Thank You SL

And how much money do we continue to throw down this rat hole? And with a refundable tax credit, it wouldn't matter how much it cost, the parent would get the entire amount back. But yes prices would increase, government money is why college costs so much now.

One of the funniest things I have seen SNL do in a long long time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqJbjLIzykU&feature=channel

Don't get me started with unions. They are absolute evil made necessary by the government's inability to protect labor workers itself. I am with Chris on that point; however, decimating the public school system is not the way to fix that problem.

This country was founded and grew to greatness before anyone thought of a public school system. Schools used to be "pay as you go", either supported by individual families, philanthropists, or a grass-roots community effort. This unregulated hodgepodge managed to produce a citizenry that was literate, well-educated, and industrious.

The current public education system is, in far too many cases, a babysitter. Students spend twelve years doing mostly makework. The end product is a citizenry that is largely illiterate, uneducated, and unmotivated.

The exceptions (like Ms. Connolly for example) stand out.

"More uniform"? I know what you *meant* to say: Uniformly better. But what we get is "more mediocre", an educational system that insists everyone must graduate, and everyone must succeed...and therefore dumbs itself down to the point where everyone does.

Well, errm... Unless the class sizes in these more popular schools are to increase dramatically under your radical plan, presumably these schools will have to hire more teachers (and, of course, to build more classrooms -- at someone's expense). How fortunate there will be so many qualified teachers on the job market whose previous posts are now redundant.

Personally, I think that either you'd end up either replacing smaller, popular schools with larger, less popular ones or market forces would have their way and drive up the cost of fees at these schools to a level where, once more, demand did not badly outstrip supply.

People would then, doubtless, start new schools to accommodate children whose parents, despite these tax credits and vouchers and whatnot, could not afford the higher fees at established institutions, and parents and students would take their chances on whether the new schools were any good.

That's what I think would happen, but I am quite possibly mistaken.

Psssst, that is why they imported the current system from Prussia.

He he. I love the tshirt bit. But it does point to something..It reall doesn't matter who is in The Office. It's the Fools on The Hill who really are driving the bus. They are the ones who need to be locked in it as it heads off the cliff. Not us.

A refundable tax credit is a nice idea, but this doesn't help the families who are currently struggling living paycheck-to-paycheck and cannot afford the initial tuition payment; and giving the money straight to parents up-front is a disastrous idea. There's far too many "parents" out there who would just use the money to buy crack and then put their hands out for a government bailout "for their kids' sake". Perhaps the best solution would be for the government to pay these vouchers directly to the schools - but then we end up with basically a privatized reconstruction of the public school system with all of the wonderful qualities of our health care system thrown in.

The current educational system we have now may be dysfunctional, but it is not irreparably broken. I truly believe our money would be better spent fixing the existing system instead of building a new inept system.

We could only hope our schools worked as well as our health care system.

There comes a time when you send the car to the junkyard instead of slapping new parts on it. The current school system has reached that point. But I disagree with one point you make, the current system is not dysfunctional, it is doing exactly what it was designed to do, produce nonthinking drones.

Who can't even play dodgeball anymore! *shakes fist.

But you are essentially correct. The need for Political Correctness, revisionism and agendas trump the need to educate young minds.

Why are you putting words into my mouth?

I am not trying to prove anything, but you are with the silly explanations. You see, if I am right, you are the one that may suffer, not me. So its for you to check it out, not me.



Where did I say "and spread disease all over the world"?



Wow, I did. Why don't you show everyone where I said that? Get the quote out please.



Actually, all you need to do is find out whether one of the Navy's ship commanders died around April to May. There is also a ships name given that can be investigated. So prove it to be untrue.

I see you are from Florida. Has the state allowed you to grow vegetables again in your gardens, or is it still banned for environmental reasons?

You mean that one where prescriptions and medical treatments are priced out of the stratosphere but we don't care because "someone else" is picking up the tab? Or that system where whether or not someone gets a potentially life-saving operation is decided by suits on the 214th floor of an insurance company building?I think we may have to agree to disagree on this point; however, let's say your idea is implemented and the public school system is gutted as a result, and everyone now needs to rely on government-subsidized private education. What is to say that the private education is going to be any better than the public system it replaced? By which standards will these schools be measured? How can a parent possibly make an informed decision about which school to choose? And, ultimately, who would you be more comfortable with the responsibility of molding your children's minds: The public revisionist teacher who you can hold accountable? Or the private revisionist teacher who you cannot hold accountable?

The public school system is in the state it's in not because of inept government, but because of unconcerned parents who allowed things to get to this point. How is turning your children over to government-subsidized private babysi^H^H^H^H^H^Hschools going to improve matters?

Actually unconcerned parents AND inept government are more likely to blame.

lolwut?

One of the greatest things about the American system of government is that our elected officials are ABSOLUTELY accountable to the public. It is the public's fault for not holding their government accountable.

Yes, that might happen. How is this any worse than the kids' current situation?

See, it's this attitude that the Government Knows Best and We're Only Doing It For Your Own Good that's gotten us into the current mess...and not just in education.

This is the part that worries me more than anything else. Might grant complete legal immunity?

I see you decided to bypass my other points. I guess they may have been to embarrassing for you

Yeah, don't kid yourself. No matter how much you might want the fantasy, it is still a fantasy --- there is no such thing as a decent politician anymore.

In many ways, Government are the greatest fear mongers. They have us conditioned to believe we can't exist without their guidance in as many aspects of our lives as they can get into. And it seems to be working for many people.

I used to think the system turned honest people into crooks, but now I pretty much believe you have to be a bottom feeder to even run for office nowadays.

True. Very true. Unfortunately, the alternative - life without government - is not particularly attractive either.

It's an internet hoax.