Index of SPPS Budget Discussion http://www.e-democracy.org/stpaul/spps-posts.html _________________________________________ First of all, I�d like to thank my council-person, Dave Thune for sticking his neck out with that rousing endorsement for the status quo; I hope he won�t mind if I step in to gently fill in a few blanks for him.
� I would be interested in the numbers but my gut tells me that even with home schooling becoming trendy it hasn't replaced the numbers of kids no longer attending parochial schools. At any rate, I doubt there's any "fleeing" in great numbers.� I suppose that depends on one�s definition of what fleeing is Dave. But here are some numbers to mull over from the MN Dept. of Ed.: 02-03 (Non-public enrollment) District Totals for ST. PAUL: 8389 01-02 (Non-public enrollment) District Totals for ST. PAUL : 7969 Obviously these numbers do not reflect kids who live within District 625 but attend private schools in other districts. There are no numbers for kids being home schooled, evidently they don�t track trendy educational fads, even given the amount of personal and financial sacrifices those trendy parents make for their kids. In any case, there are enough kids being removed from the District 625 public schools to have attracted the notice of district administrators. Superintendent Harvey has stated that the decline in enrollment is �due to low birthrates, and to a lesser extent, enrollment in private schools�. � I'd say there's value in children finding relationships and friends in a generally unfriendly world. Way back when I was in school we had two high school suicides - both tormented gay adolescents. Might out for equity save a life? I think so. Is this a good thing? Yes. The financial interest argument is silly. I suppose you could say the same thing about requiring vaccinations to prevent smallpox.� Kids have absolutely no right to harass or bully anyone else..period. But OFE is targeted directly and specifically towards homosexuals, to the exclusion of all other victim groups. I find the districts focus and exclusion appalling, especially since homosexuals are not the most bullied group in public schools. According to the US Dept. of Education�s National Center for Education Statistics obese children hold that unfortunate rank. Of course protecting obese children from harm isn�t trendy, like home schooling or homosexuality but a program celebrating obesity could be very easily integrated into OFE. Students could learn to celebrate the lives of world leaders and entertainers who were or are obese; they could just as easily learn that Jesus never condemned obesity as they now learn he did not condemn homosexuality; reports and statistics that cite any harmful effects of obesity would of course be struck down as biased and hate mongering. Or perhaps we could just teach the kids they have no right to harass ANYONE for ANY REASON? � The biggest knock on the public schools always seems to be centered around money. Come on folks, fixing my car costs more now too... unless you can figure a way to "outsource" schooling to china we'd better get used to it.� Dave, do you find it troubling to your car towed home after you have paid a mechanic to fix it? What would you say to the mechanic who tells you that you did not pay him enough to actually FIX the car, and if you want to drive it home, it�s gonna cost you more? And how do you react when you take the car to another auto shop and find that one is owned by the same mechanic as the last one, and so is every other shop in the state? Are you disturbed when you FINALLY find a mechanic who is known for fixing cars but when you get to his shop find out that he has left to fix airplanes because he wasn�t making any more money than all of the other mechanics that don�t fix cars..even though he works many extra hours, and actually got the job done the first time? What do you say when it costs more and more and more each year not to fix your car and the mechanic still screams that he�s not getting paid enough? And how about when the mechanic takes to the streets and writes news articles that say you, Dave Thune, are a cheapskate and a car-hater because you complain about paying him not to fix your car? <Balance of Dave�s off-topic swipes at political rivals, car-haters and society in general cut for brevity�s sake> In the end Dave, is it about the money, or is it that you really just want your car fixed? Tom Swift Cherokee Park __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Get better spam protection with Yahoo! Mail. http://antispam.yahoo.com/tools _____________________________________________ SPPS Budget Reduction Forum - Feb. 23-27 Co-Sponsored By NEAT: http://www.stpaulneat.org/ _____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
