On Sun, Mar 16, 2008 at 07:41:57AM -0700, Lan Barnes wrote: > Actually, in this age of "privatization" and tax cuts for everybody > (except, somehow, not us), the public schools practically have begging > cups out. Fees for "extra" classes, parent volunteers to teach languages, > "socials," auctions, recycling drives, penny jars, participating merchants > (whatever the hell that is) ... everything but "pay your property taxes > and good schools will be there for the kids." Now we just pay the taxes.
And this illustrates the basic problem with our philosophy of, "Throw more and more and more money at schools!" That money *will* get spent, but that doesn't mean a dime will ever get to the classroom. First, look at how we fund schools... with a tax that guarantees that nobody can ever actually own property. We are merely allowed to rent it from the government for a while. If you don't believe me, stop paying your rent and see how long you get to keep "your" property. Any system built upon such a fundamentally morally and intellectually bankrupt concept can never be a healthy, functional system. California spends more on education than every other state in the Union and probably 90% of the rest of the world put together. There is no way that more money is somehow going to magically fix our problems. Until we have a way to cut through the unions, the special interests, the ivory-tower academicians, and the certifiable crazy left-wing politicians who have created and keep maintaining the current mess; we are *never* going to see change, only more of the same... "Send us more money! And more! AND MORE!!!" -- *********************************************************************** * John Oliver http://www.john-oliver.net/ * * * *********************************************************************** -- [email protected] http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
