I would say......the tourist sales tax. Resorts.......alcohol......Disney......why pay for it ourselves when we can let out of staters pay for it......right? :wink: 8)
Exactly like I expected... Even the tax that pays for schools today is not a fair tax. I have paid property taxes for years and we don't have kids to take advantage of those payments. Why not have the families of the kids that go to school there foot the bill?
Frankly that is the fairest way....and that's how we did it in Michigan for the most part. The problem with that is the poorest communities will not have that ability. I'm not looking to hand out free money to those that don't want to earn it but that is where I start to separate from the GOP point of view. Not everyone is fortunate......not everyone can afford what others can afford. There are many....many reasons for that of course. Some are self created and self perpetuated but that's not true in every case and the GOP seems to have the idea that no one is a product of hard times. That the recession only affects those that let it affect them....etc., etc. Sometimes sh*t just happens.....even to GOP voters. A 12 year old kid has no say so in the quality of his/her education... they just go where they are told to go. Having children of my own makes me feel sympathy for those kids and as an American I would like to think our ideals and values would allow us to do better. We are slipping every day in worldwide comparison in the education of our youth and I'm willing to bet that this recession and the broken budgets that go with it have set us back even more critically. It probably will take a couple of years before this slippage can be quantified but mark my words in 2-3 years it will be a major news story.
How so Sid? If you passed tax millages you had better schools for your kids. If you didn't pass the millages you chose lesser school funding for your children. I would imagine that if the communities in Michigan could have been as separated and polarized as the GOP and Dems are today then the GOP kids would have been quite illiterate by the time they went to high school.... :wink: 8) :shock:
:!: There is no relationship between the amount of money spent on schools and the academic performance of those schools. Higher salaries for teachers and administrators have no connection either. In most school districts here in California, which has more students than any other state, the average school district spends more than 90% of it's money on teacher/administrator salaries. I'm all for paying me and my pals more money, but the connection between our salaries and the performance of our students just isn't there. Teachers don't "try harder" when you pay them more. They won't teach less if you pay them less either. There's no connection. The Democratic Party is all about the public employee unions providing votes in exchange for tax dollars. Education has nothing to do with it.
My impression is the following: The more money.....the more that qualified teachers will opt to teach public schools. The more money.....the better the supplies and teaching aids. The more money.......the more teachers and the smaller the classrooms and the more that things like one on one teacher-student assistance is available. Jo'Co....dig deep and tell me with a straight face that money in the public school system has absolutely no bearing on the quality of the education. Seriously dude......are you that GOP jaded?
:cry: Man you missed the whole jest of everything..... Jim started teaching 6 years ago at a school that couldnt pass the Benchmark test for 8th graders and last week he got in scores Jim was ranked No. 1 in the district on the scores. a remarkable accomplishmnet. He doesnt like to brag about what a great teacher he is so I did it while teasing him his last day of school. and Dave you like always made it a politcal thing. true Jim hasnt had a raise in 3 years ranking him amongest the lowest paid in the state (lets just say I am really glad he is good with the stock market especially with the new house we looked at today and yes Dave he is really good at what he does) But the passion and love he has for teaching and learning amazes me. it isnt about the money its about a student coming up and saying she will miss him because he is the grandfather she never had. or a student telling him he was the best teacher they ever had and how much they learned from him. Maybe if you actually took the time to really read what he writes you might learn somthing too...... When I wrote it I was shocked to see him on. all I was doing was teasing him... Not making a political statement
Congratulations to Jo'Co......he is unique and inspirational. However......he is probably amongst just a handful of teachers out there like him. Family already raised.......alternate source of income. Kids are lucky to have him but obviously it would be an exception. Young teachers just starting families do not have much promise for them in today's hostile public school environment.
I'll tell you that money has very little bearing on the quality of education and I can't believe that you think the equation is that simple. If that is the case, how do you explain the dominance of private schools over public schools in educational achievement and results? It costs anywhere from $10-15000 per year around here to send your kid to a private high school. The teachers make far less than their public school counterparts yet the results are dramatically better. My property tax here is about $8500.00 per year. 73% of that goes directly to the local public school BOE. Now I chose to send my sons to private school and pay the double whammy of their tuition and my mandated public school tuition. That was my choice but if their education was substandard I could have pulled out of the private school at any time. Conversely, I pay the public school tuition EVERY year even though my kids never attended nor have they even been in school for over ten years. And I have NO control over the methods or results there. Just keep sending the money. You constantly keep referring to money spent as the sole determinent of success or failure. JO'Co is living proof that your theorem is totally debunked.
So how many Jo'Cos do you think are out there? 8 out of 10? How about 1 out of 40......even that would be surprising. Good teachers sometimes just leave the profession because of the low pay. In a public school system money does matter. No funds equals a shortage of everything......including good teachers. Bully for you for being able to afford private school......and you're just a typical average American right?
My wife and worked hard and continue to do so to afford things that we consider important. You act like we are the "elite" or something. I will out work most men and have since I was 9 years old. I don't expect any help from anyone and never have. At the age of 57 and 59 we do not see retirement on the horizon as we work for private industries and have no guaranteed pensions. You act as if we should feel guilty because an exploding class of uneducated and unmotivated thugs and illegals are not living the same lifestyle as I am. I am nothing more than what the typical average American should be. Whatever I have I earned and did not stand around with my hand out demanding equality. You're so damned worried about what others may have that you can't be thankful for waht you do have. Accountability... if you don't have it then you aren't worth ****!
I relate well to that as I am in the same boat. I'm 56 and working harder than ever. I have had one week vacation in almost two years.......and that is on the heels of working somewhere for 23 years in which I had three weeks a year and made twice the money. Accountability is something I have. But I understand all too well how things can be here one day and gone tomorrow and that seems to be something the hard right doesn't have a grasp of.
:? some of the schools like the one Jim teaches in are making the changes The princible is ony hiring those he knows cares and keeping the ones who do. George my granddaughter MEgan is graduating from St Lucys tomorrow which or course is a private girls shool cost 8000 a year was it worth it yes but I have another grandddaughter who graduated from Upland High School a public school (small school district) that is right up there with St Lucys. A student can make the difference depending on the determination that is inside them and that is taught a an early age and the parents each one of my grandaughters 1 private and 2 public have them same push and drive and next year my youngest will be at the public high school she doesnt want an all girls school but I dont feel she is being shorted and yes we have an interdistrict pass for her to go to a school out of our district to make sure she gets that education. our school here is not up to our standards and that is because the staff at the school is lazy as is the admistration and the parents dont push fr better. I didnt mean to cause a political issue here . All I wanted was 1 to tease Jimmy for being online during school hours something he never does and to share with you guys his other family his accomplishments as a teacher
Di's description of her granddaughters' educations proves a critical point in the education debate. The crux of the problem lies with the parents who fail to motivate their children to learn. The children who receive motivation at home will learn and succeed in any environment. The bottom line for me is that education in our country is not nearly as broken as we are led to believe by politicians who use the issue to pander to either, 1) the elements of their liberal electorates who want the government to do what they are either too ignorant or lazy or both to do themselves, or 2) the elements of their conservative electorates who believe that those "lazy" "liberal" educators are shortchanging their children's educations. It's an unfortunate dilemma that won't go away.
They do have a grasp on it.....they also have a grasp that the obligation to provide for a "rainy day" and life's uncertainties is on the individual and not the government.....make hay while the sun shines and save for a rainy day or something to that effect......the government's role is to govern, not to provide handouts to those whose poor judgement or profligate ways didn't provide for them in an adequate manner....the government is not a charity organization.....families, religious, charitable organizations provide charity....not governments, at least not without very bad consequences for all. Personal accountability, rugged individualism made this country the greatest state the world has ever known, the lack thereof threatens to bring it down.....
:? Dave you really are something my daughter and son in law work alot of hard hours give up everything extra to send their kids to a private school it is a choice they have made. they do receive some help and assistance from grandparents when they need it. Some parents will give alot to provide what is needed trust me to get the inter district passes for my other 2 was not easy and it takes alot and both girls have to maintain at 3.0 gradepoint average or higher to keep it. its not just up to the parents but the kids. too .. they love the school district they are in compared to the kids that go to school locally we all sacrifice. the local school is 5 blocks away but to get bri to school it is a 15 mile drive. and you really dont have a clue I know alot of really good teachers and they stay at their jobs not because of the pay because they love what they do. most of them have additional jobs but many dont do it for just money/ I have in my family a cousin and a niece that are also teachers. they struggle finacially but they love what they do.Its so fun to hear them compare their stories when they all get together I never hear them complain I think your world must be pretty small. you listen to tv and radio to much you need to get out more in the real world
That's not likely to change any time soon. Different people do things different ways. I chose....made the choice....to buy a home in Michigan.....two of them over 28 years in which the taxes may have been higher but the public schools were the best because of it. I chose in Florida to locate 30 minutes from my workplace and yet directly across the street......100 yards from one of the best middle schools in the state for my 7th grader to attend.. You don't know too much about me obviously. Maybe you cared more about the house you bought than the local public school so you paid for private schooling. I went a different route to ensure my kid's education. You guys here make it sound like like every American can afford 10-15 K per year to send their kids to grade school and that shows just how out of touch your side is. It's perplexing to say the least if not preposterous. BT......the government has given me no choice but to expect a return for what they have forcefully taken from me over the past 40 years in social security and medicare taxes. As I went through this before I have paid way more of these taxes than the average American has over the years so I do expect to see some return at some point in my life when I can work and pay for it myself no longer. If that bothers you that's too bad.
:wink: sure itt is..... I chose to think on the positive side .I refuse to let the past direct my future..but I use it as a guide..... as long as my kids and grandkids are moving forward I refuse to let them dwell or live in the past if you do your only hold you your family back.. that is no way to live if something bad happens move on. let it be a learning lesson but if you dwell on the negative then only bad things can happen. ..... the positive for my granddaughter is she after hard work alot of OT and giving up things. she hs a full ride scholarship to UNF and two very proud parents and even prouder grandparents and you know why?> because her parents didnt say no we cant do it they said lets find a way to get it done. they did I couldnt be prouder of my daughter son n law and granddaughter. same goes for Corey and Eric my sons..... they dont dwell on bad they move on..... (if I thought they didnt or wouldnt lets just say it wouldnt be a pretty picture when this mom got done.) You have to decide for yourself what is important ... You live on what was not what could be... MOVE ON because the only person responsible for what happens in your life is YOU not the government not your neighbor it is You and the choices you make...
:lol: It doesn't bother me a bit, I mean hell, it is Memorial Day weekend after all, why should anybody be expected to sacrifice for their country.....