It Doesn't Make Sense With Schools, Either

[Hobbit]

Would you want government run, tax-funded, public grocery stores?

In Georgia the governor is considering a plan whereby the state could help fund some community social service projects initiated by churches. The truth here is that these private churches do a better job of delivering many of these social services than government does. Can you guess who is stepping up to loudly protest the idea? Well, that would be the Georgia Association of Educators, our wonderful teacher's union. One union spokesman said "It would open a floodgate to vouchers and that is our primary objection to this bill." Vouchers! Union government teachers go to sleep at night worrying about vouchers. They wake up to nightmares about vouchers. They arise in the morning shivering in a cold sweat brought on by thoughts of vouchers. They see vouchers in every dark corner and under every rock. It seems at times that their entire life is occupied by a focus on keeping that floodgate to vouchers from ever opening.

Surely I don't have to spell this out for you, do I? You do understand why these union teachers fear vouchers as they do, don't you? These teachers are unionized. Their jobs are all but guaranteed. It's terribly difficult to fire them. Politicians fear them. They get three months off a year. AND THEY DON'T HAVE TO PERFORM! Generally speaking, there is no requirement that they do their job! They have a monopoly! The government provides them with a place to work, pays their salaries, and works hard to prevent competition!

Imagine government grocery stores. Groceries are essential, aren't they? Come on, you have to eat! So let's say that about 100 years ago someone came up with the brilliant idea of establishing a system of government-run grocery stores. To make sure that every American got enough to eat, local governments created a nutrition tax. All property owners had to pay a nutrition tax every year amounting to thousands of dollars. Under this great government plan you are assigned to a grocery store when you move into a neighborhood. Every year the local government creates a credit for you at this grocery store; an account in your name. When you want to buy groceries you have to go to this store and no other. Would your assigned grocery store feel any pressure to make sure that you get the best quality foods? Would this grocery store work hard to determine what its customers want? Would you be assured of the latest technology and products? The answer to all of these questions is, of course, no! Why would they? What do they have to fear? Competition? There IS no competition! The citizen's money is taken away from him by force and put into an account at one particular grocery store, and no other store. If you want to go to a private, non-government-operated grocery store you are going to have to dig into your own pockets and spend even more money! You're trapped, and the grocery store managers and employees know it. There is no real need to deliver a quality shopping experience or the best products. Instead of focusing on their customers these managers and employees focus on getting even more money and benefits from the government.

Oh .. and government grocery store clerks would be focusing on one more thing ... preventing competition. Every once in a while someone is going to step forward with a rather radical idea. Someone is going to suggest that people be given vouchers equal to the amount they pay in grocery taxes so that they, like their rich neighbors, can go shop at those private grocery stores where fresher food and a wider variety of products are available! As soon as this suggestion is made the managers and employees of the government grocery stores are going to erupt into howls of anguish. They will say that this is all a plot to destroy public grocery stores. They will wail that groceries are a necessity and that there should not be any competition in the selling of those groceries. They will watch every politician like a hawk, making sure that none of them even utter so much as a hint that they might be willing to consider the idea of grocery vouchers, and they'll build a government employee union that is so strong and so far-reaching that only the boldest of politicians would dare to cross that line.

It's not groceries we're talking about my friends. It's your children. How long are you going to let these teacher's unions run the show like this?

http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html

Note that this article will eventually be bumped from the link, possibly tomorrow, which is why its entirety is posted above.

 

[acludem]

Neal Boortz has long been engaged in a war against public education and teachers in general. He demonizes teachers, who work long hours for low pay, doing a job that is essential to the future of our country. I don't why Boortz hates teachers so much, maybe one boxed his ears or something when he was a kid. Public schools need our support not our scorn. The Governor's plan, like most other voucher plans, doesn't do anything to solve the underlying problem of public school performance. I have no issue with raising standards, do so by all means, but provide better training, fix crumbling buildings, provide breakfast to kids who don't get one at home so they are in a position to learn. I know the breakfast thing sounds like a bleeding heart idea, but I challenge you, have a small dinner one night, then don't have breakfast the next morning and see how mentally sharp you are at work. For many kids, that free school lunch is the only decent meal they get. But Boortz would take that away also. Boortz's grocery store theory is silly and off-base. You can't compare retail business to education. Parents do have choices contrary to popular belief. The best thing parents can do to improve their schools is be involved.

Also, there is increasing evidence that private school students don't perform significantly better than their public school counterparts. Here's a study published in January of this year :http://www.ncspe.org/publications_files/OP111.pdf

acludem

 

[Hobbit]

You ever listen to Boortz? He doesn't hate teachers, he hates teachers' unions and government schools. I've been to both public and private schools, and lemme tell ya, after seeing both sides of the coin, there's no way I'll ever let one of my kids set foot inside a government school. The places are mostly shitholes staffed by a few teachers that try to do a good job and a bunch that, along with the administrators, only care about saving their own asses. And if you don't like the school, tough. You're stuck with it until you move.

Public schools have no competition, and thus, no motivation to do well. If we want students to start succeeding, we need to shut down these underefficient, PC indoctrination centers and start letting people actually choose where their kids go to school.

Also, that study was written by two education majors and flies in the face of pretty much all other research done on the subject.

 

[acludem]

You are correct about the study, but it's based on the latest data on test scores. I do listen to Boortz and he does hate public schools and public school teachers. Private schools, espeically religious private schools, are the real indoctrination centers. Private schools forcefeed you a certain narrow world view based upon the tenets of whatever religion is sponsoring the school. I went to public school, a close friend of mine went to private school through the 8th grade and went to public high school with me because there is no Catholic High School were we live. He'll tell you that academically there is almost no difference. Our high school was a loose, collegiate-like environment, the other high school in town is the traditional, tight-reigned high school, the test scores are nearly identical despite two completely different approaches to the learning environment. Private schools have advantages over public schools especially in terms of class size and parent involvement. Public schools tend to have better qualified teachers (because government requires it), more diverse student population, and more clubs and activities. See this article: http://parentcenter.babycenter.com/refcap/bigkid/gpreschool/67271.html

The biggest problem with Boortz's idea is that if Government had to pay for every child who wants to go to private school whose parents can't afford it, his taxes would have to go up, and you and I both know what Boortz thinks of high taxes (or any taxes for that matter).

acludem

 

[Hobbit]

In both the Memphis and Atlanta areas, the two in which I've lived, the public schools are crap because teachers' unions (once again, Neal Boortz likes teachers, just not teachers' unions. They are not one and the same. My mom is a teacher and despises the unions as much as Boortz.) have crippled the schools, and the schools are also unmotivated to be any good because there's no competition. Some of the more prominant private schools, on the other hand, have some of the highest test scores in the nation. As I've said before, one counter example does not disprove a trend. I've been to public schools that I wouldn't put delinquents in and I've been in very nice public schools, but I've seen far more of the former, and that is almost non-existant in private schools, because they know that if their school is crap, nobody will pay for it.

Oh, and you don't think public schools indoctrinate? Christian schools teach you to rely on God, because he is the source of all things good. Muslim schools teach you to rely on Allah, because he is the source of all things good. A school run by feminazis would teach you to rely on women, because women are the source of all things good. A school run by a bunch of parents who were sick of public schools would teach you to rely on the family, because the family is the source of all things good. What do you think a government school teaches?

Government is a necessary evil that is to be feared in order to keep it in check. A government school will not teach you this fear.

Then, there's one more thing you forget about the Christian schools. If my parents send me to a Christian school, they are told, up front, that the kids will be taught theology and that it will have a churchy environment. If they are uncomfortable with this, they can take their business elsewhere. If I'm in a government school, my parents are told what classes I'm taking and my grades in those classes, and it's up to me to tell them anything else they want to know. If they don't like it, tough.

And one final thing that so many of you ACLU drones can't get through your skulls, so I'll bring extra attention to this: Not all private schools are Catholic, or even religious, so stop pretending they are.

 

[acludem]

Is there a reason you insist on shouting? I never said all private schools were Catholic, but many if not most have a religious affiliation of some sort.

acludem

 

[Hobbit]

Is there a reason you insist on shouting? I never said all private schools were Catholic, but many if not most have a religious affiliation of some sort.

acludem

I shouted because every time somebody brings up privatization of schools, you start yacking on and on about religious indoctrination. Even if the majority of private schools are currently religious, what makes you think there won't be a landslide of secular private schools as soon as there's a greater demand for them. In fact, it will really help uphold those civil liberties you claim to support. If all schools are private, you don't have to sue until the government acknowledges that the colors red and green are an unconstitutional endorsement of religion, you can just send your kids to a school that bans the colors red and green, and you won't have to stomp all over Christians to get that right, either, since they can just go to Christian schools.