tried homeschooling that did not like it.
Oh, and in North Carolina? You won't be alone -- at least 63,000 children are being homeschooled. If that were one school district, it would be the 4th largest in the state -- and that really is good news.
Michelle Malkin points out Newsbuster's report on scumbag honored, esteemed, exalted, and celebrated member of the education establishment, Jay Bennish. In case you missed the case, he is a government employee who advocates treason against the United States.
He has been reinstated without any visible punishment and is permitted to continue teaching anything he wants in his "World Geography" class, including continuing to advocate that enemies of the United States should bomb this country. If there was any penalty, it may have been a minor "letter of reprimand" -- or it could have been a letter of commendation -- the school district will not say.
Either way, the taxpayers who pay his salary have been told that he can and will continue to preach for the destruction of the United States and the taxpayer will continue to pay for it, allegedly in the name of "academic freedom."
Of course, academic freedom ONLY applies to the left and Democrats. You see, a teacher in Miamidared to mention words from the Bible in school. "Students are upset." "It is distracting." The principle has "discussed his comments" with him and has not yet determined if he has violated any school policies.
So, if you mention the Bible in direct response to other students mocking it, that's insensitive, wrong, and may violate district policies. But if you openly advocate treason against the United States, you get rewarded and celebrated.
Now do you see why I continue to tell you the ONLY way to educate students in this country today is homeschooling? The government school system is a total cesspool of ultra-liberal thought. It has NOTHING to do with educating. If you have children, you are seriously doing them harm by permitting them to attend a government-run school.
So, what could you do with an "extra" $210 million PER YEAR? The state of North Carolina has decided that the people of NC don't need that money, so they're going to take it and give it to people who openly break and flaunt the law. That's the current estimated cost of educating criminal aliens.
Those who support such massive expenditures are quite generous with other people's money, of course, as all government agencies are. They will even point to the NC Constitution which guarantees a free education for the state's citizens -- but seem to miss the point that these are NOT state citizens, but are criminals who are actively breaking the law.
At what point does it become too expensive? Supporters will claim that having the criminals more educated will help everyone -- but how much is too much? Wouldn't the entire world be better off if everyone in Africa had a Ph.D. in some science? Why don't we just raise taxes enough to pay for that?
If you're not a citizen, if you're breaking the law by entering this country illegally, you are owed NOTHING. If you want an education, learn the language first.
I can't say this is really surprising in a Canadian school. The Canadian Supreme Court has ruled that bringing dangerous weapons to school is perfect okay with them, in a unnanimous 8-0 decision.
In a ruling based on religion, children are now allowed to take large metal knives with them to class. If you have kids, you are welcome to have them join my religion. It's called Cali-burr. Everyone has to carry a gun to be a member -- everywhere. And anyone who stops you is supressing your religion.
Oh, did you miss that one in the news reports, too? Well, it's been rather slow-developing, but steady. If you know or watch anything regarding the news and education in North Carolina, I'm sure you will recognize the Leandro case and King Supreme Ruler Almighty Judge Manning. He has elevated himself even above the governor.
In 2002, he replaced the NC legislature, completely usurping the power granted to them in the NC Constitution to determine all state spending. He ordered additional spending on schools, and the state accepted his imperial edict and increased spending to the tune of $22 million. In 2004, the state supreme court supported his coup and removal of the Legislature from the legislative process. But he wasn't done yet.
Not satisfied with the idea that 22-million extra dollars had absolutely no effect on education or grades, the leader of the coup has now taken over for the school boards, removing them from power. The judge has determined that he, and he alone, will shut down schools next year and "not allow them to open" if they do not meet his personal standards.
Apparently there's no need to elect a school board, because they are not allowed to run the school systems any more. Someone want to explain to me how this isn't a coup? Well, at least there wasn't any bloodshed with this clear change in government. Maybe we could revolt and try a representative republic in his place. I've heard those work good, at least for a hundred years or so.
Well, yet again government has provided an incredibly expensive solution to a problem. The fact that there was no problem to begin with, of course, will not deter those in government from spending the money to solve the problem. In this case, we've got almost $400,000 of federal tax money gone.
So, what solution did they create? They added eye scan technology to schools in NJ -- so all parents and teachers get their eyes scanned before they're allowed to enter the schools, and all visitors and activities of all scanned people can be tracked.
This will certainly solve that pesky problem with the school shootings done by students -- oh wait, no it won't. It must solve that problem of terrorist attacks on schools -- well, actually, it won't do much to stop a bomb or a bomber.
I guess it will solve that problem of so many non-students trespassing on school property when they weren't supposed to. Oh, that's not a problem? As I first said -- leave it to government to find massively expensive ways to either just create problems, or to attempt to solve problems that don't exist.
Is there any possible reason left to allow government to run anything remotely associated with education? No, there is not.
Wake County commissioners' chairman Tony Gurley says it's time to ask the N.C. General Assembly to let all counties raise sales taxes to pay for school construction if they want, and also floated the idea of a real-estate transfer tax, the N&O reported.Why do people keep electing this socialist morons? Why can this type of person see every single solution as spending more money that's not theirs? Is there no way to stop this total and utter nonsense?
There is a very simple solution that would not only not need a tax increase, but could actually result in LOWER taxes -- but that would require that morons like Tony Gurley give up some power and control, so it's highly unlikely. That solution? Get government the heck out of the way of the free market.
If government would stop spending billions of dollars on bureaucrats in education, education would suddenly get very inexpensive. A very simply solution of tax credits where the money followed the student would completely stop this demand for money for the damn children.
Yes, it really is that simple. The schools would cost a great deal less, more people would be gainfully (and profitably) employed, the quality of the schools would drastically increase, and taxes could be reduced. But there are so many people currently sponging off the system that they will never willingly give up their power and control.
So where's the hope? What can be done? Elect better people. Get this idiot Tony Gurley out of office and put someone in there who can think about something other than spending other people's money. Do NOT give school boards MORE power and the ability to raise taxes on their own!
No, not through an infrared 10x scope -- by their own alumni at UCLA!
An alumni group is offering students up to $100 per class to supply tapes and notes exposing professors who allegedly express extreme left-wing political views at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Some of those targeted say it's a witch-hunt reminiscent of Sen. Joseph McCarthy's anti-communism crusade in the 1950s.
Perhaps it's because they know their views are way out of line with America, and that they can only succeed in spreading them when they have a captive audience that cannot respond to them without being retaliated against (via failing grades).
I hope this spreads -- and the Alumni group doesn't even need to DO anything -- just collect the information that the liberals spew, and post it on the internet for all to see. Then even more people can see the crap that's going on in your government-funded education system.
(H/T to Raven).
For those who support as large a government as possible, and those who are strong supporters of socialist ideas, North Carolina Education is #1, as The very socialist Charlotte Observer points out. When speaking about the huge dollars spent by the state and subsidys given away to college students in North Carolina, the Observer says,
That's evidence that tax dollars spent on those resources are good investments. But it's also a mandate to keep state tuition and fees from boiling out of reach of ordinary citizens.
But the legislature must also pay a greater share of the university's operating costs.
And yet, even that's not enough for the Observer! Despite there being no evidence that class size has any effect on education -- and some studies in North Carolina actually show a smaller class size can REDUCE the number of students who get good grades and pass, they still want even MORE money spent on colleges:
In Chapel Hill the student/faculty ratio is 14:1; in Charlotte it's 19:1. The only way to overcome that disadvantage is by improved state funding.
Government should get completely out of the education business -- from pre-K to colleges. They have absolutely proven that they cannot educate people, so they should stop trying. The free market really does work.
The left is sure weird when looked at through a lens of reality and logic.
I don't know about where you live, but in Mecklenburg County, NC, every single year the government-run monopolistic education system ("public" education) "needs" more money. The school board asks for, and liberals (including the Charlotte Observer) demand more money.
And when they get their 25-50% increases in spending, all is good because the left can then spend money better than you know how -- on administrators and other non-education related things in the school budgets.
However, when it comes to higher education, where customers (the students) actually have to pay for their own education, suddenly it costs too much and tuition should be paid on a sliding scale (the rich pay more), AND prices should actually be CAPPED!
Now why is it that when the government is paying for education, it's simply not possible for it to cost too much, but when individuals have to pay, no matter what the actual cost, they shouldn't have to pay anything?
Yet still the myth continues. There are still some groups that simply live and die spreading the myth that money = education. Sorry, but that's a complete lie, only designed to get more cash out of the taxpayers hands and into government. Of course, "It's for the Children."
Another lie-filled "advocacy" group has announced an astounding fact -- that poor counties in North Carolina are spending less money than rich counties on education. Their solution? Of course, to steal more money from productive citizens and give it to the "poor" counties.
MONEY DOES NOT EQUAL EDUCATION. It never has, and it never, ever will. There are ZERO studies that even suggest that any amount of increase of $1 or $1000 has ANY effect at all on education. None. Zero.
Increasing funding for education does have ONE effect: it steals money from the economy so that hard-working people get less for their work. It violates the North Carolina Constitution that says, "We hold it to be self-evident that all persons are ... endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, the enjoyment of the fruits of their own labor."
All government spending on education should be reduced to zero. EVERYONE will benefit tremendously -- well, except for the bureaucrats and "advocacy" groups.
Are a total mess and a nightmare. But if you live anywhere near here, you'd know that. Of course, if you live elsewhere and support a strong socialist idea of an education system, then you worship and adore the Charlotte-Mecklenburg System (CMS).
A year ago, a LARGE number of parents tried to secede from the school district. They wanted to break the gigantic, massively unresponsive school system up into smaller, more manageable districts. Of course, since the North Carolina General Assembly is Democrat, there was NO way they would succeed because it would require government to shrink.
So instead, in a miserably feeble attempt to appease these parents, the Democrat-controlled school board set up a "task force" to "study" the problem. The results of the "task force" are in. And yes, once again, I could have saved the state millions of dollars on the task force -- because the results were known before the task force even met for the first time.
As usual, the task force was stacked with socialists and big-government liberals who would never dream of reducing, reforming, or improving any aspect of government in any way, shape, or form. Their primary mission, when it concerns government, is how to raise and spend more money without annoying too many people.
The headlines for the task force report are "A call to transform CMS." That's either a complete and total blatant lie, or the person who wrote the headline didn't actually read either the task force report or the article that appears just below that headline.
The task force is "backed by city business leaders." If you're not from around here, I'll help you out with that one -- the city "business leaders" run this city, inside and out. Nothing happens that they don't want to happen. So if it's backed by them, it WILL happen, no matter what anyone else wants. Don't believe me? Look at the new "uptown" arena.
The task force report is full of words like "bold" and "challenging." But in reality, it's just another plan to expand spending and schools. They want to keep the system intact, but "divide it into three or four parts." In other words, they want to EXPAND the bureaucracy that is already so big it cannot respond to anyone!
They want FEWER school board members -- make a system bigger and control it with LESS people. The school board needs LESS power, not more! They're already way out of control without any responsibilities, and this task force wants to give them more power and more money to be controlled by LESS people.
They want no at-large members on the school board, only district members. This would ensure that the district could decide the exact makeup of the board without any questions. They would draw the districts to absolutely ensure a strong majority of center-city Democrats and no representation for Republicans in the outlying suburbs.
See, I told you this was Democrats protecting Democrats.
They want to build smaller high schools -- but don't say where they will build them. One of the biggest criticisms of the current board is that they absolutely refuse to build schools where the children are and instead want to build schools where they want to so that they can force busing and make deals that give them cash from developers.
And of course, one of the primary suggestions of the task force -- "Spend more money on the students who need it most."
What a giant pile of stinking BS. But to read the Observer's story, this is a wondrous brand-new, radical idea. It's not. It's nothing but a total increase in government power and a continued destruction of freedom.
If you're considering moving to the Charlotte area, I truly hope you do not have children -- the school system there is already at the bottom of the toilet -- and this task force just pushed the lever to flush.
Here's just another example of anti-Americanism that's snuck into the government-run monopolistic education system. I'm sure it's not new news to those on the "inside" of education, but I hadn't heard of it before.
It used to be that America was The Great Melting Pot. The idea was that there was a unique American culture. This American culture was a great culture -- this was one of the primary reasons that people came to this country -- to join in with freedom, capitalism, and rugged individualism.
As people came to the country, they learned how this culture worked. They worked hard to learn the English language and to assimilate into the culture so they could effectively participate and work together and be a part of this superior culture.
Now I'm told this is all different. Apparently in education circles, including the horrible government-run system, there is no longer any melting pot. America now is supposed to be considered a "tossed salad."
Instead of joining in and becoming part of the unique, superior culture, immigrants are supposed to transplant their own culture and NOT adjust at all to America.
They are expected to bring their own traditions and culture (like macho drunk driving) and not only not assimilate, but to reject the American culture as inferior to their own, thereby creating a large group of different cultures that are specifically NOT American.
This was tried most recently in France. How'd that work out for them?
Importing various different cultures with ZERO assimilation is simply a recipe for total disaster. Cultures clash -- they ALWAYS have, and they always will. By teaching people that diversity is good, just for diversity's sake are plain wrong.
This forced diversity brings us things like saying it's a good experience for students to be in classrooms with convicted sex offenders (as is the case in Charlotte-Mecklenburg skills). This "tossed salad" brings us dangerous gangs (like MS-13) that are accepted as a different, diverse group of "undocumented workers."
This new "enlightenment" of mandated diversity provides us with pedophiles accepted as "alternative." It has brought us generations of welfare families that demand and expect everything to be given to them.
The tossed salad has wilted and grown moldy. It is nothing more than a potful of smelly garbage. Unfortunately, I think it may be too late for America to regain it's superior culture.
The Charlotte Observer has an editorial a news story with the following headline:
Keeping N.C. teachers will take more than pay, licensing efforts
Instead, the article focuses on the lack of teachers, the various school districts that cannot hire enough, and the various cash incentives and bonuses that are being used to attempt to attract teachers.
The easy solution is the one that's overlooked -- if the state can't find enough teachers, stop trying. Seriously. There's no reason that the state should be the only provider of education. The state should simply give up, perhaps starting at the high school level -- just stop providing high school, let the market take over, and give tax credits to anyone with school-age children.
Of course, the politicians are way too entrenched to ever give up any power, so that's not going to happen.
If you cannot attract employees with cash, try another option -- give the damn teachers some authority. Change their working conditions so THEY are in charge of the classroom, not the children.
Allow teachers to dictate what will happen in the classroom. Allow teachers to throw children out of the classroom when they are disruptive. Don't send convicted felonious sex offenders into the classrooms with the teachers. Allow teachers to arm themselves against the gangs and violence. EXPEL students who are involved in felonious assaults and gang wars on school grounds.
But then, you'd have to get rid of students who won't learn -- and that would reduce the federal funding -- so that's not going to happen, either.
So what's the solution? Take your own children and get them out of the government school system and let it collapse under it's own weight.
It's just freedom of speech, right?
Your right to free speech ends when you require me, at gunpoint, to pay for it. Government has NO business in education.
Update: The anti-American bastard is no longer taking my money. Good riddance.
Once again, we see the same claims of free speech being screamed while tax dollars are being used to support the enemy and to encourage sedition. Yet again there's a college "teacher" who is being paid with my tax dollars and he wants all American troops to murder other American troops.
See, this is yet ANOTHER reason that government shouldn't be involved in education. This is MY tax dollars at work. Yes, you have the right to freedom of speech, but you do NOT have the right to have me PAY YOU for a platform for your freedom of speech.
And if government got out of the education business altogether, this would NOT be an issue at all.
(Linked to Stop the ACLU Open Trackbacks).
Some people continue to point out the obvious, that state-run institutions of "higher education" are crammed full of super-ultra-liberals who support communism, socialism, and various other philosophies that abhor freedom, capitalism, and Christianity.
And if you point out those facts, YOU are the one bringing politics into the classroom, according to Judith Wegner, not surprisingly, the chairwoman of the faculty at UNC with a clear vested interest in keeping herself and her friends in place, no matter how much they might hate freedom and America.
She is defending people like UNC English lecturer Elyse Crystall who emailed all her students in her classes to attack one of her students who didn't think gays should be celebrated and have special rights -- no free speech for you in Elyse Crystall's classes.
She defends people like Steven E. Jones from BYU, loony extraordinaire, who thinks that there were no Muslims or terrorists involved in the 9-11 attack on America.
Other, more sane people, want there to be some balance. They don't want people hired to higher education positions based on their politics -- but people like Judith Wegner do not like the idea that people can be free, so she supports continuing the policy of specifically hiring only those who have the correct political beliefs.
A bill was introduced in the NC Legislature last year to give students the actual right to disagree with professors -- and the Democrats promptly crushed it to ensure that no freedom of speech, nor even thought, would be allowed in the schools of North Carolina.
Explain to me again why government needs to be involved in education at all? The entire state university funding system should be completely shut down. Let private industry handle education -- they can do everything else better than government -- and then this would not be an issue, nor a HUGE financial expenditure.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, also well-known as the Berkley of the East, has revealed that slavery existed in the United States in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Apparently no one knew about that before today.
"This university was built by slaves and free blacks," said Chancellor James Moeser. "We need to be candid about that, acknowledge their contributions."
Far down in the news story, we find out the real purpose for this:
Harvard law professor Charles Ogletree. But he believes those found to have had links to slavery should pay reparations.
Once again, it is NOT charity; it is NOT good, nice, or honorable, to TAKE money from one person and GIVE it to another. Explain to me again why in the hell education can only exist with government running it? Oh yeah, because people who were accountable wouldn't consider such moronic ideas.
Christians are now persona non gratis in the University of California school system. The state of California is now officially, according to the University system, a state sponsor of the naturalist religion and no other religions will be tolerated or allowed in the University system.
In related news, the United States Air Force agrees to punish Christians as well.
The University system is now rejecting any course that has been taught by any private, home, or religious school that contains any reference to creationism or intelligent design; or even any that actually mention that FACT that Darwin's theory of evolution is actually a theory.
They are also rejecting any history course that mentions Christians, including a course called "Christianity’s Influence on American History," even if the courses are actually based on facts. Since the course NAME contains the word "Christian," it is verboten in the California University system.
This is what happens when the government gets too involved in the education system. The STATE has no business, indeed NO need, even no real reason to be in the business of education. The state does not need state schools. The entire state university system should be scrapped -- private institutions will very quickly and easily take their place.
Unfortunately, there are too many with vested interests in the state-run education system for reason to enter into the system. Watch this case closely, as it will likely reach the Supreme Court (after getting through the morons on the 9th circuit court), and could have a very far-reaching impact on ALL education and religion in this country.
(Hat tip to Cross Blogging).
Nice story out of Texas today. It seems a Marine was told he had to pay a fine for being in the Marines. He was denied in-state tuition from a community college because he had spent years in Iraq. He has current and active bank accounts in Texas; a voter registration, and a TX driver's license -- but no in-state tuition, so the Community College doesn't consider him a resident.
Here's a tip for you, Carl Basham: tell them you're from Mexico. If that doesn't work, you're free to come to North Carolina and tell the community college here you're from Mexico -- that gets you "in-state" tuition rates in this state.
Yesterday I responded to a question from the Christian Views Symposium regarding intelligent design and schools. In the comments to that post, and on his own blog, Pixy Misa said:
ID simply isn't a theory in scientific terms. Evolution is. We can perform experiments in evolution, but in the main it is observational, like astronomy. It's still science
Many scientists have tried to create and observe evolution today. None have succeeded. That's right, none. There are absolutely zero experiments that have been completed that show any evidence of evolution, and it's not due to lack of trying.
Scientists have tried to force evolution in fruit flies because of their extremely short life cycle (40-50 days). Despite numerous attempts, there was no evidence of any evolution -- they continue to reproduce and only produced more fruit flies.
Pixy continued:
And an absolutely vast amount of evidence supporting Evolution.
Where did the theory of evolution come from? First, Darwin decided "Everything in nature is the result of fixed laws."* So the idea that there could be any sort of intelligent design was rejected without ever being considered. Darwin categorically rejected any sort of intelligent design and THEN set out to find a theory, and THEN tried to find evidence to support it. Evolution and the state-sponsored naturalistic religion is based on an a priori decision.
All scientists that support naturalism and evolution have already rejected the intelligent design theory without any evidence. They have decided it cannot be without examining the theory at all, simply because it does not fit their own religion that declared that natural law MUST explain everything. What if not everything CAN be explained by natural law?
Two of the biggest proponents of evolution, and two people who were very instrumental in getting the naturalistic religion accepted were Herbert Spencer (the first person to extend evolution in other disciplines) and Thomas Huxley (self-anointed as "Darwin's Bulldog"). Both of these men had rejected any possible idea of creationism or intelligent design years before Darwin's theory appeared -- they were looking for something, anything, to believe in other than creation -- even if there were little or no evidence for it.
In 1997, Harvard geneticist Richard Lewontin said,
In the struggle between science and the supernatural, we take the side of science. Because we have a prior commitment to materialism.
Pixy also says:
ID doesn't predict anything. Evolution does. Evolution makes quite concrete predictions about how species will respond to selection; about the genetic relationships of species with certain evolutionary relationships; and many other things. These predictions have been borne out time and time again by hard evidence.
No matter how much mutation is observed, the basic DNA of a creature absolutely stays the same. Decades ago, much less was known about biological science. Now, when mutations and adaptations are observed with today's science, it is shown that there is no evolution away from a species. A horse can only reproduce another horse. A horse cannot and never will give birth to a dog.
Pixy finishes with:
But every time it's [ID] presented as science, every scientist in the world will oppose it. Not because it's wrong - we can never know whether it's wrong. Not because it's useless - though it certainly is. But because it's not science. Metaphysical naturalism is the underpinning of all of science. If it's false, all of science is false. It's not a question of refusing to accept evidence; it's a question of there not being any.
These scientists completely rely upon everything having a natural cause. They insist that everything does, and they will reject any suggestion that anything can be supernatural because that would violate their deeply held religious beliefs. Evolution is only supported by radical, strongly-held religious beliefs. Intelligent design has religious beliefs and scientific evidence to support it.
* Nora Barlow, The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1958.
Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is the perfect example of what is termed a "RINO" (Republican in Name Only). Each year he runs on the Republican ticket, and he gets the votes of the Republicans. Every year he votes and works for the Democrats, so he gets the votes of the Democrats. He has been mayor of Charlotte since 1995, and he is running again this year, basically unopposed.
As of the writing of this article, his web site does not have any information. However, I heard a clip of his announcement on the radio. He claims he's working to expand light rail (liberal plan), reduce crime (not possible with Democrats on the city council), and tell our children what is acceptable in a polite society (liberal plan).
Well, Mayor (who has absolutely no say or control regarding the schools, that's for the school board) McCrory -- you want to know what's wrong with our schools? How about them encouraging cheating and then insisting that nothing is wrong with it?
The Rhino Times is reporting regarding an "investigation" into allegations by a teacher that he was forced to inflate grades (hat tip to Bill James.
Ok, no further than the first sentence and hopefully you can spot the problem. Person A accuses organization B of wrongdoing. So let's have organization B "investigate." Does anyone on this planet actually think there was even a 0.00001% chance that the organization will find they did anything wrong? Only if you live in a self-proclaimed "reality-based world" -- which means you're a Democrat and believe anything and everything government says.
But hey, it gets worse!
The result of the "investigation" (remember, this is the school investigating itself for wrongdoing): It is likely that people lied and cheated, but no one did anything wrong.
This is what passes for education when you allow a horribly corrupt government-run system educate your children. They are actually learning that people in power, if supported by government, are 100% completely free to lie and cheat, and there is NOTHING wrong with it. Nothing at all.
The teachers in question claim that the principal ordered them to give no student any grade lower than 60%. An email was even obtained that showed he did that. According to the superintendent of schools at the time (a six-figure government salary earner), principals have the final authority to determine all grades for all students, regardless of teacher decisions.
Oh, and one reason for inflating the grades even more -- lack of attendance. Yes, if you are a student and doing poorly, all you have to do is start NOT SHOWING UP and your grade will go up because you didn't have the opportunity to learn SINCE YOU WEREN'T THERE.
And want some real leadership? The chairman of the county board of education, after finding out all the facts outlined here said, "If that’s what the superintendent and staff said then that’s what I agree with."
Folks, you absolutely cannot trust your children to the government. Government schools really, really do stink, and they're getting worse. Nothing in this post was hyperbole -- this garbage is really true. There is NO room for education in today's government schools. If you care about your children, get them out. It may not be easy or convenient for you, but you are harming your children by putting them there.
Yay and Hooray!
Blogless Tomslick pointed me to this news story in the comments. The story starts out with standard fear and scare tactics:
Kansas schools now face an almost unthinkable possibility: They might not reopen in the fall because of a political and legal battle over education funding.
Instead of being depressed or scared, I'm excited! That would be incredibly awesome! Can you image a court ordering the government-run monopolistic schools to stay closed because of funding arguments? That would be so good, there's no way it would happen. It would be a huge blow to the monopoly and a massive step towards freedom! Seriously!
Think about it -- what would happen? The parents would get together, hopefully without any government interference. The teachers, now unemployed, should join with them. They could simply agree to hold classes at different people's houses on different days. The teachers could trade their skills at teaching for money that the parents would earn working. Some parents might even stop working to teach their own children and those of others.
People would be free to teach and learn whatever things they wanted. Some children might even join their parents at their places of work and learn trades and skills. Some might be apprenticed to other workers. The poor would not suffer, because the churches and other groups would join together to ensure their children were schooled as well.
Wow.
This would be a wonderful thing.
Which means there's no way the self-centered, non-people-driven, non-self-government government would let it happen. Darn.
From World Net Daily, via Vox Day:
Whereas, The public school system does not offer a Christian education, but officially claims to be "neutral" with regard to Christ, a position that Christ Himself said was impossible (Luke 11:23), andWhereas, The public schools are by law humanistic and secular in their instruction, and as a result the attending children receive an education without positive reference to the Triune God, and
...
Therefore, be it resolved that the 33rd General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America encourages all her officers and members to remove their children from the public schools and see to it that they receive a thoroughly Christian education, for the glory of God and the good of Christ's church.
That's a proposed resolution of the Presbyterian Church in America, much like the one attempted at the Southern Baptist Convention. It's pretty unlikely that this will pass, but it certainly should. As Vox mentions, it's certainly a good sign that Christians are starting to wake up.
If you're Christian, read that first paragraph again. The school claims to be neutral, which is impossible.
4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. -- Ephesians 6:4
You can't have it both ways. Luke 11:23 says "He that is not with me is against me."
So no, I cannot see any way a Bible-believing Christian can associate, attend, or support public schools for their children.