Replies to post #14953 on Zeev's Turnips Talk Politics (ZTTP)

[extelecom]

Jeffrey, I can agree with you to a large extent that the parnts are a large part of the problem... Those parents that don't give a damn penalize the children of the parents that do indirectly. Another reason for a lot of the school problems are this new PC - Touchy/Feely mentality that came out of the 80's / 90's where everyones needs have to be met, everyone is special and everyone passes... Personally I think it would make a big diference in my area if they just didn't focus as much on SPORTS. I haven't seen any Cheerleaders for the Math Club ever.

[goodluck]

<<I can give you several examples of people who have been succesful while coming from meager backgrounds.>>

Of COURSE there are "examples" of people who have been successful who come from "meager" backgrounds. (One should add: there are also "examples" of people who come from affluent backgrounds and who don't make it, whose lives get destroyed in one way or another.) Especially, I think, for the generation who grew up during the depression and WWII. So many people had nothing. And when WWII ended, the US was the "last man standing" in the developed world. There was enormous opportunity, as we "rebuilt" both ourselves and many other countries as well. Plus the GI bill enabled millions of people who would not have had otherwise had the opportunity to get an advanced education. This was revolutionary. An example of government spending to help people help themselves at its best.

But it is also true that, of course, most don't overcome their "meagre" background. And most who begin with an affluent background do "succeed" in terms of employment, attaining some measure of wealth, etc. A few people say it is the "bell curve" and hereditary. But if you just ask yourself, if two kids of parents from opposite ends of the social spectrum are switched in the hospital, would they have had the same life, become the same person?

[ergo sum]

JS

Yes a lot depends on the dirt you're grown in but when the soils no good you have to look for alternatives. I see very little reason to continue to test the sample when we already know what the test will show.

Why is it we can so gleefully manufacture 70 billion for war even as we cut education funding nationwide? Why is it my kids have music, PE, art and whatever else you can think of while 30% of those kids in Florida can't even read at grade level?

2003
"We are providing far more money than every before to help states and local school districts, more than $22 billion in this school year alone," Bush said. "Over the past two years, we have increased federal spending by 40 percent and, in return, we are insisting that schools use that money wisely."

2000
By far, the greatest part of education revenues came from nonfederal sources (state, intermediate, and local governments), which together provided about $346 billion, or 92.7 percent of all revenues. The federal government contribution to education revenues made up the remaining $27 billion. The relative contributions from these levels of government can be expressed as portions of the typical education dollar. For school year 1999–2000, local and intermediate sources made up 43 cents of every dollar in revenue, state revenues comprised 50 cents, and the remaining 7 cents came from federal sources.

Ergo Sum