Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Board of Education are following the lead of other major cities and eliminating gifted school programs in the name of achieving greater racial and social “equity.” Eleven “high-achieving selective-enrollment schools” will be eliminated, according to Chicago Board of Education CEO Pedro Martinez, to reduce “stratification and inequity.” As we have previously discussed, major cities with failing public education programs are erasing performance gaps in their schools by decapitating the top performers rather than elevating the performance overall. Other schools have also eliminated or lowered proficiency standards to achieve higher passage rates.According to the Daily Mail, the Board will vote today on the Mayor’s plan with the support of the president. The Chicago Tribune blasted Johnson in an editorial for reneging on a campaign promise not to abolish the selective schools.President Jianan Shi has portrayed gifted programs as just adding stress by allowing some students to achieve higher levels of education. Shi declared “the goal is […] to change (the) current competition model so that students are not pitted against one another, schools are not pitted against one another.”Some of these targeted schools are among the nation’s top performers, including Walter Payton College Prep (ranked 10th), Northside College Prep (ranked 37th), and Jones College Prep (ranked 60th). However, these schools only highlight the failure of the system overall.One can imagine how thrilled countries like China must be as we decapitate our educational system to bring down both standards and schools to a low median.
As previously discussed, school boards and teacher unions have long treated parents as unwelcome interlopers in their children’s education.
That view was captured in the comment of Iowa school board member Rachel Wall, who said: “The purpose of a public ed is to not teach kids what the parents want. It is to teach them what society needs them to know. The client is not the parent, but the community.”
State Rep. Lee Snodgrass (D-Wis.) tweeted: “If parents want to ‘have a say’ in their child’s education, they should home school or pay for private school tuition out of their family budget.”
Parents who question unpopular policies are often treated as extremists.
Michelle Leete, vice president of training at the Virginia PTA and vice president of communications for the Fairfax County PTA, said parents would not force them to reverse their agenda: “Let them die. Don’t let these uncomfortable people deter us from our bold march forward.”
I have been a huge supporter of public schools my whole life. While my parents could afford private schools, they helped form a group to keep white families in the public school system in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s. They wanted their kids to be part of a diverse school environment. I also sent my kids to public schools for the same reason. I view our public schools as important parts of our society as we shape future citizens.
Teachers and boards are killing the institution of public education by treating children and parents more like captives than consumers. They are force-feeding social and political priorities, including passes for engaging in approved protests.
As public schools continue to produce abysmal scores, particularly for minority students, board and union officials have called for lowering or suspending proficiency standards or declared meritocracy to be a form of “white supremacy.” Gifted and talented programs are being eliminated in the name of “equity.”
Once parents have a choice, these teachers lose a virtual monopoly over many families, and these districts could lose billions in states like Florida.
Chicago is literally telling families of highly competitive students to leave public education or reduce their expectations. For those who can afford it, they must now look to private or religious schools. Most cannot afford such choices and the state has long been hostile to vouchers. Indeed, the state (which has long been dominated by the far-left teachers union) recently became the first state to rollback on vouchers as other states are expanding such programs.
As a proud Chicago native, it is hard to watch what is happening in the city under Johnson and this city council. I still hope that sanity will take hold in the city before they do irreversible damage, but this education plan hastens the decline of one of America’s greatest cities.
American must be the only developed country on earth that is determined to adversely view meritocracy in academic achievement while glorifying meritocracy in sports and popular entertainment. This nation is doomed. Promotion of star basketball players will do a whole lot for future economic competition in high technology, life sciences, and engineering with China and the rest of the world. These people are pure evil and no less a threat than our worst adversaries.
Read the book the Bell curve, it explains it all. People are born with an ability to learn, some much greater than others. An IQ of 80 was considered mentally retarded in the 1960’s…
@Dilbert
An IQ that low is still mentally retarded, we’ve just stopped saying it out loud. Granted, IQ is just one metric, but it matters insofar as it goes, and that the average is now around or sub 100, even for college ‘grads’ – it isn’t tough for those of very average intelligence to think they are much smarter and more savvy than they are.
Does anyone else feel as if they have fallen down the rabbit hole and are now in Wonderland? Just how did these mal-informed individuals come to hold any positions of power and authority over sane, civilized and well-educated people? We have been asleep at the wheel for far too long and it is time to get us back on track to the values and laws that made us, once, a great power in the world – not only financially, militarily, but also as a beacon of justice and rule of law.
@whimsicalmama
I think so too, we’ve been very much asleep at the wheel for a couple of decades. Mediocrity is progress to progressives, and comfort instead of thriving is all that matters to the younger ones even though the natural entropy of mediocrity will eventually impact their comfort level (as they create nothing but destroy much and have no sense of service). It’s not just a failure of leadership, but a failure of conventional wisdom and vision in general. Visioning requires effort to manifest, after all. 🤷🏽♂️ Die or live on your knees – they’ll choose the knees, every time if it means they get to stay home or not deal with other people.
Lurching to the lowest common denominator.
Exactly. Cater to something and you get more of it.
And that is why people are leaving Illinois even faster than NY or California percentage wise. I cannot understand why the people of Chicago continue to vote in these fools. As pointed out above, those that value and use education do well either as an ethnic group or a nation. That was one of the mani reasons for the success of the US. We did not have necessarily the greatest educational system in the world but we had millions of well taught individuals from public schools who could adapt well to the modern world as it evolved and makes a success of it. Or even lead it. I was in public school 1-12 and it was excellent but it was also non unionized. Chicago, a once great city is just rotting away at its core. Sad to see and I only live a 120 miles away in Indiana. Evan Bayh (D) as governor let teachers unionize with an executive order but the when a Republican assumed the helm afterword, the union ceased. Strange, no more strikes.
“As previously discussed, school boards and teacher unions have long treated parents as unwelcome interlopers in their children’s education.”
I think you are mistaken. The administration, such as the superintendent and curriculum and instruction directors, who more closely fit this description. School boards, who are supposed to approve and have oversight of curriculum, in my estimation, barely look at or critique the curriculum. School board members have apparently handed over authority to the superintendent and curriculum instruction directors, saying ridiculous things like “I don’t have a degree in education” or “I don’t know what kids should learn in calculus”. Are they learning about science and the natural world broadly and using the scientific method? Are they learning history at all? Are they reading excellent literature? Are they learning about persuasion and the machinations of men who desire power? Are they learning to write and communicate clearly and, if at all possible, legibly? Are they learning to appreciate and even seek truth, goodness, and beauty?
Who wrote the following?
A: “all Government employees should realize that the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service. It has its distinct and insurmountable limitations when applied to public personnel management.”
B: “It is impossible to bargain collectively with the government.”
1) Ron DeSantis
2) Donald Trump.
3) Franklin Delano Roosevelt
4) George Meany,
Answers
A Roosevelt
B Meany
I don’t think I would admit to being a proud democrat or a graduate of Harvard, both are ruining the United States.
“I view our public schools as important parts of our society as we shape future citizens.”
I would have to ask JT why he thinks this. The fact that he doesn’t write “Public schools are important for teaching our children standards” tells everything you need to know. Until we allow parents who have children in K-12 to take the states tax money spent on their kids education and shop around for the best school, we will continue this decline. The public education monopoly needs to be broken up.
“The public education monopoly needs to be broken up.”
No. There is no other way public tax dollars should be managed except by elected representatives at the local level.
Privately selected boards should not get to decide how to spend public tax dollars brought to them by unelected parents. Unelected patents should not get to decide how to spend their neighbors’ tax money.
Besides, public education does not have a monopoly. People can homeschool. People can send their kids to private schools with their own money and/or scholarship money.
“There is no other way public tax dollars should be managed except by elected representatives at the local level.”
That is not happening. For that to happen, taxes for a school would have to come from the area the school serves. They don’t.
“Privately selected boards should not get to decide how to spend public tax dollars brought to them by unelected parents. ”
Those boards are selected by the people and paid by the people.
“Unelected patents should not get to decide how to spend their neighbors’ tax money.”
The states, to a great extent, decide how money is spent. That is how NYC charter schools arose. That same entity makes decisions for public schools.
“Besides, public education does not have a monopoly. People can homeschool. People can send their kids to private schools with their own money and/or scholarship money.”
Let’s deal with NYC, where there are hundreds of thousands of students faced with poverty, uneducated parents, and drug addiction. How are you going to save the lives of these kids? You have your institutionalized answers, but none are directed toward the kids so that they can better their lives.
“when something is clearly not working, one looks for alternatives.”
An alternative to destroying the system of elected representation for public monies for public schools:
Maybe chools that are failing should get taken over by the state Dept of Ed. They would be examined thoroughly to determine where the problems lie: poor discipline, too large a school such that students become a number or barely a face in a crowd, poorly prepared teachers, culture of low expectations, lousy curriculum, truancy, whatever.
Maybe the school needs to be split in half, thirds, or quarters because it is just too big and impersonal. Maybe new discipline rules a la Katharine Birbalsingh need to be put into place. Maybe a new curriculum a la Hillsdale or Katharine Birbalsingh needs to be taught. Maybe schools need to fail and hold back students who have not sufficiently mastered grade level work or a required class. Maybe teachers and administrators need to be replaced. Maybe the school board needs to learn about education. The State could work with the school board so they learn how to govern.
Maybe after the school gets back on track then it can get its independent authority and local control back.
“An alternative to destroying the system of elected representation for public monies for public schools:”
It isn’t destroying the system, and in part, Olly told you why. Olly has a lot of knowledge when it comes to our system and picks up on an essential idea that you didn’t understand. I’ve expressed that idea to you many times but in an imprecise way, which I hope Olly can improve on.
The word ‘maybe’ demonstrates you have little idea of what is actually happening. The state is a political power. Refer to my prior comment. Most parents will make better decisions for their children than the state.
The word ‘maybe’ demonstrates you have little idea of what is actually happening.
That is her tell, isn’t it? She obviously knows how to navigate her way to this blog, but her depth of knowledge seems to be limited to what is happening in her community. Her comments on this subject demonstrate a naiveté of the bigger picture. You have provided facts and evidence of the real world decline in our public education system and what should be done to bring school choice back under the control of the parents.
Thanks, Olly. I like and respect Prairie, but like many others, she attaches herself to a concept that is an abstraction and seen in many different lights. She is not focusing on the basic principles involved but rather on her idea of fairness. Initially, she talked about the charter system as being unfair because the teachers in charter schools could be paid less and have more leeway in teaching.
My result-oriented ideas are not good enough to induce her to cross the bridge so she can understand the basic concepts of freedom.
My answers are not institutionalized. They rest squarely on the taxpayers and should include the parents who are supposed to be responsible for their children.
Prairie, your type of answers are what have institutionalized failure in many school systems.
Quite the opposite. If people shouldered their responsibilities as citizens in a constitutional republic, then their districts probanly wouldn’t be in the mess they are in.
If the dang Federal government and corporations didn’t interfere in education, that would help, too. They are too interested in educating a compliant and just barely educated cog for their machine.
“people shouldered their responsibilities as citizens in a constitutional republic, then their districts probanly wouldn’t be in the mess they are in.”
Prairie, you are repeating yourself without answering the question.
The parents of hundreds of thousands of NYC school children are unable to handle the burden you present. Blame them, but what about the students? What is your answer? Are you going to repeat yourself?
Prairie, you might not want to listen, but here are snippets from an article. The teachers’ unions raise tremendous amounts of money for political use, and the largest unions give 98+ percent to Democrat causes.
You want poor and uneducated parents to fight the system while you stand by letting hundreds of thousands of students in NYC alone leave school without a good education.
—
The California Teachers Association has the honor of being the biggest political-spending teachers’ union in the country. A recent report reveals that between 1999 and 2020, the 300,000+ member union spent an astonishing $222,940,629 on politics – about $6 million was spent on the federal level, while almost $217 million stayed in the state – with 98.2% of all spending going to Democrats.
—
National Education Association, the largest union in the country with more than 3 million members, spent less than CTA, with “only” $86 million on state and $105 million on national candidates and causes – 98.7% of which went to Democrats. The NEA’s pet causes include gun control, universal healthcare, and a panoply of LGBT gobbledygook.
—
The other national teachers’ union, the American Federation of Teachers, is even more politically lopsided than the NEA – pouring out almost $63 million at the federal level and more than $24 million at the state level. A whopping 99.9% of their political outlay went to Democrats, and a minuscule .1% to Republicans.
https://amgreatness.com/2023/12/21/teacher-union-power-is-still-in-full-bloom/
“Prairie, you might not want to listen, but here are snippets from an article. The teachers’ unions raise tremendous amounts of money for political use, and the largest unions give 98+ percent to Democrat causes.”
I am not a fan of unions, especially unions that affect the public. I think it is terrible that teachers unions give money to political causes at all. Politics should NOT infect education in any capacity. The goal is to educate kids to be knowledgeable and effective individuals and citizens capable of shouldering all the responsibilities of adulthood, particularly that of citizenship.
“You want poor and uneducated parents to fight the system”
Yes. I would also like better educated and more well-heeled people to stick up for their less fortunate neighbors and help them turn their schools around.
Break up NYC into districts where there is only 1 HS of no more than ~1500 students. That equals a school district community of about 25,000 or fewer people. Much more manageable–people know each other, know their school board members. Harder to hide from responsibilities when the need for participation in self-governance is around the corner.
Prairie Rose — Here we have about 34,000 people and a high school enrollment of 869.
An approximation. The HS enrollment in your city is manageable and your city is probably still small enough people know each other and talk about the issues in the community.
“Politics should NOT infect education in any capacity. ”
But it does, and the students are paying for it by not being sufficiently educated. Charter schools demonstrated a marked improvement in student proficiency. The union protects public school teachers, fights against charter schools, and fights to promote leftist doctrine. That doctrine is part of why many students are not adequately educated. Even if a group started to use their political power as parents, they would face the teachers’ union, which could provide millions to fight a tiny group.
>> “You want poor and uneducated parents to fight the system”
> “Yes.
How do they fight the teachers’ union and Democrat politicians who are concerned almost exclusively with their personal power? (see above)
“Break up NYC into districts where there is only 1 HS of no more than ~1500 students.”
In NYC, that would be almost 1,000 districts, but how does that help? A smaller size is generally better, but your theory fails because you are asking the parents to change what the union and Democrats created. That is very hard to do. One may not realize it, but in some places, the lowest level, like a school board campaign, can suddenly become a huge expense if you are threatening those with power and hundreds of millions of dollars.
“Politics should NOT infect education in any capacity. “
But it does and the students are paying for it by not being sufficiently educated. Charter schools demonstrated a marked improvement in student proficiency. The union protects the public school teachers and fights against charter schools and fights to promote leftist doctrine. That doctrine is part of why many students are not being properly educated. Even if a group started to use their political power as parents they would be faced by the teacher’s union which could provide millions to fight that tiny group.
>>“You want poor and uneducated parents to fight the system”
> “Yes.
How do they fight the teachers union and Democrat politicians who are concerned almost exclusively on their own power. (see above)
“Break up NYC into districts where there is only 1 HS of no more than ~1500 students.”
In NYC that would be almost 1,000 districts, but how does that help? Smaller is generally better, but your theory fails because you are asking the parents to change what the union and Democrats created. That is very hard to do. One doesn’t realize it but in some places the lowest level, like a school board campaign can suddenly become a huge expense if you are threatening those with power and hundreds of millions of dollars.
“taxes for a school would have to come from the area the school serves. They don’t.”
I was too specific; however, taxes should always have some connection to elected representation so taxpayers have recourse. Many, if not most, school taxes are local. Some come from taxes from people throughout the state and some support comes from taxes from people across the nation.
“Privately selected boards should not get to decide how to spend public tax dollars brought to them by unelected parents. ”
“Those boards are selected by the people and paid by the people.”
Charter school board members are not elected by the citizenry. Paid ny what people?! They should certainly not be paid with taxpayer money! Most public school directors do not get paid to serve their communities. They are public servants to their neighbors, their fellow community members.
“Unelected patents should not get to decide how to spend their neighbors’ tax money.”
“The states, to a great extent, decide how money is spent.”
That is unfortunate because that erodes local control and local decision-making. States should not exercise this much control at the local level unless there is something very badly sideways going on in the district. The citizenry should be free to govern their own affairs locally as much as possible.
School vouchers do not cut the connection between public dollars and private concerns.
The state, politicians and school boards have control. They provide the financing, and the schools provide the education required. In this case, the public schools were deficient and not educating the children, while the charter schools reversed the trend and graduated educated students.
What happened is the charter schools provided a competitive marketplace. If permitted, students migrate to the charter schools, forcing the public schools to improve or go extinct.
“Charter school board members are not elected by the citizenry. ”
Sure they are. They are hired and fired based on their ability to produce.
“That is unfortunate because that erodes local control ”
That is institutionalized. Do you remember No Child Left Behind?
You need to provide an alternate solution to those hundreds of thousands of kids in NYC that are being destroyed by the teachers union.
Do you not care about these children?
Understand the Democrat party platform is core valued in making this nation poor. In is impossible to make all people rich. Therefore the only solution is to make all POOR. We have been centuries watching this play out repeatedly. It always ends the same.
The quote comes to mind. “beggars are much easier to control”
Hate to break the news but stock markets just hit record highs, 3rd quarter GDP is 5.2%, oil production hit an all-time high of 13.2 million barrels of oil a day. Yep, those irresponsible Democrats definitely need to be called out for jacking up the value of our 401ks just before Christmas.
stocks are doing extremely well. 71% of the DJI are under performing their expectations.
Now that it is not President Trump, the stock market matters? Doublestandardstan has been heard from
Sorry, that was suppose to read 7 stocks are doing extremely well. 71% of the DJI are performing below expectations, on file with the SEC
Iowan2,
60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.
More people are using food banks ever than before.
More people are carrying credit card balances than ever.
People are having to work two or three jobs to make ends meet.
Due to poor economic conditions, the majority of small business are not seeing a holiday sales bump as more Americans are short on cash.
More people are having to raid their retirement savings and 401k to make ends meet.
Inflation is still hammering people in their pocketbooks.
Iowan – the people at the top will not be poor. And they will never leave office.
I found this just now in search of something else
The primary difference between rich and poor countries is productivity. Being productive unleashes opportunities for innovation and wealth creation. Poverty is the natural condition of humanity, and countries get rich by adding to the world’s capital stock. Taiwan, South Korea, and Singapore are resource-poor countries relative to African and Latin American countries, but due to high levels of productivity and innovation, they have joined the ranks of the elites.
Another characteristic of successful countries is the high quality of their institutions. When institutions are designed to facilitate entrepreneurship and capital formation people will be more motivated to produce because their efforts won’t be penalized. According to a landmark study, cross-country differences in productivity are a consequence of institutional quality. Likewise, institutional quality also determines a country’s ability to attract investors.
The quote I was looking for might have been HG Wells
It is along the lines. ‘The natural state of man is poverty. from time to time men come along that change that and prosperity overcomes all. those men are attacked and driven out for their success, and again man slips back into poverty. . . . “this is known as bad luck”
Share if you run across the actual quote, with attribution
I first noticed that something was happening to America right after Y2K. American LPGA girls were consistently falling in the world rankings so quickly.
I blame it on the iPhone.
democrats and the people backing them don’t want equity
they want FAILURE
look at any city they have run!
“. . . to reduce ‘stratification and inequity.’”
That’s brilliant. Make all students equally ignorant. The ignorant are easier to control.
“The Chicago Tribune blasted Johnson in an editorial for reneging on a campaign promise not to abolish the selective schools.”
This is what Communists do, and these people are, as we used to say, Reds.
Alas for the once vibrant and fun city of Chicago. Used to look forward to my work-related trips there. I now bypass the place like the plague
The mind virus is alive and well in Democrat big cities. The forces of darkness, ignorance, and incompetence are ascendant now. “You have to see it to believe it. It’s the end of civilization.”
Someone should write a book comparing Detroit and Hiroshima in 1945 and 2023. Apparently, it is easier to recover from atomic bombs than from the Democratic Party.
Not a book but this meme describes the point…
https://www.facebook.com/turningpointusa/photos/a.376802782368444/1183007121748002/?type=3
As I’ve said/wrote since 2000, most schools fail their students, teaching kids what to think, not how to think…funding should be cut off to many school systems until the get back to basics. [As an employer, I’ve noticed how poorly even college graduates do on basic reading and writing].
“written”
I, for one, am delighted my these developments. Isn’t it obvious that we need to abolish our current model of a public education system of the teachers, by the teachers, for the teachers? What we should do, and what others countries have already done, is implement a voucher system and let parents choose the schools their children go to. And idiocy of this sort is only bringing that day closer.
Vouchers are another way to disenfranchise the citizenry. Vouchers take away taxpayer control over their own money. Unelected parents will make decisions with other people’s money.
Vouchers are another way to disenfranchise the citizenry. Vouchers take away taxpayer control over their own money.
This makes no sense. Voucher allow tax money for eduction get spent by the taxpayer for educaion.
The public school system has a huge, insurmountable advantage over private schools, UNTIL the public schools ignore the customer and deliver what the customer does not want to by.
This could all be reversed before the start of the next semester. But the power that be refuse to listen to their customer.
“Voucher allow tax money for eduction get spent by the taxpayer for educaion.”
A subset of taxpayers would get the benefit of using a fraction of not only their own but also their neighbors’ money. And those neighbors won’t be able to discuss how any of that money is spent because elected representatives lose oversight of the money once it leaves the public school district.
Prairie, if the purpose of school taxes is to educate students, that means we expect almost all students to become proficient in the basic courses. If they graduated without the basic knowledge, school taxes need not exist. Your argument would be better if you stated that the school taxes are unfair, so we should end them.
“But the power that be refuse to listen to their customer.”
The Federal and State Departments of Education hold a fair bit of say over local public schools.
My children are grown and out in the world on their own.
I still pay property taxes that go toward funding public schools.
I would rather parents have vouchers to use their and my money on the school of their choice that benefit their child the best.
“I would rather parents have vouchers to use their and my money on the school of their choice that benefit their child the best.”
That is not everyone’s wish.
Do you want your money going to a madrassa or a school that teaches young Earth Creationism or a private school that teaches a woke doctrine?
Public dollars should stay in public schools and how it is spent should be discussed by the public with their elected representatives.
Prairie, when something is clearly not working, one looks for alternatives. The public schools need to be fixed in a lot of places. That means something needs to change. One can dig in their heels like you are doing, or one can look for a better solution. If a better solution isn’t used, we will have kids growing up with a low standard of living due to the barrier rams that have their heels in the ground.
The public schools in many areas need competition. We have talked about NYC, where over 100 million are in public schools, and many need help learning how to read or learn mathematics. Yet solutions for these schools were found in public-supported charter schools where inner school students actually were learning and some are going to college. That is proven, and the numbers are available. The teachers’ union hates charter schools, and last I looked, NYC capped the numbers and tried to squeeze in things that would make those schools less effective. Yet your heels are dug in so deeply that you would see hundreds of thousands of children destroyed because of a lack of a good education rather than permit charter schools to exist.
THE NERVE of those ‘unelected parents’! Is that your position, PR? Parents are taxpayers too, and maybe, just maybe, they just want more accountability and educational-bang for their own hard earned yet quickly-confiscated tax dollars, for their own children’s education? HOW DARE THEY decide on their own the public education system is failing in front of their lying eyes? Amiright?
“Parents are taxpayers too, and maybe, just maybe, they just want more accountability”
They should actually come to school board meetings. Actually call school board members. Actually investigate the curriculum and the books. Actually see what’s going on in their local schools. And, actually seeing how the States, the Feds, and corporations and NGOs end up influencing education (not for the good). They should talk to the State and Federal-level representatives, too, about the problems coming from those Departments of Education.
They can actually use their OWN money to go elsewhere, maybe even get a need-based scholarship to go elsewhere. They have no business using MY tax dollars however they want. I talk to my elected school directors, look over the agendas, policies, budgets and curriculum, and I advocate for improvement when needed.
Prairie, that is quite an agenda you have for those inner-city folk where many have poor-paying menial jobs or lack jobs entirely, so they can spend their time producing more children and consuming more drugs. Those who are trying to elevate their position are a weak voice in the school systems because it is PC to spend time teaching racism and similar ideas while not teaching basic math and reading.
I can assure you that the teachers’ union is actively looking over “the agendas, policies, budgets and curriculum” and seeing what works best for the union, teachers and their leftist masters rather than the students.
“that is quite an agenda you have for those inner-city folk”
That is not my agenda. That is the duty and responsibility of every adult citizen living in a constitutional republic. This is supposed to be governance of the people, by the people, for the people–that means the people have duties and responsibilities to participate in not just the voting but the discussions, too. How can you exercise accountability if you don’t pay attention. That’s why government is supposed to be small. If it gets to be too big there is too much to pay attention to exercise proper oversight authority.
“That is the duty and responsibility of every adult citizen living in a constitutional republic.”
Prairie, many parents in the inner city cannot live up to your standards. Are you telling the young ones who have nowhere to go to ‘.drop .dead’?
“Prairie, many parents in the inner city cannot live up to your standards.”
I think they can. They need guidance, apparently, in understanding the standards and help in working to maintain them. Wouldn’t it be better to teach people to fish?
The state Dept of Ed should take over floundering schools and help them get back on their feet so they can govern locally again.
“I think they can. They need guidance, apparently, in understanding the standards and help in working to maintain them. Wouldn’t it be better to teach people to fish?”
Prairie what you desire will take a lot of resources that need to come from outside the community. How much are you willing to give to the different districts or just one? Many of the parents are uneducated. You are increasing the burden.
I know of an affluent, educated community where one candidate raised over $125,000 for a county school board seat.
“The state Dept of Ed should take over floundering schools and help them get back on their feet so they can govern locally again.”
It’s not the money that counts. It is how the money is spent. The charter schools in NYC did a better job with less money.
I will quote from the search results:
“NYC Will Spend $38,000 Per Pupil Next Year. What Does That Buy? – Forbes
Apr 12, 2023The Citizens Budget Commission reports that the New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) will spend $38,000 per public school student next year. But it’s not clear all that spending…”
How much is spent where you live?
“I know of an affluent, educated community where one candidate raised over $125,000 for a county school board seat.”
Seems to me a county is too big of an area, and/or covers too many people. Candidates are too hard to know.
I know an elected candidate in my area who spent less than $1000 on their campaign. Zero fundraising needed. Did a lot of door-knocking. The district is within my suggested size parameters.
Prairie, you are avoiding all the significant issues by injecting things of no consequence. What does the $1,000 have to do with the Teachers’ union’s willingness to spend millions to protect their turf? This type of rhetoric is silly.
You talk about small districts. Let us know how you fund and control the 1,000 districts mentioned earlier. How do you coordinate? Each board has a number of members. Multiply that by a thousand and all the others necessary to coordinate 1,000 boards with the city.
I’m still waiting for you to provide a reasonable solution to push the public schools in NYC to remove politics and take care of the children. I proposed a methodology that is proven to work and controlled by the state. That tells us that your concern is less for the children and more for the status quo that is destroying the lives of our children.
Many are doing what you suggest. They do indeed, “…talk to (their) elected school directors, look over the agendas, policies, budgets and curriculum, and advocate for improvement when needed.” Those efforts have been – and continue to be – ignored by the ‘elected’ at every level. Fine, you don’t want to help these parents with YOUR tax money. What you don’t have is final say for every parent and their desire to take their own student allocation of taxes elsewhere – especially those who don’t have the means to pay above and beyond the taxes they’re already paying for a public education that’s failing their students.
“Their own student allocation”.
What do you mean by allocatoon?
Do you mean dividing a school budget by the number of kids attending?
Or, do you mean a family’s taxes that are allocated for schools (e.g., property taxes for schools)?
Neither. The state ‘allocates’ a fixed, equal amount of taxpayer money, per student *above and beyond any taxes assessed at the district/local/county level*. That state money goes to the government-assigned school based on the number of students living in each district, regardless if the student attends a public school or not, including when the student attends a private school in or out of the district. The amount spent by the state is not determined by the amount budgeted by the schools or the taxes paid by everyone, including families in the district.
https://babylonbee.com/news/8-superior-alternatives-to-public-school-for-your-kids
Option 1 wins… Let them join the circus: There are way fewer freaks at the circus. 😊
School taxes in Miami Dade County, FL are paid by homeowners regardless if the homeowners are childless and regardless if the homeowners send their children to private schools. If the homeowners are empty nesters, they pay taxes towards the public schools as well.
It is a scam of epic proportions.
Miami Dade Property Appraiser Taxing Authorities – Setting Taxes
The Property Appraiser’s office does not determine the amount of taxes you pay. The taxes can increase or decrease depending on tax rates set by the school board, commissioners, cities and other taxing authorities.
Miami-Dade County issues the ‘notice’ but many taxing authorities collect taxes against property such the School Board, Cities, South Florida Water Management District, Children’s Trust, Florida Inland Navigational District, Everglades project, etc.
The Property Appraiser does not set tax rates. However, the taxing authorities use the Property Appraiser’s taxable value to determine the taxes they levy.
What is a taxing authority?
Taxing authorities collect taxes against properties to provide various services. For example, the County provides services such as Police, Fire Rescue, and Library to name a few. The School Board collects property taxes to run school operations.
https://www.miamidade.gov/pa/tax_authorities.asp
Estovir,
“It is a scam of epic proportions.”
It is not. It is Jeffersonian. The children are the future of the community. Even the childless and empty-nesters have an incentive to make sure their own community is successful and has a well-educated populace. Less crime, more successful busineses, more attractive to visitors/tourists, etc.
That “state money” is everyone’s taxes pooled together. Unelected parents should not get to make decisions with other people’s tax dollars; that is the responsibility of the elected public school directors.
We’ve heard about your preferred ox, “Unelected parents should not get to make decisions with other people’s tax dollars; that is the responsibility of the elected public school directors.” Direct question for you: Why do you want to gore other’s oxen, the less financially-abled parents’s kids and the sins of their parents inability to escape poor performing and unsafe inner city schools and neighborhoods? The state will spend the same money on those students whether they attend that school or not and somehow that’s ok with you, but don’t you dare give ‘unelected’ parents the freedom to spend that same money by sending their kids anywhere else, not even a better performing, safer public school across town or *god-forbid* one of those weathly “private” schools with teachers who must meet the same state/federal academic teaching standards public teachers are required to contiuously meet. (Oh, the humanity!)
They were not elected to make those decisions, be it at the local or the state level.
Pool your resources, elect people to make decisions about those resources, talk to your representatives about these proposals and decisions, pay attention to the decisions your representatives make (and pay attention to special interests attempting to interfere), vote for different representatives or run yourself if they aren’t making good decisions.
Huh? When did you sell your soul to the teacher’s union, Prairie Rose? Every time JT’s posts about the failure of public education, you come to it’s defense. No one is arguing public education needs to end. It just cannot continue under the current model.
“When did you sell your soul to the teacher’s union, Prairie Rose?”
This isn’t a teachers union issue at all.
Vouchers and charter schools break down the system of elected representation on our constitutional republic. It breaks the oversight of public money and breaks the decision-making for how that money gets spent.
Elected representatives on school boards should decide how public tax dollars are spent on education.
What you are advocating for means taxation without representation.
“It breaks the oversight of public money.”
That is untrue. The public money for charter schools in NYC is used to educate the children, and the charter school children take the same Regents exams. The charter school’s per capita payment is 75% of what the public schools get. Their pool is the same as the public school students, and the selection is random.
“The charter school’s per capita payment is 75% of what the public schools get.” Does the remaining 25% allotment stay with the district-assigned public school where the student would have been forced to attend if they didn’t attend a charter school? Seems like 25% per-capita tax allocation for NOT teaching a student is it’s own “win” for the public schools.
JAFO, it depends on what you call a win. Part of that 25% probably remains with administering the school system. The teachers’ union and politicians in the legislature lose 75% of the money, which means fewer teachers and less power for the teachers’ unions, school administrators, and politicians.
The charter school has to cover its administrative costs. If you looked at the head-on comparison between public schools and charter schools, you would be shocked at how well the charter schools do and how poorly the public schools do in these poor areas.
Trust me, I would not be shocked. Maybe Rose doesn’t consider 25% to public schools for not teaching students “winning”. I see it as wasteful.
JAFO, NYC is less concerned with waste than they are with protecting their ability to increase their budget. The larger the funding, the more people that get hired. With more people, there are more positions available, and salaries increase. With an increase in teachers, there is an increase in power for teachers’ unions and Democrat politicians.
My friend and her boyfriend were teachers in NYC. They both were well paid, $75,000+, two to three decades ago. The NYC budget was tight. To decrease expenditures, they let both of them retire early so that the rest of their compensation came from money taken from the retirement fund. They replaced them with two inexperienced teachers at about half the salary and a new, less-expensive health benefit package while giving my friends two years’ bonuses from the retirement fund at $150,000 each, counting those years as working years so they could retire with full benefits and complete health insurance.
That is how the city of NY saves money and makes sure money doesn’t go to educating our young.
It breaks the oversight of public money and breaks the decision-making for how that money gets spent.
Elected representatives on school boards should decide how public tax dollars are spent on education.
What you are advocating for means taxation without representation.
It’s called the power of the purse. When taxpayer’s money does not provide the expected result, then the taxpayers should elect different representatives. But when failure becomes institutionalized beyond local representation, then the matter is not solvable simply by community activism. You may not be aware, but we already have taxation without representation in many areas of public interest. Charter schools and voucher programs empower the people to choose the education environment they want for their children. Blocking this initiative is also taxation without representation.
Public education has become to education what EV is to private transportation, a noble idea with an unsustainable infrastructure.
” But when failure becomes institutionalized beyond local representation, then the matter is not solvable simply by community activism.”
Excellent!
Seth, it appears that Prairie Rose is channeling the opinion of the American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1736745921038180470
Yet unlike the union she goes mute when confronted with opinions that disagree.
I have 3 kids still at home with all their activities. I work outside the home on an as-needed basis and I was needed earlier this week. It is Christmas, which means we’re busy. And, I am the person who does pretty much all the household chores and food preparation (including canning things like turkey stock and canned beef), not to mention errands and doctor’s appointments. I answer when I can. I’m trying to fit this in before I eat breakfast then head out on some other errands. I try to always answer. I do not have replies come to my inbox, which would clutter up an already full inbox. I miss replies sometimes. Or can only get to one reply instead of several at any given time. Sometimes I just plain ole get too busy for awhile and then when I try to return to the conversation at a later date I can’t remember which thread where I had been in conversation. I will try to return to this thread later today. I apologize for my lack of consistency.
Olly, you are one step ahead of me. Thanks.
Randy W. asks, what do they offer? One thing is charter schools that are saving lives and providing a promising future for many of NYC’s poorest families. She is what we think of when we talk about the teachers’ union. A union that doesn’t care at all for the children.
It’s intellectually dishonest to claim charter schools, voucher programs, etc. are anti-democratic. The Public Education Regime is pumping out illiterate leftist activists who are the useful idiots in the war to destroy this republic. Our tax dollars are funding the Edsel of public education systems and it’s the Regime that ends up driving Bentleys. F*ck them.
Olly, I like the preciseness of your comments. This and other techniques imparting knowledge is what I desire from a blog like this, but we are forced to deal with stupid people who have to remain anonymous or change their names repeatedly, like Peter Hill.
but we are forced to deal with stupid people who have to remain anonymous or change their names repeatedly, like Peter Hill.
Not me. I set a rule for myself to not respond to any of them directly. Additionally, when I get emails of new comments from them, I simply delete them. Lastly, I delete the emails from anyone that is responding to them. My productivity at work and home has improved as a result. 😉
Olly, I am fortunate. I last needed to work in years ago (I am likely older than you), but I still do some, but only what I like. That leaves me a lot of time to waste, though only a little time is spent on this blog. Mostly, it is a filler between other activities or while doing something else. I always do at least two things at a time, or I lose my ability to concentrate. It used to drive my wife crazy when we first got married.
Right now while writing, I am watching TV and talking to my wife. It is not a blessing.
That is fortunate Seth. I’m 64 and will likely be working for at least 3 more years. As you know, I used to spend a lot of time on this blog. I will always read JT’s posts, but my drive to participate in the comments section has waned. There really isn’t much to be learned from it. I’ve mentioned before that any one of us conservatives could write the Leftists comments here. Just throw out reason and accountability and voila, you have a comment.
On another note, have you seen this presentation? It’s 1 hour long. I haven’t fact-checked it. But if what he’s saying is true, it’s not a religion.
https://youtu.be/40DclW84HkM
Olly, I don’t blame you for a waning interest. The blog needs someone on the left who can make an argument of minimal substance.
It sounds like your maximum social security kicks in at 67. Years ago, there were some ways to manage things differently that could legally add income to the family. In future years, there will be a pittance, if anything.
That is an intriguing video. I am about done with Mecca and will finish the video later. I will take a guess. He will finish his lecture by questioning the existence of Mohammed.
If you are interested, check out Robert Spencer. He said a lot in his books, blog (Jihad Watch), lectures and debates.
“But when failure becomes institutionalized beyond local representation, then the matter is not solvable simply by community activism.”
Rather than introducing new problems, remove the precipitating problems.
Getting rid of NCLB/ESSERS would go a long way. That should be in the power of House representatives and Senators to eliminate. People have to get their representatives to do what is right for local districts. Stop federal/corporatist interference.
If you’re for defunding the federal Department of Education that pushes these programs onto the schools, I’m right by your side.
I don’t think it is as simple as defunding (though I am definitely for unwinding their interference; it needs to be done prudently). There are probably mandates that would still be in effect; unfunded, that would unfair to the schools. Also, there are probably a fair number of schools that have started to count on financial help from the federal government. How best to address that so the poorest school districts are not hurt? How were things (education, money, policies) handled by the Federal government in 1990? 1980?
“There are probably mandates that would still be in effect; unfunded, that would unfair to the schools.” without a Department of Ed the only mandates would come from Congress who, as we’re all aware, prefer to stay in campaign mode on a full time basis. “…here are probably a fair number of schools that have started to count on financial help from the federal government…” Stop sending state tax dollars to the DoE for ‘redistribution’ (minus the indirect yet hefty fees to the unions) back to the states. “How best to address that so the poorest school districts are not hurt? How were things (education, money, policies) handled by the Federal government in 1990? 1980?” How about anytime before the Federal government ever got into the Education business – a power that was never enumerated in the Constitution. It’s not their job and never has been.
They (the feds) are only in Education for the raw power it gives them by way of your examples, NCLB/ESSERS, etc., over the States and local schools via strings attached to the the cash sent. Defund them. Today.
“They (the feds) are only in Education for the raw power it gives them ”
Right JAFO. It gives the left the power to indoctrinate students and create a significant power base utilizing students, teachers, the union, and parents.
“I am definitely for unwinding their interference; it needs to be done prudently.”
Prairie, you are running away from the ball in every reply. In the above quote, you are all for unwinding government interference. In the following sentence, you say prudently. In this way, you can have it both ways and avoid criticism. When you say what you don’t like about the government, you will find an agreement that was previously agreed to many times on this blog.
What is your answer for the hundreds of thousands of children lacking a good education in NYC schools at a tremendous cost? What is your answer about the teachers’ union and democratic politics that takes preference over educating our young? This needs to be a more local answer.
Vote Republican. Also: “gifts” in the first paragraph should be “gifted.” “Educations” programs in P6 should be “educational.” “Hostile vouchers” should be “hostile to vouchers.”
Agreed…..who proof reads these posts, Mr. Turley? This one is not an isolated incident.
ou pedantic twits start paying $18.53 per month, and our gracious host will give you perfectly written pieces. Until then STFU. You have earned exactly zero power to critique. (have you offered to “edit” each post within five minutes. . . for free?)
“. . . who proof reads . . .”
Who *proofreads* your comments?
“Vote Republican”
They are just as bad. They are not interested in making sure the kids are getting a sound education Thomas Jefferson would be proud of. The Republican school board members I know care about keep taxes low. They say they don’t know anything about education and so they effectively pass their oversight authority to the administration. Meanwhile, the administration looks to the interests of businesses or the mandates of the Feds. Republicans, as far as I can tell, will not be making sure kids are getting an education necessary for a free people in a constitutional republic.
Prairie, I don’t know about the past, but if you take a state like Florida that has had recent conservative administrations, we see quite a difference. Florida’s education has demonstrated continuous improvement and is rated very highly today. I think, in order to make a statement like you have, one should look at the data first.
For some reason, you like the way the teachers union has behaved. The union is terrible and should be tossed out. Today, the teachers union is nothing more than a political pawn.
“For some reason, you like the way the teachers union has behaved.”
That is a separate argument.
I do not like how too many teachers unions behave.
Nor do I approve of breaking the system of elected representation making decisions with public tax monies. We have a republic, if we can keep it.
Prairie the original discussion started with you claiming Republicans were worse than Democrats. I provided Florida as an example where what you said wasn’t true. The teacher union discussion was in a second paragraph and is related to the political parties. Democrats like unions more than Republicans and the teachers’ union.
You say you like some teacher’s unions. There are a good number of teachers’ unions led by the NEA and AFT that have been terrible. I can’t be sure there isn’t a teachers’ union that is good for students, so in your comment, were you saying that you disapproved of the NEA and AFT? There may be a smaller one I know very little about, so I look at the NEA and AFT when I provide comments.
The Republic will not remain if we continue to let politics and teachers’ unions prevail. Digging your heels in negatively impacting hundreds of thousands of students with ignorance and increased death rates in NYC alone is unacceptable to me. Is that acceptable to you?
the purpose of education is to prepare a person to earn money to support themselves, family and community. People do that by learning a trade, or getting educated in a profession.
The Jr College echo system is full of courses, taught in buildings, using equipment provided by businesses, eager to train new employees. Caterpillar trains diesel mechanics in shops they built using teaching materials they provide. Same with John Deere. Rest assured, those places are not graduating students that have failed to learn the content. There are zero woke diesel mechanics. Their time was more than filled learning thing important to their success.
“the purpose of education is to prepare a person to earn money to support themselves, family and community.”
That is not the main purpose of Eeducation. That is for a cog in a machine. Being able to earn a living is important, but should come second behind being educated to be a free person capable of shouldering the responsibility of liberty, of living in a constitutional republic–a place where we the people govern, where government is of the people, by the people, for the people.
Right now too much of government is a merry-go-round of corporatism, and one where people are expected to be deferent to “an authority”.
As Dr Johnson said: socialists want to level down, but not to level up.
Fact Check: True.
“Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen…” ~ K. Marx
I guess if your IQ is higher and you need a greater challenge, that’s not covered by Socialist school boards?
This community persists on hoisting itself by its own petards and then blaming their destruction on the manufacturer’s defective product. https://www.marinschools.org/cms/lib/CA01001323/Centricity/Domain/1250/Soft%20Bigotry%20of%20Low%20Expectations.pdf
I no longer have any impetus to lobby for the interests of those in communities of color who elect or support public officials of that ilk. This plan is, in of itself, a reversed ‘Peter Principal’ by which, ‘reducing stratification and inequity’, the outcomes serve to lower the student body to a uniform level of incompetence.