Is Louisiana the future of Georgia’s education system?
If you want to see where Georgia conservatives want to take education in this state, look five hundred miles west to Louisiana, where Gov. Bobby Jindal is implementing a voucher program intended to move hundreds of thousands of students out of public schools and into privately run schools at taxpayer expense.
Louisiana officials have made it clear that they do not intend to impose teacher standards on those schools. Students attending voucher schools will be immune to the high-stakes testing that is required in the state’s public schools. In addition, the state will not sit in judgment of what the schools teach or how they teach it.
John White, Louisiana’s school superintendent, has told the press that it should be up to parents, not the state, to gauge whether private schools are delivering a quality education. “To me, it’s a moral outrage that the government would say, ‘We know what’s best for your child,’” White said. “Who are we to tell parents we know better?”
That “who are we to judge?” question is critically important. When fully implemented, the Louisiana program has the potential to shift well over a billion dollars a year in taxpayer money out of the public system into the hands of private for-profit and non-profit schools. Surely that gives state officials not just the right but the obligation to ensure that the money is well-spent and delivers quality education. But that’s counter to the philosophy driving the school voucher movement.
The program was signed into law by Jindal in April and takes effect immediately. The result has been an educational gold rush. For example, Reuters reports that New Living Word, the school offering the most open slots to voucher students, “has a top-ranked basketball team but no library. Students spend most of the day watching TVs in barebones classrooms. Each lesson consists of an instructional DVD that intersperses Biblical verses with subjects such chemistry or composition.”
Part of the first-grade "science" class offered by Accelerated Christian Education, a curriculum that the taxpayers of Louisiana will soon be supporting through their public tax dollars.
That’s not at all unusual. Almost all of the 125 private schools that have applied to accept voucher students in the 2012-13 school year are religious-based. Many teach creationism as science, some using curriculum provided through Accelerated Christian Education, an education ministry. Under its system, ACE boasts, “the school is not considered an arm of the church. It is the church in action.”
ACE’s first-grade curriculum, for example, teaches as science that God created the Earth in six days, that on Day One he divided the light from the darkness and on Day Six made man and other living creatures.
As another example of how intertwined church and state become, the Islamic School of Greater New Orleans initially indicated that it too would participate in the voucher program, but later withdrew after a political outcry. As state Rep. Valarie Hodges, R-Watson, explained, vouchers are supposed to finance “teaching the fundamentals of America’s Founding Fathers’ religion,” but “we need to ensure that it does not open the door to fund radical Islam schools…. I do not support using public funds for teaching Islam anywhere here in Louisiana.”
This is the type of program that voucher proponents in Georgia hope to emulate. Last week, for example, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers acknowledged that if he had his way, such programs would have been implemented “yesterday,” specifically citing Louisiana as a model. But until full-blown implementation is possible, Rogers and others pursue half steps, such as the proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot this November giving the state the power to create charter schools over the protest of local districts.
It is also consistent with proposals from GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, who advocates turning federal aid for schools into individual grants “so that eligible students can choose which school to attend and bring funding with them.” Interestingly, the Romney plan avoids the term “vouchers”, although that is clearly how such grants would function.
That’s in keeping with the stealthy, incremental process by which this goal is being pursued.
– Jay Bookman
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560 comments Add your comment
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
July 18th, 2012
9:06 am
What Pea-diddy said at 9:03
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:06 am
Meanwhile and off topic, we have this latest gem from Obama…
“Obama has collected $118,121 from donors who list Bain as their employer between June 2004 and May 2012.”
“One of Obama’s top campaign financiers – Jonathan Lavine – is also managing director at Bain, bundling between $100,000 and $200,000 in contributions for the 2012 Obama Victory Fun”
**face palm**
larry
July 18th, 2012
9:07 am
If you want to go to a PRIVATE school, pay for it yourself. Don’t use my tax dollars.
Agreed!! Especially if you live in an area where the closest private school is over 40 miles away.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:08 am
“Last week, for example, Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers acknowledged that if he had his way, such programs would have been implemented “yesterday,””
Glad Mr. Rogers didn’t have it his way then.
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
9:08 am
Senate Majority Leader Chip Rogers acknowledged that if he had his way, such programs would have been implemented “yesterday,” specifically citing Louisiana as a model.
Maybe Ol’ Chip should prognosticate the odds of vouchers happening here in Georgia for old times sake.
larry
July 18th, 2012
9:10 am
Maybe Ol’ Chip should prognosticate the odds of vouchers happening here in Georgia for old times sake
Maybe the good people of Cherokee county will finally vote Will Rogers out.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:11 am
Love Luckovich’s cartoon today
http://blogs.ajc.com/mike-luckovich/?cxntlid=sldr_hm
larry
July 18th, 2012
9:11 am
Oh i forgot , he was just ACTING!!
barking frog
July 18th, 2012
9:11 am
If you want to ____________
don’t use my tax dollars.
If only it were possible to
fill in the blank and make it
happen.
lovelyliz
July 18th, 2012
9:11 am
Whne did stupidity beciome a badge of honor? I’m not alking about teaching your kids about God. I’m talking about teaching your kids to never question to never think and that anything outside of your version of the good book is nothing to be concerned about.
Oblama
July 18th, 2012
9:12 am
As long as you have teacher’s unions telling the school system who they can hire and fire we will have inferior education and definitely not our money’s worth. The union refuses to fire the cheating teachers and administrators in the worst scandal in the state of Georgia’s public school history and that is a fine example for our young people.
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
9:13 am
Pea @ 9:06
http://www.rttnews.com/1894581/obama-to-keep-campaign-donations-from-bain-capital-executives.aspx
Opensecrets.org data, a group that uses data from the Federal Election Commission to report candidate fundraising, reports that Obama has received more than $152,000 from Bain capital employees. Three employees alone at Bain Capital have given a total of $96,400 to a joint committee on fundraising operated by the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
The donations for the President’s campaign from Bain Capital still pale in comparison to Romney’s total donations received from Bain Capital and Bain & Company which has reached upwards of $2.5 million, given to either the Super PAC called Restore Our Future or Romney’s Campaign.
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:13 am
Williebkind — “A few athiest and other perverts have had their way in court and have taken away most of my constitutional rights by saying that is for home and church.”
Horsepoop.
Specifics, please. Oh, and you’re a bigot.
btull27
July 18th, 2012
9:13 am
Sometimes I wonder why any of y’all respond to that crap. At some point, you have to realize that the mindless don’t want to use their mind.
I look at Jay’s opinions and the responses once or twice a week and I wonder the same thing. I see the same names saying the same things. There is one group of names which say one thing and then here comes the “piffle” rants from the other side. Back and forth like two drunks fighting over a barstool. Quite humerous to read those who spend their lives in an eternal keyboard argument..
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
9:14 am
As long as you have teacher’s unions telling the school system who they can hire and fire we will have inferior education and definitely not our money’s worth.
As long as you have people in Georgia that believe there are teacher’s unions here, you have proof of the power of destroying the educational system.
lovelyliz
July 18th, 2012
9:14 am
Fundemental values of the founding father who were more deists than evangelical WASPs. Who believed in God, but the divinity of Jesus not so much.
lovelyliz
July 18th, 2012
9:15 am
Amen Brosephus!!!!!!!!
G.I. Joe
July 18th, 2012
9:16 am
The coming economic melt down will eliminate all of Obama’s make work jobs and put the unions teacher’s out on the street. Go ahead and vote for disaster but don’t whine when your medicare and social security checks bounce. You get what you voted for – economic disaster.
lynnie gal
July 18th, 2012
9:17 am
I object to the Georgia (state) control of my local schools. My child went through the Decatur City schools K-12 and now he’s a 4.0 student at a great college. I’ve paid high property taxes for years to support the school and every check I wrote to the city I considered a good deal. You can’t have good public schools without support from the local community and Georgia’s overall poor record on schools in this state worry me if they try to take over control of local schools.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:17 am
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
9:13 am
What was the point of that post? The amount doesn’t matter. My point was that while Obama has made Romney and Bain a focal point of his campaign lately he takes donations from them. Hypocrisy much?
Joseph
July 18th, 2012
9:18 am
I don’t always start a business but when I do someone else does it for me…..
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:18 am
Peadawg — “My point was that while Obama has made Romney and Bain a focal point of his campaign lately he takes donations from them. Hypocrisy much?”
Are you saying that *every* employee of Bain was complicit in whatever Romney may or may not have done?
That’s like saying that every employee of Enron was as guilty as Skilling and Lay were.
Marc
July 18th, 2012
9:20 am
Jay private schools don’t need to be policed by the government. They fire unproductive teachers!!!
Aquagirl
July 18th, 2012
9:20 am
My child went through the Decatur City schools K-12 and now he’s a 4.0 student at a great college
Yeah, but he probably doesn’t know a thing about the Loch Ness monster so the wingnut-edjumacated kids will run circles around him in the real world.
HOT AIR
July 18th, 2012
9:20 am
Read Petr Schiff’s new book “The Real Crash: America’s Bankruptcy – How To Save Yourself and Your Country.” That’s what Obama supporters voted for. Who is Peter Schiff? He wrote a book predicting the real estate crash in 2007. You think 2008 was bad – read the book.
BlondeHoney
July 18th, 2012
9:22 am
@Oblama 9:12, you do know there are no teacher’s unions in GA, right?
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:22 am
Marc — “Jay private schools don’t need to be policed by the government. They fire unproductive teachers!!!”
If they don’t receive some sort of curricular oversight, then how exactly do you measure the productivity of teachers? By how much profit the company makes from the students in their classes?
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
9:22 am
Peadawg
The point of that post is that, while Obama has received donations from Bain, his amount is nothing but a drop in the bucket of what Romney’s received. Your viewing of hypocrisy would be more valid, in my opinion, if Obama were attacking ALL the employees of Bain and not just Romney. I haven’t found a company yet were every single employee has the exact same views, opinions, beliefs, and actions of the CEO.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:24 am
“while Obama has received donations from Bain, his amount is nothing but a drop in the bucket of what Romney’s received.” – I don’t care about the amount. But the fact that Obama takes any donations from Bain and its employees while criticizing Bain/Romney every chance he gets is beyond hypocrisy.
Just add this gem to his ever-growing list.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:25 am
“Are you saying that *every* employee of Bain was complicit in whatever Romney may or may not have done?” – Not even close. But nice try.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
July 18th, 2012
9:26 am
btul27
Piffle is a “rant”?
Oh double piffle with a cherry on top.
Bet he never read any of Andy’s rants…..
HOT AIR
July 18th, 2012
9:26 am
Aqua – The Loch Ness monster is fiction.. just thought you needed to know.
GT
July 18th, 2012
9:27 am
I think one great thing about immigration legal or illegal they understand the need for education. With Obama the immigration programs that have strengthen this country and really is one of its main backbones will continue. When the population that is thirsty for the education and real family values the Catholic church teaches become the majority the picture here will improve. It will start in Texas and Florida and move south. The NASCAR crowd is on its way out, they have just delayed their exit. This will make a brighter future for our children. People are drawn here for what they see hope. They get here and it is not what they envisioned, but they know what they wanted and they can make it happen. Our potbellied politicians who have held us back so long will be cartoons for history books.
HOT AIR
July 18th, 2012
9:29 am
Honey – Teacher’s unions are nation wide, including Georgia. I have a teachers certificate and should know.
GT
July 18th, 2012
9:31 am
We did evolve from monkeys and this blog is exhibit one.
Aquagirl
July 18th, 2012
9:31 am
Aqua – The Loch Ness monster is fiction.. just thought you needed to know.
Another poster brainwashed by public education. No wonder we’re falling behind the rest of the world when people regularly question the value of fuzzy photographs as scientific evidence.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/loch-ness-monster-used-debunk-evolution-state-funded-190816504.html
G.I. Joe
July 18th, 2012
9:31 am
GT – what the crap are you ranting about. Illegal aliens have exactly what to do with Jay’s topic today?
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:32 am
Peadawg — “Not even close.”
Then where’s your complaint? Because no one on Obama’s side is making that argument.
“But nice try.”
The “nice try” seems to be your own; good luck with it.
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:33 am
H. Air — “Honey – Teacher’s unions are nation wide, including Georgia. I have a teachers certificate and should know.”
Oh goody!
Bring us all up to speed on the activities and misdeeds of the Georgia teacher’s union, please.
Recon 0311 2533
July 18th, 2012
9:34 am
“Do you think “American Exceptionalism” means that Lord Jesus personally wanted our Founding Fathers to form the USA, and that’s what makes us a “Christian Nation?”
SFD, I along with everyone else couldn’t know the answer to that question in this lifetime but it’s possible.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:34 am
“Then where’s your complaint?” – Having trouble reading?
“The “nice try” seems to be your own; good luck with it.” – Thank you. I try my best to look at both sides w/out blinders.
HOT AIR
July 18th, 2012
9:35 am
G.I. – I think that GT wants illegal aliens to run the school system. By the way do you think that Obama’s birth papers are authentic? Is he possibly our 1st illegal alien president?
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:36 am
Bobby Jindal is an idiot. Every year he has cut the education and health care budgets, and then claimed they weren’t doing well so he has to take more money away.
Now voucher programs. Where kids sit in front of a TV to learn.
I’m homeschooling my kids. At least then I can teach them something where when they grow up they actually have job opportunities. Companies here hire people from other countries because it’s harder to find Americans who know enough about science and math than it is to pay for someone from India to be work sponsored.
Oscar
July 18th, 2012
9:36 am
GT
July 18tho, 2012
9:31 am
We did evolve from monkeys and this blog is exhibit one.
________
Who said we evolved. To evolve implies progress.
Maximum
July 18th, 2012
9:36 am
Republicans: Advancing American Exceptionalism by promoting ignorance, and destroying the United States one voter at a time. God help us.
Speed Racer
July 18th, 2012
9:36 am
Jay writes, “It’s not the parents’ tax money, Call It. They contribute a tiny tiny tiny percentage of the money that is used to educate their child at public expense.” Jay: It surely is the parents’ money. Parents and other citizens contribute 100% of the tax money since the govt has no money except the taxes it collects.
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:38 am
Hopefully by the time I have kids and homeschooling becomes too difficult I can find a way to move to and get work sponsorship in whatever country has a better educational system. Chances are, the way things are going, that’ll be Germany.
Jack
July 18th, 2012
9:38 am
Since our schools became so successful under the leadership of Beverly Hall, Jindal should hire her to run his state’s system.
HOT AIR
July 18th, 2012
9:38 am
Mama – Teacher’s unions hired lawyers to fight the firing of the administrators and teachers involved in the cheating scandal in Georgia. Guess you don’t have a problem with that?
Joseph
July 18th, 2012
9:38 am
Jay:
Honestly Jay I feel that so many people especially liberals are terribly misinformed on this issue. I am on the board of a particular Charter School. Our budget is half per pupil less than any public school in the area. And test scores are astonishingly better. These are facts that simply can’t be defended…
Recon 0311 2533
July 18th, 2012
9:38 am
Obama has collected $118,121 from donors who list Bain as their employer between June 2004 and May 2012.”
“One of Obama’s top campaign financiers – Jonathan Lavine – is also managing director at Bain, bundling between $100,000 and $200,000 in contributions for the 2012 Obama Victory Fun”
**face palm**
It’s also interesting that they all support Romney’s version of his departure.
larry
July 18th, 2012
9:40 am
So, teachers unions are nationwide.Hmmmmmmm……
That’s kinda like Retro retiring.
So what teachers union is nationwide ?
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:40 am
Parents and other citizens contribute 100% of the tax money since the govt has no money except the taxes it collects.
And the salaries everyone gets would not be distributed in U.S. dollars if it were not for the strength and security having the Federal government provides. Perhaps you’d prefer to get paid in rations? ANYTHING to avoid taxation!
When you stop at a stop sign it’s because you knuckled under to pressure under threat of gunpoint by a statist, right?
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:40 am
Peadawg — “Having trouble reading?”
No, but you’re having trouble explaining.
You said this: “What was the point of that post? The amount doesn’t matter. My point was that while Obama has made Romney and Bain a focal point of his campaign lately he takes donations from them.”
Except that that’s a misrepresentation of Obama’s position, and its an argument that no one has made. So I asked this:
Are you saying that *every* employee of Bain was complicit in whatever Romney may or may not have done?
You admitted that you were not. So given that you admit this and that Romney’s *management* of Bain has been the core of Obama’s criticism of him (not some sort of alleged unethical or illegal activities on the part of Bain as a whole), you don’t really seem to have a credible complaint here. I’m trying to get at the specifics of your discomfort and upset, and all I’m getting back from you is passive-aggressive behavior.
Perhaps you could lower your Richard Quotient a bit and explain yourself a little better.
SmartK12Funding
July 18th, 2012
9:41 am
According to NAEP, America’s 17-year-olds have made no improvements at any performance level between 1971 and 2008. Not exactly progress. And in fact, of GA’s kids who do end up in college, 37% of two-year program freshmen enrolled in 2006 required remediation and 18% of four-year program freshmen enrolled in 2006 required remediation. Progress might be made at elem and middle school levels, but what is happening in high school? These children represent the future of Georgia. How do we ensure that we are doing all we can to provide them with the best education possible?
Reports cited @ http://bit.ly/MImFXR
Thomas
July 18th, 2012
9:41 am
The Obama administration unveiled plans Wednesday to create an elite corps of master teachers, a $1 billion effort to boost U.S. students’ achievement in science, technology, engineering and math.
Please do tell whether that is a “strategy” or a “tactic”. Once again the silliness of DC is demonstrated. What next 2 billion for Seal Team VI type literaturer professors, Jeremy Lin and a player to be named later?
GT
July 18th, 2012
9:41 am
Illegals know the value of education illiterates don’t.
Gays know the value of marriage straights don’t.
Rants, I will show you rants. Rants like the ones in that Baptist Church in Providence, N.C. undermines the lack of respect for education. Ignorance feeds lack of respect. Continued ignorance is insanity. To roll around in it is ranting like a insane person. We have a load of that in this part of the world. What they are doing in Louisiana props up insanity.
Oblama
July 18th, 2012
9:41 am
I can see where GT may be related to a monkey but I’m not. His tree climbing skills are much better than his debating skills.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
July 18th, 2012
9:41 am
(was watching breaking news from Syria)
one of the best appointments Obama made – Leon Panetta.
he rocks.
Joseph
July 18th, 2012
9:42 am
Why do libs have a problem with parents deciding where their children should go to school…
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:43 am
H. Air — “Mama – Teacher’s unions hired lawyers to fight the firing of the administrators and teachers involved in the cheating scandal in Georgia.”
Did the *Georgia* teacher’s union do that?
“Guess you don’t have a problem with that?”
I have a problem with people asserting that Georgia has a teacher’s union when it doesn’t, yes.
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:43 am
I would argue that if Bain lower level employees are giving Obama money it’s because THEY don’t like Bain’s practices either.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
July 18th, 2012
9:44 am
“What next 2 billion for Seal Team VI type literaturer professors, Jeremy Lin and a player to be named later?”
would rather have that than some of the crap we get from the pentagon
Thomas
July 18th, 2012
9:44 am
GT- it is thought processes like you demonstrate that founded such elite groups like the KKK
all whites are _____
all homosexuals are _____
all hispanics are _____
good luck with it- we have seen this movie before and it always ends the same.
bluecoat
July 18th, 2012
9:44 am
Yeah La will rename the schools CoonA.
Lori
July 18th, 2012
9:45 am
Thanks for reminding me to donate to Chip Rogers’ campaign! I recently moved to Georgia and am aghast at the public school system here. There should be riots over forcing our kids to attend some of these schools — not elitist hatred for leaders trying to pave a way out.
GT
July 18th, 2012
9:45 am
We still got those pictures of Enron and the Bushes?
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:45 am
Why do libs have a problem with parents deciding where their children should go to school…
I have no problem with that. I have a problem with you using my tax dollars for no accountability and religious “education.” Religious schools are indoctrination, not the public schools. You guys have been projecting that indoctrination bullsh*t for way too long and it’s time the reasonable people, people who believe what the Founding Fathers believed (that church and state should be separate) start taking that term back.
RELIGION is indoctrination. Regular education is just that – education.
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:46 am
Joseph — “Why do libs have a problem with parents deciding where their children should go to school…”
We don’t. We have a problem with being asked to *fund* all those choices.
If you want to exercise school choice, you can do it TODAY. Pull your kids out of school and put ‘em in whatever kind of academy or outfit you want them to learn in. Just don’t ask the rest of us to pay for it.
Everyone pays taxes to support local schools. If you live in a school district and have a kid, you can send him or her to those schools for free. But don’t go expecting a refund check if you decide to send them elsewhere.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:46 am
“Except that that’s a misrepresentation of Obama’s position”
” you don’t really seem to have a credible complaint here.”
We’ll agree to disagree. I have a feeling I’m not going to change your mind.
Thomas
July 18th, 2012
9:41 am
I’m hoping Jay does a thread on this…he’s pretty good about providing details. I can’t decide if it’s good or bad. I would like to know where the money’s coming from to pay for it and whatnot.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
9:48 am
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:45 am
and
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:46 am
Well said!!!
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:48 am
So, show of hands, how many here actually BELIEVE that Obama was talking about businesses when he said “you didn’t build that.”
Ok, you can put your hands down. I now know who gets their primary news from right wing sources and avoids anyone who might seek to point out lies told by said sources.
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:49 am
Peadawg: Thanks.
How ya been? What did I miss?
GT
July 18th, 2012
9:49 am
Chip Rogers is that gambling executive isn’t he.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
July 18th, 2012
9:50 am
It’s also interesting that they all support Romney’s version of his departure
Which version of Romney’s departure? The one that says he left in 1999? The one that says he left “retroactively.” The one that says he had NOTHING to do in any way with Bain after 1999? The one that says he was CEO and signed documents but really did not do much but take a salary in excess of $100k after 1999 (which in not ‘in any way”? Or maybe it was the sworn testimony where Mitt said he participated in directors meetings?
Let’s here the whine about its “unfair”, etc…….. let us all gather around to hear the newest story of the day from the flip flopper.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
July 18th, 2012
9:50 am
adam – but …. but … but … sociamalism!!!
Dirty Dawg
July 18th, 2012
9:50 am
Churches need to think a few more times before they continue along this path cause when enough of us get mad enough at the crap they insist on forcing down the throats of too many of us, their tax exempt status will come up again for debate…then again, they’ve already got the ‘debaters’ in their pockets – like Louisiana – so maybe we’re the ones that need to ‘think again’. The only trouble is when I do I imagine that I’m Kevin McCarthy in the middle of ‘The Invasion of the Body Snatchers’…anybody seen all those empty seed pods? Was this a great country, or what?
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
9:51 am
I don’t care about the amount. But the fact that Obama takes any donations from Bain and its employees while criticizing Bain/Romney every chance he gets is beyond hypocrisy.
Can you show where Obama received any donation from Bain. Employees donating does not equate to the company itself making a donation.
HOT AIR
July 18th, 2012
9:51 am
Larry – go to google and enter teacher’s unions. There are two nation wide. They are big financial supporters of the Dems and Obama – that is why he just pledged $1,000,000,000 to them. I’m not going to do your home work. Get off your lazy …. and look it up.
godless heathen
July 18th, 2012
9:51 am
Since the subject is related to public school education and $$$$, I’d like to make an observation. Right now in front of me I am looking at the site plans for a new Middle School. It looks like about 30 acres in size. It has a PE field, a football field, a track, a softball field, a baseball field and a gym. The classroom portion of the facility is small in comparison. I know PE is important, but I think these schools are getting too far removed from “education”.
TaxPayer
July 18th, 2012
9:51 am
Jethro Bodine is the epitome of the GOP education system and the GOP deserves to be operated on by such.
Elephant in the room
July 18th, 2012
9:52 am
Anything to avoid talking about the Obama economy.
GT
July 18th, 2012
9:52 am
I am with Adam.
I also wonder how many parents really know what they want their children to be or how they want them to be educated. When you are uneducated yourself how do you understand what is going on and able to make these decisions?
Butch Cassidy (I)
July 18th, 2012
9:53 am
Joseph -”Why do libs have a problem with parents deciding where their children should go to school”
They don’t, they just have a problem paying for some one elses choices. Hmmmm…. Where have I heard that before?
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
9:53 am
Peadawg — “We’ll agree to disagree. I have a feeling I’m not going to change your mind.”
I think you possibly could change it, but I also think you kinda jumped the gun on your criticism of Obama. He’s been quite clear on the point that he’s criticizing the way Bain was *run,* but not all the employees. I haven’t heard him accuse Bain of breaking any laws or doing anything unethical — so why would he refuse donations from *employees* of Bain? As Adam pointed out, there may be Bain employees who agree with the President’s criticism.
At this point, I don’t think we know enough about those donations to make any claims of hypocrisy stick. Making such a charge at this point strikes me as being a flailing sort of attempt to push back against Obama’s message against Romney, and it’s going to take a much more coordinated and structured narrative than ‘he took money from Bain employees’ to accomplish that.
Aquagirl
July 18th, 2012
9:56 am
We don’t. We have a problem with being asked to *fund* all those choices.
Remember, these are the same people crying about food stamp welfare queens in the grocery lines. Because taking their precious tax dollars to feed somebody else’s child is SOSHALIZM.
Taking tax dollars from others so they can spend it on the Jeebus and Loch Ness Academy is FREEDOM.
TaxPayer
July 18th, 2012
9:56 am
So, if Adelson were to send Obama a one dollar contribution and Obama did not return it, that would make Obama a hypocrite!
Small business owner
July 18th, 2012
9:56 am
I’m glad the government built my business for me. And this whole time I thought it was me who did all the hard work and 14 hour days that went into it. And all those govt built roads and bridges that the govt built? Did the govt build them or did we build them with the taxes that folks like I paid to the govt? Because without private sector taxes and support govt doesn’t build anything. Nothing. Nada. Zero. Zilch.
Granny Godzilla - Union Thugette
July 18th, 2012
9:57 am
Joseph
July 18th, 2012
9:42 am
Why do libs have a problem with parents deciding where their children should go to school…
Simple answer…..
We don’t.
BlondeHoney
July 18th, 2012
9:57 am
Hot Air, I know unions and in GA, teachers do not have one. A real union has collective bargaining rights and the contract negotiated with the employer covers all workers. In GA there are professional associations, i.e. PAGE but they cannot legally bargain on behalf of their members for salary and benefits or job protections. Teaches have individual contracts with their systems which, it seems, can be modified as the district sees fit. Try that with a collective bargaining agreement.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
July 18th, 2012
9:57 am
“Can you show where Obama received any donation from Bain. Employees donating does not equate to the company itself making a donation.”
zackly.
Union
July 18th, 2012
9:58 am
@ jb
“Gov. Bobby Jindal is implementing a voucher program intended to move hundreds of thousands of students out of public schools and into privately run schools at taxpayer expense.”
as opposed to… how are we paying for it now?
Adam
July 18th, 2012
9:58 am
I actually had a friend INSIST that she saw the welfare queen with an iPhone, bluetooth, and that they were still packing up an Escalade. Since I didn’t want to lose a friend, I only lightly pressed her by asking if she REALLY saw the stereotypical welfare queen. She dropped the subject.
Pics or it didn’t happen, folks.
USinUK - pro-gay-marriage thug and former Girl Scout
July 18th, 2012
9:59 am
“Why do libs have a problem with parents deciding where their children should go to school…
Simple answer…..
We don’t.”
word. you want to send your kid to a private snake-handling school?? have a ball. that’s your right as a parent.
however, if you want my taxes to pay for it, then that school needs to fall under the same guidelines and regulations as public schools.
(you take the money, you dance to the tune)
larry
July 18th, 2012
9:59 am
Hot Air- There is no such thing. I have relatives that are teachers in this state. They are not members of any union what so ever.
Brosephus™
July 18th, 2012
10:00 am
I know PE is important, but I think these schools are getting too far removed from “education”.
You do realize that books are not the only form of educating people, right? PE is good physical exercise to break the boredom of sitting in a classroom all day. Also, there are much needed health benefits involved in that class. Not to mention that one can learn teamwork and cooperation from having to work with other classmates to achieve a common goal, which is the basis for most sports/athletic games.
Joe Hussein Mama
July 18th, 2012
10:01 am
Aquagirl — “Remember, these are the same people crying about food stamp welfare queens in the grocery lines. Because taking their precious tax dollars to feed somebody else’s child is SOSHALIZM.”
“Taking tax dollars from others so they can spend it on the Jeebus and Loch Ness Academy is FREEDOM.”
I’ve pointed this out before — we fund public assistance and public programs, but you don’t necessarily get to choose the FORM it comes in.
If you get a Section 8 housing voucher, you can’t go in with a bunch of your friends and rent a Buckhead condo.
If you get subsidized public transportation, you can’t turn in a bunch of unused Breeze cards to buy a car at the local used beater lot.
If you get SNAP, you can’t go down to Ruth’s Chris and get yourself a nice filet instead of buying groceries at Kroger.
And if you have kids of public school age, you don’t get a voucher if you don’t like the public schools.
You take the public program in the form that it comes or you don’t take it at all. And if you want something different entirely, then PAY FOR IT YOURSELF.
Old timer
July 18th, 2012
10:02 am
Teacher friends of mine say the voucher program has improved the awful New Orleans schools …… I note anything might be an improvement.
Peadawg
July 18th, 2012
10:02 am
Figured I get the typical Obama defending on the Bain employee donations.
Ivan
July 18th, 2012
10:02 am
I don’t see what all the fake outrage is about, really. It seems to be a win-win for both sides.
Parents who aren’t satisfied with public education content can move their child to a school that teaches based on their principles. Meanwhile, the public sector decreases in class size, and has less demands to cater to those who insist their child learn their religion at a public school.