EnviroLink Forum

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/0 ... 63900.html

Louisiana is embarking on the nation's boldest experiment in privatizing public education, with the state preparing to shift tens of millions in tax dollars out of the public schools to pay private industry, businesses owners and church pastors to educate children.

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With friends like Guido, you will not have enemies for long.

“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none”
Arthur Schopenhauer

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein

Now they just have to learn what eduaction is ......

That list includes some of the most prestigious schools in the state, which offer a rich menu of advanced placement courses, college-style seminars and lush grounds. The top schools, however, have just a handful of slots open. The Dunham School in Baton Rouge, for instance, has said it will accept just four voucher students, all kindergartners. As elsewhere, they will be picked in a lottery.

Far more openings are available at smaller, less prestigious religious schools, including some that are just a few years old and others that have struggled to attract tuition-paying students.

The school willing to accept the most voucher students -- 314 -- is New Living Word in Ruston, which has a top-ranked basketball team but no library. Students spend most of the day watching TVs in bare-bones classrooms. Each lesson consists of an instructional DVD that intersperses Biblical verses with subjects such chemistry or composition.

The Upperroom Bible Church Academy in New Orleans, a bunker-like building with no windows or playground, also has plenty of slots open. It seeks to bring in 214 voucher students, worth up to $1.8 million in state funding.

At Eternity Christian Academy in Westlake, pastor-turned-principal Marie Carrier hopes to secure extra space to enroll 135 voucher students, though she now has room for just a few dozen. Her first- through eighth-grade students sit in cubicles for much of the day and move at their own pace through Christian workbooks, such as a beginning science text that explains "what God made" on each of the six days of creation. They are not exposed to the theory of evolution.

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With friends like Guido, you will not have enemies for long.

“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none”
Arthur Schopenhauer

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein

Is that "they" as in the 3 questionable schools listed, 1 pretty good one that isn't accepting alot, and some number of "less prestigious" schools that have struggled in the past attracting students or "they" as in Louisiana?

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TANG SOO!

The state of Louisiana in general given all of the "schools" listed would now qualify to educate children and since the schools have not been required to perform standardized testing the determination would be very difficult.

Seems like a way to destroy the educational opportunities for all but the wealthy to me. Taking money from the public schools weakens their ability to educate, especially in less wealthy areas, and the private schools that are here this year may not survive next year but have screwed up the funding for the public schools in the interim.

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With friends like Guido, you will not have enemies for long.

“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none”
Arthur Schopenhauer

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein

Apparently, continuing to put money into public education isn't working either. I'm glad at least some folks are starting to realize that you cannot educate those who aren't educable. Sure, some on the lower end are going to miss out. Comes with the territory.

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TANG SOO!

I agree with you Fosgate.

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"With every decision, think seven generations ahead of the consequences of your actions" Ute rule of life.
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children”
― Chief Seattle

I am all in favor of free education but we have to be clear who is needing this education and make them pay. Grade school is for employers and needs to be paid via business taxes or fees. High school is needed by post-secondary and needs to be under their budget. Post-secondary is for high-end jobs and again should be paid for by businesses. I resent paying taxes for schools when I HAVE NO KIDS. I also resent not being able to afford university yet having a near-mensa-level IQ... because I went to private home schooling (not paid for by taxes) and thus do not qualify for most grants or bursaries no matter how well I did with my grades.

Having to pay them when your kid goes to private school (for which I'm obviously paying as well) is a fairly stupid arrangement as well.

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TANG SOO!

Of course this line of discussion would ignore the benefits to society of an educated populace ....

The benefits of education and of useful knowledge, generally diffused through a community, are essential to the preservation of a free government.
Sam Houston

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With friends like Guido, you will not have enemies for long.

“Intellect is invisible to the man who has none”
Arthur Schopenhauer

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits."
Albert Einstein

of course that's why I said to have free education but paid for by business taxes or fees rather then land owners (as it happens here). I do see the advantage of having schools close by and how that is a form of civic taxes like roads and utilities BUT that should only be for the creation of the infrastructure rather then the operation of the education system. It is the operation that needs to be funded by the businesses who require educated workers. Now I should also add that governments can be employers too... especially for research toward the common good and as such, I would happily pay taxes... to pay universities who pay for the grade school education of prospective university students. Being paid by the businesses that hire your students gives strong incentives to get students graduated with the desired skills.

If we assume that folks don't get sufficiently educated w/o a public system...or that Sam Houston's "community" necessarily translates to "government run"...

...further assuming some level of educability among the populace warranting a public system with which to begin...

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TANG SOO!

I agree with Wayne, our public education is grossly underfunded as it is right now. To take away money from our public schools is beyond absurd. If the trend of privatized education continues it will be the biggest mistake our country could make for our future. This absolutely makes education seem that it is only for the rich. Here in Colorado we are fighting this battle in our richest county, in the state, Douglas County, while our public school teachers are having to take money out of their own pocket to supply their classrooms for their students because funding has been cut so dramatically. What will people say when non-christian religions are part of the voucher program? I doubt the opinions will be as supportive.

Given how long it's been funded and the direction it's heading, pumping more into it could be considered as absurd.

Ever been to a private school? You should expand your horizons a bit. Having attended them myself and my daughter the same up to 8th grade, it never occurred to me that we were rich. In fact, the vast majority of those attending alongside us weren't rich either.

Supply and demand. If enough want better and have the means to acquire it, it will likely come into being.

If they're thoughtful about it, they'd probably say/do the same thing the parents of an Iraqi friend of mine (muslim family) did when they sent him to private Catholic schools in Bagdad--make the best decision they can for their child's education and follow through with it.

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TANG SOO!