Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
First, I never called for funding of privatized schools. I do not believe that vouchers should be used to fund private schools nor do I think that private schools are any better than public schools. What I said is I would like the choice of which school I send my child to and hopefully by allowing choice in the public school sector, this would create some competition that would then lead to schools raising the bar and achieving academic goals rather than 'dumbing down' the material just so kids can by with whatever state test they must take-No Child Left Behind Act!
In life, we are provided choices in what we pay for, except public schools. If I live in an area that has 5 public high schools and my high school does not meet my expectations, even though I am paying my state taxes, property taxes and whatever county taxes I have to pay, I cannot freely remove my child to another school within the district. That is ridiculous! Public schools should be accountable and held to the same standards as any private school. I think that every child has the right to a public education and should not be penalized for where they live or how much money they have. By allowing choice, this offers possibilities to families that may not have been there before. A family is no longer stuck in a 'bad' school because they cannot afford to live where the rich reside.
As far as dinner at the table goes, I agree with you and have never disputed that more time needs to be spent with the kids. But just like you posted to Homlish560, everyone makes sacrifices in this world for their child(ren). Sometimes that means that not everyone can sit at dinner togher as you stated OR sometimes that means cutting back and living simply just to make sure that you have dinner with your child(ren). My kids don't need anything! They want and want, but they need nothing! I take my oldest to school everyday and pick her up everyday! We live in a smaller home so I can stay at home with my youngest and it will remain this way for another year or so. I understand that both parents have to work sometimes and I understand that some families are single parent family homes but that does not change my view that people, tax payers, should be able to pick and choose where their child goes to school. We are in a situation right now where if our school fails the state standardized test again, we may be able to pick the school of our choice in our district next year. This is fair. If a school is not providing the proper learning materials to create smart adults then why even waste a child's time there??? And why waste our money??? Maybe the reason why things are falling apart at our schools is because our schools can't get their act together!!!
First, I never called for funding of privatized schools. I do not believe that vouchers should be used to fund private schools nor do I think that private schools are any better than public schools. What I said is I would like the choice of which school I send my child to and hopefully by allowing choice in the public school sector, this would create some competition that would then lead to schools raising the bar and achieving academic goals rather than 'dumbing down' the material just so kids can by with whatever state test they must take-No Child Left Behind Act!
In life, we are provided choices in what we pay for, except public schools. If I live in an area that has 5 public high schools and my high school does not meet my expectations, even though I am paying my state taxes, property taxes and whatever county taxes I have to pay, I cannot freely remove my child to another school within the district. That is ridiculous! Public schools should be accountable and held to the same standards as any private school. I think that every child has the right to a public education and should not be penalized for where they live or how much money they have. By allowing choice, this offers possibilities to families that may not have been there before. A family is no longer stuck in a 'bad' school because they cannot afford to live where the rich reside.
As far as dinner at the table goes, I agree with you and have never disputed that more time needs to be spent with the kids. But just like you posted to Homlish560, everyone makes sacrifices in this world for their child(ren). Sometimes that means that not everyone can sit at dinner togher as you stated OR sometimes that means cutting back and living simply just to make sure that you have dinner with your child(ren). My kids don't need anything! They want and want, but they need nothing! I take my oldest to school everyday and pick her up everyday! We live in a smaller home so I can stay at home with my youngest and it will remain this way for another year or so. I understand that both parents have to work sometimes and I understand that some families are single parent family homes but that does not change my view that people, tax payers, should be able to pick and choose where their child goes to school. We are in a situation right now where if our school fails the state standardized test again, we may be able to pick the school of our choice in our district next year. This is fair. If a school is not providing the proper learning materials to create smart adults then why even waste a child's time there??? And why waste our money??? Maybe the reason why things are falling apart at our schools is because our schools can't get their act together!!!
I did misread your post and i am in agreement with you about having choices within your district or within other public districts.
I wonder how that would work. If the schools performance is poor I assume most parents would want to go to the "best" school in the distric or the surrounding area. How would the school select which parents within the public school get in and which do not.
I'm curious, if you know and could share, why do you think your sons school is doing so poorly? Is it the socio economic make up, is it the teachers that are teaching in this particular school are doing a poor job?
Some people think privatization is the answer to everything. If it was, 40 million Americans wouldn't be without health care right now. The problem with corporations is that they can pick and choose who to do business with. They can deny a patient (or student in this case) if that person is a higher risk for their bottom line. They can charge one person more than another based on risk. They can drop coverage for people who create more risk for them. If some people can't afford it, they simply don't have access to it. And if there's no money in it, there will be no corporations catering to it - which is why there are no inexpensive health care options for the 40 million people who are currently uninsured, and why it's extremely difficult for self-employed families to get health coverage, especially if they have preexisting conditions. That's not something I want my children (or yours) subjected to.
Competition is great for some things, but it's also pretty risky for things that are vital - especially health care and education. I can see how some feel it's selfish to think that parents expect financial help for their child's education. But it also seems selfish to think that we're not all responsible for helping educate the children of America, when we ourselves were offered that same opportunity.
I'm through debating with you because it's pointless. You have continually failed to meet with the standard in this form of "Great Debates" . You've provide NO PROOF no anectodal evidence to support anything that you say. I provided tons of links and informations to rebutt everything you have posted and you keep ignoring them and going back to tired statements without anything substantial to back them up.
First of all, the information you provided can easily be rebutted just as much as the information I provided. A lot of these "studies" are often skewed to one side to promote their beliefs ... as, admittedly, my links were too. That proves that all the studies and data you can find with the click of a mouse on a search engine don't amount to very much compared to PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. If you want a statistic about private vs. public school: I'm one of them. I've experienced both, and I've given numerous reasons why private institutions are far superior. There were just as many middle class and poorer students in the private school I attended as there were weathly kids. Private school helped boost my education and career enormously. I went on to receive two BAs through a private university ... which incidentally was also peppered with people from all economic walks of life.
Judging from the amount of postings on this site, you obviously have a lot of time on your hands for a mother with a small child. You have indeed provided links and data (which may or may not be factual), but I don't recall you mentioning that you've actually done any leg work, and taken tours or researched any private schools in your area. For that matter, I can't debate with you any further on this subject either because you come across as someone who is closed to any newer, innovative ideas. As an example: when I provided the alternative of keeping the schools public, but only people with children in the system should pay the taxes, you quickly shot down that idea.
If you think the world owes you a living just because you made the choice to have a kid, that's your right to think that way ... but the result of that is an increased dependence on government services, which actually creates more poverty, more crime, and fewer successful, educated people. Welfare is a good example. How many people dependent on public assistance have lifted themselves out of poverty to become self sufficient? There are a few stories of people like that, but not many. Incidentally, since public schools are also subsidized by taxpayers, I'd say that could be counted as a form of welfare. For that matter, so is your beloved $1,000 tax credit! That is nothing more than a government subsidzed welfare check disguised as a tax break.
First of all, the information you provided can easily be rebutted just as much as the information I provided. A lot of these "studies" are often skewed to one side to promote their beliefs ... as, admittedly, my links were too. That proves that all the studies and data you can find with the click of a mouse on a search engine don't amount to very much compared to PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. If you want a statistic about private vs. public school: I'm one of them. I've experienced both, and I've given numerous reasons why private institutions are far superior. There were just as many middle class and poorer students in the private school I attended as there were weathly kids. Private school helped boost my education and career enormously. I went on to receive two BAs through a private university ... which incidentally was also peppered with people from all economic walks of life.
Your studies you pointd to are a joke.. full of misinformation and misleading information.. to which I broke it down one by one. The studies I pointed to were all done by orginizations interested in the furtherment of EDUCATION regardless of wether it was public or pivate. You continually post dribel without anything substantial to back it up.. You don't seem to get the concept that YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE means SQUAT!
Guess what.. I HAD A GREAT EXPERIENCE IN MY PUBLIC SCHOOLS AS DID MY BROTHERS. we all got great educations and went on to do great things and were very happy with our public education... so see.. i just proved that public education is now better than private education
Judging from the amount of postings on this site, you obviously have a lot of time on your hands for a mother with a small child. You have indeed provided links and data (which may or may not be factual), but I don't recall you mentioning that you've actually done any leg work, and taken tours or researched any private schools in your area. For that matter, I can't debate with you any further on this subject either because you come across as someone who is closed to any newer, innovative ideas. As an example: when I provided the alternative of keeping the schools public, but only people with children in the system should pay the taxes, you quickly shot down that idea.
I shot your ridiculous idea down for good reason.. ignore what I posted if you want.. no one else will though.. you just want to hear that you dont' have to pay anything and be damned with everything else and the community and children for that matter. As for having time on my hands.. I happen to be an excellent multi tasker, as most mothers are, work on the net a lot and my son plays nicely right in front of me while I do my work!! NOt that it's any of your business.
If you think the world owes you a living just because you made the choice to have a kid, that's your right to think that way ... but the result of that is an increased dependence on government services, which actually creates more poverty, more crime, and fewer successful, educated people. Welfare is a good example. How many people dependent on public assistance have lifted themselves out of poverty to become self sufficient? There are a few stories of people like that, but not many. Incidentally, since public schools are also subsidized by taxpayers, I'd say that could be counted as a form of welfare. For that matter, so is your beloved $1,000 tax credit! That is nothing more than a government subsidzed welfare check disguised as a tax break.
You have yet to post anyting of any substantial quality to rebutt anything I have put forth in front of you so far.. your arguments are weak.. You claim to care about the quality of childrens education ,yet contiunally prove you care nothing about quality and are only concerned that you have to pay yoru property taxes. Again.. I say to you that you have a choice.. sell the house so you don't have to pay the property taxes... there.. see .. now you don't have to pay toward education.
Someone pointed out to me in a DM about my spelling and errors in my posts.
I do want to say, however, that I do know how to type properly. I consider this an informal format and therefore I do not take care with my posts, and for that I apologize. I'm usually in a rush and since my mind tends to work a lot faster than my fingers will move I tend to have a lot of typing errors..
So.. before anyone calls me out on that.. just want to let you know that I do know how to spell, I do know proper grammar and sentence structure.. etc...
And.. just so you know.. I can't really check for my typos with the spell check tool.. it's not working for me for some reason.. which I'll figure out later when I have more time..
I did misread your post and i am in agreement with you about having choices within your district or within other public districts.
I wonder how that would work. If the schools performance is poor I assume most parents would want to go to the "best" school in the distric or the surrounding area. How would the school select which parents within the public school get in and which do not.
I'm curious, if you know and could share, why do you think your sons school is doing so poorly? Is it the socio economic make up, is it the teachers that are teaching in this particular school are doing a poor job?
Thanks.
The socioeconomics has changed at the school. We went from 10% free/reduced lunches the year before last to 27% free/reduced lunches. The school was redistricted along with the other 4 elementary schools in the area and it stinks because we bought our current house for the specifically for the schools that this neighborhood is zoned for. I live in Virginia, which is not cheap, and we pay out the whayzoo in taxes so for us, it becomes a part of do we move or not and if we move, we have to realize that we are only moving 2 miles - 5 miles down the road in the same town. We do not live in a large town by any means of the word so should we have to pack up just because now, our school is failing us? I don't agree with that. Neither does the school board at this time. They are saying that if we continue to fail our standardized test, that the parents can choose which school they want to send their child to. The problem with this is that most of the elementary schools are a little ways away..except one! So, I'm not sure if they would do a lottery or by grade or both or how it would work exactly, but we should not be penalized. My child passed the Standards of Learning test with flying colors and did extremely well. Most kids did. It's sad but a lot of the issues in our school boil down to leadership issues and luckily our principal retired last year and we gained a man that I think is going to really pull the school up and out of this rut, but who knows at this point what is going to happen.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
