Reason.tv: A Teachers Strike in Paradise!

South Orange County is a suburban paradise in southern California. The climate is unbeatable, the surfing is great, and the public schools are performing well. But not everything is perfect in the Capistrano Unified School District.

In April 2010, 2,200 teachers went on strike for three days after the school board imposed a 10 percent pay cut. The children who attended school during the strike had to walk past their teachers who, instead of preparing for class, were marching in front of the school with picket signs reading "It's not about the money" and "We'd rather be teaching."

Some parents honked in support of the union as they drove by. Other parents were frustrated by union members who were unwilling to work out a compromise with a district that is facing a $34 million budget deficit. Lots of parents talked about using the strike as "a teaching moment."

Reason.tv's Paul Feine talked to the school board president, the president of the union, teachers, and parents to learn more.

Approximately 8.5 minutes. Produced and hosted by Paul Feine. Shot by Alex Manning and Paul Feine. Edited by Alex Manning.

Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions and subscribe to Reason.tv's Youtube channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

Comments

[Johnny Longtorso]

Is this to counter the L&O series finale, whose theme was "even when teachers go on killing sprees, they're still your moral superiors and they only kill because teabaggers drive them to"?

[GoNavy]

"It's not about the money" and "We'd rather be teaching."

If it's not about the money, then why aren't they teaching?

I'd be pissed to take a 10% cut, but I'd be pissed about the money.

[GoNavy]

Also....

While I'd be pissed about the 10%, I'd also would be glad that I didn't get laid-off. I used to work for an Orange County based electronics company. The company was at one point 1800 employees in the '80s and dropped to 400 in '96. I manged to stay employed, but had I been given a choice between 10% cut and laid-off, I'd taken the 10%.

[Corduroy]

I instituted 15% pay cuts at my business a year and a half ago. I personally took a 25% cut, which put me at a lower pay than a couple of my employees. That's deflation, that's reality. I don't regret doing it and my employees understand that without the cuts, the business would be in jeopardy. So far , I haven't had to lay people off, and I work in a construction related business.

In fact, the cuts should always be ahead of the deflationary curve, otherwise you run deficits that you have to account for later. So the sooner you cut, the better and the more likely it is that the business will survive during the tough times.

The damn unions don't get it, nor will they ever get it. The time for busting the public employee unions up is way past due.

[The Mafia]

You wanna hire us to bust some kneecaps? Keep in mind, we don't come cheap!

[Rahm Emanuel]

Come to my office. We can discuss this.

[PR]

"It's not about the money"

great. then let's make it a 25% cut. now, what's this strike about?

[Drax the Destroyer]

Yeah the first thing I uttered when I heard "It's not about the money" was "Bullshit!"

[CoyoteBlue]

I guess they never heard the truism, 'If they say it's not about the money - it's about the money'.

[Daffy Duck]

"Ya see, with me, it's not the principle of the thing...It's the money!"

[J sub D]

Lots of parents talked about using the strike as "a teaching moment."

Were I a parent whose children were trapped in the South Orange County School District, you can bet our bottom dollar that I would use this as a "teaching moment".

The government (federal, state or munincipal) should be prohibited from negotiating with unions.

Have at it MNG, I'm in an angry sort of mood thi morning.

[Barack Obama]

There are some who say government should be prohibited from negotiating with unions. Let me be clear. It does take a village.

[The Village]

Since you've been gone we can't seem to find an idiot of your caliber.

[Barack Obama]

Let's face it this has been the toughest year and a half since any year and a half since the 1930s.

[Argumentum ad Misericordiam]

You really, really suck at this. If you spent more time plugging your own hole, the other one might have been plugged already. And you called Kanye West a "jackass?"

[Wegie]

Unions should be outlawed!

[Any district in the country]

We're number one in academic performance for our size.

So are we!

[Mango Punch]

Sickening - the discrepensy between public and private sector salaries and the sense of entitlement - sickinging

[P Brooks]

"We'd rather be teaching."

The why are you out on the sidewalk waving cardboard signs? Get back to work.

[Winter Soldier]

Whenever ANYONE says, "It's not about the money," you can be 100% certain that what it's realy about is . . .

the money.

[KARL MARX]

I NEVER SAW THIS COMING!

[creech]

Any guesses on how many resumes from highly qualified teachers the school board would get if they fired the 2,200 teachers and started recruiting?

School districts in eastern Penna. report getting 1,000 resumes for the handful of openings (due to retirements) each year.

[prolefeed]

I believe there are federal labor laws prohibiting the mass firing of striking unionized workers and hiring permanent non-union replacements.

Said laws should be repealed, but that's the reality.

[Death Panelist]

You can't demand to profit during the good times and to not suffer during the bad. Unless you're a union.

[GoNavy]

I guess what pisses me off about teachers is that they are all paid at the same rate, with longevity and degrees/credits earned the only difference.

I find it amazing that 1st grade teachers are paid the same as high school science and foreign language teachers. And this is coming from a man that used to be engaeged to a 1st grade teacher.

At least in Prince Georges County Maryland, where the ex-fiance works, there are no vacancies for primary school teaching slots, while the foreign language and high school math/science slots go unfilled. It is evident to anyone that ever took Econ 101 that the primary teachers are overpaid and the HS teachers are underpaid.

An eff any talk about how important teachers are. If we paid people soley upon how much their job helped society, then garbage men and sewer workers would be the highest paid people and politicans would be paid zero.

[The Mafia]

If we paid people soley upon how much their job helped society, then garbage men and sewer workers would be the highest paid people and politicans would be paid zero.

We are, as you say, in agreement. When the sanitation racket goes on strike, we get results! Quick results. Can you say the same of stoolie politcos if they go on strike? Fuggedaboutit!

[BakedPenguin]

In some states, such as Florida, there are differential pay rates for "crucial needs" teachers. Science, math, foreign language and a few other get higher pay than gym teachers, etc.

[GoNavy]

Excellent! That is the way it should be.

Don't get me wrong, my ex-fiance is a good teacher and any of the little urchins that get her as her teacher are well served. I used to feel sorry for her kids, the lil' bastards, with the exception of the hispanics, probably did not have a male in their lives at all and greater than 50% are being raised by their grandmother, if not great-grandmother. I used to go to her class to read to them or give the occasional math or science lesson, and it was probably the first time many of them ever had a male read to them or do anything but yell. It is eff-up. Many of these kids have great-grandmothers that are under 50 years-old.

The exception are the hispanic kids, many probably illegals. They may be poor, but they have intact families. When the school has family nights, the whole family comes out. With the no hispanic kids, they were lucky to have an older sister come along with them.

[GoNavy]

With the no none hispanic kids, they were lucky to have an older sister come along with them.

[Pedant]

With the non hispanic kids, they were lucky to have an older sister come along with them.

[Fatty Bolger]

In Florida, they also recently passed a bill to get rid of teacher tenure and base pay raises on performance. Not only would this allow schools to get rid of horrible teachers (instead of just moving them around the way they do now) but it would lead to higher pay for teachers who outperform their peers.

The teacher's union went absolutely apeshit.

(The useless Florida governor vetoed the bill, but it will be passed again and put into law next year when he's history.)

[Fark.com (spoofer)]

In Florida, they also recently passed a bill to get rid of teacher tenure and base pay raises on performance.

Keep it up Florida and you'll lose your special tag!

[qwerty]

Ah yes, Charlie Crist: the man who puts the "duh" in Florida.

[ev]

I see both sides of the issue on this one. I'm currently an ESL teacher in Korea (I'm planning on going to the DMZ this weekend! It's going to be insane, I'm sure) and I teach all ages of kids. Six and seven year olds, elementary, middle and highschool students.

Truth be told the younger kids are harder to teach, mostly because they're much more rambunctious but also because I have to actively speak slower and reduce my vocabulary. This is also just a byproduct of teaching english over here and doesn't apply to US teachers.

There isn't much to work with when you teach younger kids things; you have to build a framework rather than working off of it.

[Nemo]

I'm doing the same thing you're doing here. Interesting that you find the little ones more difficult. I have the opposite problem. It's impossible to engage with the older kids for me, because they don't give me anything to work with. I'm just banging information into their heads most of the time because they (rightly) don't feel like being there.

[Peter]

Do you have kids? Libertarians should understand how market demand works. Drop the wages of 1st grade teachers and garbage haulers will be the ones teaching your kids. You don't think 1st grade teachers are important? You obviously don't have kids or you are so damned privileged that you can't understand its importance.

[John]

This just shows the utter stupidity and short sided greed of unions. I am sure these teachers are in a bind. I would imagine they have set their lifestyles to match their income. And losing 10% of your income is a bitch. And they can't leave and go work for another District without losing their seniority. I am sure it is a bitch.

That said, maybe they should have thought about the possibility of the school district going broke when they were demanding higher and higher salaries. If you bankrupt the company you work for, all the concessions your beloved union obtained for you aren't worth anything. All of these public employees who have literally managed to bounce a blank check are going to be whining up a storm in the coming years as states and localities go bankrupt paying their salaries and pensions. I guess that is the inevitable result of teaching people that governments printed their own money for 40 years.

[Corduroy]

That said, maybe they should have thought about the possibility of the school district going broke when they were demanding higher and higher salaries. If you bankrupt the company you work for, all the concessions your beloved union obtained for you aren't worth anything.

When was the last time you heard a union worrying about whether or not a business would go broke? They only worry about who's going to bail them out after they break it.

[So Grim So True So Real]

The problem John is that the idea of the school district going broke would never, ever occur to them. In California the voters live in DreamLand where you can just pass a magic bond measure to raise money for the 'children'. We just vote for feel-good bond measures without any thought of the financial implications of it.

[John]

ON the daily links thread I posted the below link to a Claremont Review article called "Insatiable Liberalism". It is a great article. And it pretty much makes the same point you are. Liberalism never admits any program ever fails or that there is any limit to the size and scope of government.

[R C Dean]

Liberalism never admits any program ever fails or that there is any limit to the size and scope of government.

Well, except the uterus. No trespassing there, government!

[cynical]

Don't worry, as soon as they realize that they need a large crop of newborns to pay for the union pensioners and Medicare recipients, the progressives will be getting all handmaid's tale up in this bitch these bitches.

[John]

http://www.claremont.org/publi.....detail.asp
The link.

[Peter]

I visit schools in Boliva a lot. teachers here get paid $200 a month. Most work two jobs and have no time to prepare for classes and spend class time grading. That's where we can head if we let salaries slide. Not to mention all the bar-tending jobs that will be displaced by underpaid teachers.

[Fatty Bolger]

10% beats 100%. Every time.

[swillfredo pareto]

At the 0:15 mark:

Every other school district in the state of California is dealing with the same thing Capistrano is dealing with?severely underfunded?there's no doubt about it.

More is being spent per student, in real terms, than ever in the history of this country. If we are to believe that public schools are "severely" underfunded today, what apocalyptic adjectives exist to label the last 200 years? And yet students did as well or better than they do today by any measurement. Anyone who says that the problem with education is that it is insufficiently funded is either profoundly ignorant or a craven liar.

[John]

Yeah. Is there any such thing as a school that is not "struggling" or "underfunded"?

[BakedPenguin]

Well Harvard used to be doing okay, until some fucking moron managed to destroy the largest endowment any private university ever had.

But it's okay now, because he's only the chief economic advisor to the President of the United States.

[John Maynard Keynes]

That's my boy!

[Hockey Guy]

That district is a mess. The school supe's built a massive school district office a few years back. No expense was spared and it eventually led to a purge of all the big spenders on the board. The board is now made up of fiscally responsible people and it is driving the unions nuts.

[NAL]

Good, I just hope they are strong enough to hold their ground. The teachers will blink first in a strike. They're obviously fiscally unaware, so you know their own personal financial situations are dismal.

[Madbiker]

According to this website:

http://www.salarylist.com/all-.....strict.htm

teachers in the district start at 37,000 and top out at 91,000 if you have a specialty like teacher of visually handicapped or speech therapist. The average teacher salary is 75,000 per year. One payscale.com, the average reported for elementary/middle school teachers is 56,750 per year; high school stats were hidden to "protect privacy." Not sure what that means - I thought all public districts were required to report their salary scales. I could not find a salary scale published by the district. Perhaps they hid it due to the negotiations.

Anyone, ANYONE entering a job market has to expect that the entry level salary is going to be low but that a measure of raises (esp. the kind guaranteed by contracts) is on the horizon and eventually you'll be living fairly comfortably, if you can spend within your means.

Why would 10% of 75,000 be a horrific reduction? It seems like the teachers are amenable to a reduction, but they want the caveat that any reductions be considered temporary. For educated people, they cannot seem to grasp the concept of a failing economy and what that might mean to salaries in the long run.

The median salary for anyone in SJC is 84,500. I would say teachers are doing OK compared to their peers. Many of them may not even live in-district, so they may have rents, mortgages, and tax levies that are lower or higher than the district that is paying them. If that is the case perhaps an adjustment in lifestyle is necessary to accommodate the fact that the party is over.

I don't see vouchers or charters as threats to public education, personally. When I reflect on my short teaching career, I was far more satisfied with my colleagues and students in a charter because I had kids whose parents wanted them to succeed (not all, but most) and a small, easy to navigate administrative team/system that paid itself far less than the average admins in the local publics (67-75K versus the 120K+ of peers in the local PSD). I don't understand the resistance to providing alternatives in education.

And I don't understand the resistance to taking salary cuts. I'm facing the biggest cut of all - no more salary - and somehow my household budget will be able to adjust. Perhaps that is because I've decided I don't need a new car this year or next, husband and I don't go out to eat or the movies a lot, we can put non-essential home maintenance/improvement projects on hold, and don't need to shop obsessively for junk food, fashion items, 15 pairs of jeans we don't need, etc. etc.

Just adjust, teachers! It has to be done and it can be done.

Rant over. I can't sympathize with them or their union representation. If they'd rather be teaching, then get your fat asses in the classrooms. I would be SCAB #1 if I were in that district. Whether I work in another public school again or not, I will never ever again join a teaching union.

[swillfredo pareto]

teachers in the district start at 37,000 and top out at 91,000

In Florida teachers also have:

a defined benefit retirement plan
zero premium health insurance
a 1,600 hour work year
loan forgiveness
10 sick days per year (with rollover)
tenure track

All this for what is generally considered to be the easiest Bachelor's Degree. I would multiply the base salary by a minimum of 1.5 to compare their true compensation to a private sector employee.

[Madbiker]

Same here in NJ for the most part. The compensation in the paycheck is only a part of the larger dollar figure it takes to compensate a teacher.

[Madbiker]

I'm not going to say teaching is an easy job by any means. But with guaranteed raises, locks on your position once you achieve tenure, paid benefits, a gold-plated retirement plan, and other perquisites, it is hard to feel sorry for people experiencing what many other sectors are: pay cuts, loss of budget dollars, and an overall shrinking of workforce where you are lucky to have a (reduced) paycheck, if any.

[PIRS]

"All this for what is generally considered to be the easiest Bachelor's Degree."

Close, but I think that title must go to "women's studies" in which you are taught all of the reasons why our "patriarcal society" keeps you down so you can never achieve anything in life except work for a union or the government.

[SugarFree]

Social work degree. All the collectivism and none of the pesky reading.

[swillfredo pareto]

I think that title must go to "women's studies"

Social work degree.

I stand corrected. I should have said that it is the easiest degree for which there is an actual market.

[So Grim So True So Real]

Good point. A teacher making 60,000 is equivalent to someone working full time making 20-30% more.

[GoNavy]

Using a 1920 hour work year, which normalizes for average vacation & holidays, as a comparison, the multiplier is 1.2. i.e. A ten-month a year worker earning $60k annualizes to $72k.

[doofus]

Forget 10 months. A school year represents 180 DAYS!

[Drax the Destroyer]

If that is the case perhaps an adjustment in lifestyle is necessary to accommodate the fact that the party is over.

There is the problem my friend. They don't want to adjust. They don't want to sacrifice. They long ago sacrificed their dreams of becoming musicians, sports heroes, porn stars, writers, engineers, actors, scientists, snuff film directors, doctors, etc so they feel justified in taking more of your money to babysit your brats. Their dreams are about as dead as the promise of this flaccid husk of country we inhabit, so they are out for blood.

Well teachers who can't stand a 10% pay cut, my dreams are fucking dead too. I eat Ramen every fucking day and pay out my ass to make sure the debt collectors don't break my legs. I live in a leaky destitute piece of shit apartment with bad wiring, cockroaches, and a fat old whore's orgasmic screams piercing my paper-thin walls. But I don't think people owe me shit for my station in life. I live within my means unhappily, but I know that it is a more just existence than getting a bullshit elementary education degree and then retiring at 55 with loaded benefits ripped from witless/impotent taxpayers(FYI my retirement plan is to pull a Hunter S. Thompson).

Their resistance to necessary change reflects our nation(world?)-wide economic predicament. Asshole businesses are too big to fail, irresponsible corporations are protected from their mistakes, lying politicians aren't strung up by their Achilles tendons and dragged through the streets, people think they deserve a giant house because the president said so and most importantly, everyone wants a FREE golden parachute. Oh god, I need to rage-puke now. Where is that damn heart medication...

[Fark.com (spoofer)]

pull a Hunter S. Thompson

Pulling Hunter Thompson - now that's an image.

[MrGuy]

The sad thing is that you sound more educated and probably more intelligent than those who teach our children. It seems like everywhere I look, mediocrity is rewarded over hard work -- am I the only one who believes this?

Sorry to hear about your situation man.

[People Power Hour]

It wasn't about the money? Then why weren't you teaching, biatches? Of COURSE it's about the money; they're a union, fercrissake.

[incensed by spoiled union thug]

I particularly liked the union reps defense of seniority pay and the first hired/last fired policy, 'I don't know of any other objective system to do so.' Just how does she think any other institution, government or private, makes such decisions? Would she acknowledge that seniority pay systems are just a way for overpaid managers to avoid taking responsibility for making decisions?

These idiot teachers should be reminded of what happened to the UAW when it continually refused to make very modest concessions during its contract negotiations. The NEA may not like charter schools and vouchers, but the NEA's recalcitrance will only guarantee the changes it fears most.

"Some change is inevitable and one can be either a part of the evolution or a victim of the revolution."

[Apogee]

These idiot teachers should be reminded of what happened to the UAW when it continually refused to make very modest concessions during its contract negotiations.

Yes. They were given GM.

[incensed by spoiled union thug]

I was thinking of things like the closing of the Willow Run plant, but your point is a better one.

[Adam]

"Other parents were frustrated by union members who were unwilling to work out a compromise with a district that is facing a $34 million budget deficit." Were those frustrated parents willing to give up an extra 10% of their income to help solve that deficit? I didn't think so.

[So Grim So True So Real]

Adam, there's a very high probability than almost all of those parents have already lost 10% or more of their income lately. Everyone I know in this area has either been laid off, taken a pay reduction, or if they are lucky have just had a pay freeze for the last year or so.

[So Grim So True So Real]

And don't forget the fact that California taxes and fees have been steadily going up for decades. So those evil, greedy parents (taxpayers) have been having to do with less, while the outstanding California government has been taking more.

[incensed by spoiled union thug]

Were those frustrated parents willing to give up an extra 10% of their income to help solve that deficit? I didn't think so.

The teachers work for the parents. Since when do employees get to tell the boss what the boss has to do?

[The Union]

When they belong to US.

[R C Dean]

Lots of parents talked about using the strike as "a teaching moment."

"See, honey, this is why public employee unions are bad, teachers who do their bidding are greedy, lying scum, and the government as a whole is fundamentally flawed."

[Slut Bunwalla]

So, uh, if it's not about the money, is anyone going to ask these parasites what the protest is about?

[Gilbert Martin]

"The children who attended school during the strike had to walk past their teachers who, instead of preparing for class, were marching in front of the school with picket signs reading "It's not about the money"

Attention class, the lesson for today is cognitive dissonance.

[Rimfax]

This may be the best made Reason video, yet. Keep up the great work.

[NAL]

I agree, it was good content, but the volume kept going up and down between the various interviewees. I had to keep readjusting thru the whole thing.

[Ron L]

I'd like to see the response if any other group stood in a line outside a school and required the kids to 'run the gamut'.
I'm tired of teachers using kids as props in their extortion racket.

[ABUSE]

TO ALL THE COMMUNIST IN THE IG,FBI,CIA,AND U.S. Senators and the left wing media outlets ////Mmslim Barack Hussein Obama people have no idea of the extent to which they have to be gulled in order to be led." "The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one." "All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it." "Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise. //////"pelosi don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social HATRED ...obama feelings against Americanism are feelings of HATRED and deep repugnance ... everything about the behaviour of American society reveals that it's half LIES, and the other half RACIAL. How can one expect THE USA to hold TOGTHER.They include the angry left wing bloggers who spread vicious lies and half-truths about their political adversaries... Those lies are then repeated by the duplicitous left wing media outlets who "discuss" the nonsense on air as if it has merit? The media's justification is apparently "because it's out there", truth be damned., GOD OPEN YOUR EYESTO ALL THE COMMUNIST IN THE IG,FBI,CIA,AND U.S. Senators and the left wing media outlets ////Mmslim Barack Hussein Obama people have no idea of the extent to which they have to be gulled in order to be led." "The size of the lie is a definite factor in causing it to be believed, for the vast masses of the nation are in the depths of their hearts more easily deceived than they are consciously and intentionally bad. The primitive simplicity of their minds renders them a more easy prey to a big lie than a small one, for they themselves often tell little lies but would be ashamed to tell a big one." "All propaganda must be so popular and on such an intellectual level, that even the most stupid of those towards whom it is directed will understand it. Therefore, the intellectual level of the propaganda must be lower the larger the number of people who are to be influenced by it." "Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way around, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise. //////"pelosi don't see much future for the Americans ... it's a decayed country. And they have their racial problem, and the problem of social HATRED ...obama feelings against Americanism are feelings of HATRED and deep repugnance ... everything about the behaviour of American society reveals that it's half LIES, and the other half RACIAL. How can one expect THE USA to hold TOGTHER.They include the angry left wing bloggers who spread vicious lies and half-truths about their political adversaries... Those lies are then repeated by the duplicitous left wing media outlets who "discuss" the nonsense on air as if it has merit? The media's justification is apparently "because it's out there", truth be damned., GOD OPEN YOUR EYES,INPEACH COMMUNIST Mmslim Barack Hussein Obama,TO THE WEAK-KNEED REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRAT .THE COMMANDER REPOST THIS IF YOU AGREE TO THE WEAK-KNEED REPUBLICANS AND DEMOCRAT .THE COMMANDER REPOST THIS IF YOU AGREE

[Ike]

Get the governments - fed, state and local - out of the teaching business, out of the educating kids business, and you'll see costs drop, quality rise and parents being in control. You'll also be opposed by teachers' unions, local politicos who use the school board elections to start their careers of sociopathic behavior, local contractors who make money hand over fist on school construction and renovation contracts, academic idiots with PhD's in "education" who teach the teachers to be shills for communism, socialism, etc etc. You'll probably lose, so why start? Right?

[Tman]

Funniest part of the video was the dude with grey hair and "Cal-Poly Lacrosse" baseball cap who said that Charter schools are bad because "teachers could get indiscriminately fired".

The cognitive dissidence coming out of the mouth of this guy, who apparently is a FARKING TEACHER is mindblowing.

California is in BIG trouble.

[Bob Smith]

"I particularly liked the union reps defense of seniority pay and the first hired/last fired policy, 'I don't know of any other objective system to do so.' Just how does she think any other institution, government or private, makes such decisions?"

She's using "objective" the same way schools use "zero tolerance". She means "how else can we implement a system in which no judgment can be used to decide who is fired?". In the wacky world of the public sector, "exercising judgment" == "unfairly biased". It's much the same way bidding on public contracts is done. You must take the lowest bid, rather than just hire somebody who you know will get the job done on time and under budget, because just hiring somebody requires judgment, which cannot be permitted because it could be "biased".

[qwerty]

Of course, all students must pass, too. Failing students would be "exercising judgment".

[doofus]

Three simple things would solve 90% of all education issues. Vouchers, vouchers and...well...vouchers.

Unless, and until, you get government largely out of the education business this will ever be the theme.

The adage goes: "If you can't do, teach. Eighty k for 180 days labor is too much by half.

[incensed by spoiled union thug]

Vouchers, vouchers and...well...vouchers.

How would you answer the criticism that vouchers could be used at religious schools which would violate separation of church and state? What should be the reaction if vouchers were used to send children to the Karl Marx School for Societal Change where students were taught the evils of capitalism? (Granted, the KMS for SC could probably lift much of its curriculum from the current government school curriculum.)

[Bob Smith]

Education shouldn't be publicly funded in the first place. Neatly solves the problem.

[incensed by spoiled union thug]

So easy to say, so hard to make happen.

[dippy]

If the religious school or the Karl Marx school appeals to you, take your little voucher an off you go. What business is it of yours if a parent wants to so educate his spawn?

[cynical]

Well, it wouldn't violate the separation of church and state, would be my answer.

The government is neither encouraging nor discouraging the use of religious schools with its funding, thus it is neutral on the issue. Government funding is used an excuse to strip individuals/organizations of their rights far too often. Given that funding all too often comes from the pockets of the very people being told to give up their rights to get it back, it's a back-door to tyranny.

[dippy]

Agreed. Before there were public schools there were...uh...parochial schools, who were largely responsible for educating the early America.

If you, or others, feel it is in the best interest of the republic to encourage education (read, fund education), then encourage it, and get out of the way.

Logic tells me for every parochial school that will be encouraged, many more "corporate" schools will be encouraged. For-profit enterprises, enticed by the (you name it) $8-$11K/student potential will break their asses to get in the education game, providing that accountability and competition which is currently missing and is responsible for the malaise.

You must interrupt the money flow, from government to provider, to encourage efficiency and quality. Put the money, wherever it comes from, in the hands of the consumer, and quality will soon follow.
Taking the consumer out of the equation is what will damn any public health care system, much as it does in education.

[prolefeed]

The climate is unbeatable

"Unbeatable" does not mean what you think it does. If it drops below 70 degrees at night in the dead of winter, said climate is beatable.

[qwerty]

+1

[Stretchy]

These are NOT professionals. Professionals show up for work. Professionals can be fired for lack of performance.

[Christian Louboutin]

http://www.luckyboot.com/chris.....-c-23.html

[Christian Louboutin]

http://www.luckyboot.com/chris.....-c-23.html

[Christian Louboutin]

http://www.luckyboot.com/chris.....-p-37.html

[new]

A tecnologia da Tv Digital via internet chegou para lhe proporcionar assistir canais ao vivo em seu computador.
452 canais de Tv Digital transmitidos 24h por dia Ao Vivo, sem taxas de assinatura ou mensalidades
http://www.tvdigitalnopc.com.br

[new]

O Tv Digital no PC consiste em transformar seu computador ou notebook numa completa central de entretenimento sem nenhuma burocracia ou complica??o, basta que o seu computador tenha uma conex?o com a internet com a velocidade m?nima de 100kbps, n?o e necess?rio placa de tv ou v?deo 3D nem cabos os antenas.
Com o Tv Digital no PC voc? ter? 452 canais ? sua inteira disposi??o 24horas
http://www.tvdigitalnopc.com.br

[Scarpe Nike]

is good

[sneakersales4u]

good