You're a Bad Person if you use Private Schools

Mr. Deez

Mr. Deez

Beer Prophet
I've been following politics since I was assigned the task of covering the Jesse Jackson's 1988 presidential campaign back in 6th grade. In the two and a half decades since, I've read countless books and probably hundreds of thousands of news and commentary articles in newspapers, magazines, and on-line. Obviously, in the course of all that reading, I've come come across some pretty extreme stupidity from both sides of the political spectrum. However, this article might put even the worst of them to shame. Link.

And some in my trial lawyer circles ask me why I still consider myself a Republican despite being disgruntled and knowing how whored out the party is, and it's because of **** like this. Too many Democrats think like this or not willing to distance themselves from it.
 
While some of the observations in the article are logical and mostly true, the conclusion is ridiculous. I will certainly not complain about a parent doing what they think is best for their child.

I would be interested in hearing if any of my fellow democrats actually agree with the article. Not just certain statements in it, but the conclusion. I bet the view of the author is a very minority opinion.
 
The Left wants to control every aspect of your life because individual freedoms mean nothing. Only they know what is correct and good for the greater masses.

The Left says that if you run a New Mexico Wedding Photography shop, you MUST photograph gay weddings even if you oppose gay weddings on religious grounds. It's just how they roll.
 
The more I think about it, why would sending my kid to public schools make the school better? They already get my money. Will my kid somehow make the others smarter? Will my kid improve test score averages making it appear that the school is doing better? I don't get the angle except what Clean just said.
 
Stupid. If all those private school kids entered the public school system, there would be overcrowding and huge class sizes without any extra money to build new schools and hire new teachers.
 
There is an alternative - move to a location with better public schools. I did that in 1981. Faced with the alternatives of (a) leaving my sons in the Fort Worth ISD and getting a poor education or (b) shelling out hundreds a month for private schools, I developed alternative (c) - move to Arlington where the schools were much better and invest the hundreds in a bigger and better home. It worked well.

Now my Longhorn son has done likewise. In order to get his children out of the Carrollton schools, he bought a house in Oak Point and has the kids in the Denton ISD. I think this will also work out well.

So moving to a better ISD is a viable alternative. If enough folks who can afford to move do so, it will provide a better education for their children. The byproduct is that the old ISD may go further downhill as the ones who can afford to move do so. Perhaps the Dallas ISD is a good example of this.

HHD
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HHD is correct about moving. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer in that situation. If you have a good school system, you will attract more good parents/students. If you have a bad one, good parents/students tend to stay away. The exceptions are good students in rough areas for whatever reason. There are a surprising number of these students.
 
Very stupid. I have sent my kids to public school because I believe it provides a better total education. However, I carefully chose those schools and moved to be in the particular school of choice.

However, HISD has adopted a policy of allowing in district transfers. So now, the schools have dropped in quality no matter where you live. So parents just stick the kid on a city bus and ship them to a better, safer school. They still do not participate in the education process, so it creates a lesser quality school for all. One of the primary keys to a school's success, is parental support.
 
I think Slate should have sent that piece directly to The Onion.

And the author's suck *** education is overwhelmingly evident in her writing.
 
Austin is the only big city I've ever lived in, but my wife when she was my girlfriend loved living near downtown Dallas. When we started a family though it was in the Lewisville ISD. Good decision. I don't think I'd like private schools any better than the schools my son is attending.
 
Apparently the Administration is also somewhat sympathetic to this cockamamie argument. DOJ is suing the State of Louisiana to kill its voucher program. Link

What I think is remarkable is the DOJ's rationale. They are claiming that the voucher program undermines several districts' desegregation plans. Apparently, they contend that if the voucher kids leave for private schools, the public schools will be less racially diverse. So let's screw the kid who's getting to go to the private school (most of whom are black) and force them back into crappy public schools so some politically correct racial quota can be met. Again, the well-being of the "system" (at least as the government sees it) is more important than the well-being of the individual students. Pathetic and sad.
 
I liked the way the author gave the rich an out---good thing we don't have a class system here, no?

There are a lot of idiots like this around and many of them work for the public school system; this dolt is just a product---at least she is sentient enough to realize she is poorly educated.
The problem is that she is not resentful but rather feels like it is worth a few more generations of illiterates to try to jumpstart the education system.

five decades ago when I was suffering through the factory education system I begged my mom to keep me home and let her educate me. She wanted me to be normal so I got stuck in the factory schools. I favor home schooling when it is possible, even though a lot of homeschoolers are subject to religious lunacy. Most smart kids grow out of that bilge anyway
 
Its strange that they are using this reasoning concerning vouchers in Louisiana. There have been the most egregious examples of voucher usage there but those ongoing incidents are being ignored in the name of diversity.

Louisiana is exactly what I said all along would happen in regards to vouchers. Everybody is happy when their kid gets to go to the (fill in the religion I like) school for free but gets pissed when their money goes to (fill in the religion I dont like) school. Look up what happened when The Islamic School of Greater New Orleans applied for the voucher program.

In reply to:
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Larry,

Voucher opponents frequently turn to anecdotes of some weird school that ends up participating in the voucher program, and frankly, I don't mind Islamic schools participating. I don't mind the state imposing a degree of standards on schools that participate in voucher programs.

However, for me the fundamental issue is who directs the education of an individual child. If a parent makes a bad choice and sends his or her kid to a bad private school, then it's that parent's fault. They screwed up and have no one to blame but themselves. However, if the parent never had a choice in the matter but to send his or her kid to a bad public school, that's an injustice, and the blame lies at the feet of all stakeholders in the public education system.

Nevertheless, the merits of vouchers are irrelevant here. The wishes of the people of Louisiana through their elected officials should determine whether the state adopts vouchers - not some stupid court ordered racial quota.
 
I completely agree on the federal overreach.

With more standards in place, I would probably support vouchers. You just have to convince me that the kid is going from a crappy school to a better one. I don't care what religion, if any, is involved. Taxpayers generally do though. School choice and curriculum debates always bring out the nuts.

Most parents in the current system aren't completely helpless. There are plenty of low income areas that go to decent to good schools. Go live there. It was no secret that the area they moved to had bad schools.
 
Off topic but not worth starting a new thread. There will be a science textbook hearing on September 17th at 1pm in the Travis building. Public input is welcomed. If you have some free time and want to laugh your *** off at nutjobs, this is the place.
 
This isn't going to come out the right way, but here goes:

How is it not at least considered neglect to knowingly send your child to an underperforming (like the worst in an area) school if you aren't doing anything to change the situation?

People should volunteer in schools, demand accountability from teachers and admins, provide security if needed and do everything in their power to improve the situation.

If the school can't get better, move. Surely you can get the worst apartment or home in an area that has better or great schools.
 
Schools differ widely on parent involvement requests. There are certainly some schools like mentioned by vol that try to keep the parents out. My mom taught at a very high income school that was like that because the stay at home moms were trying to turn the school into real housewives of Austin and running off great teachers. Others arent proud of what they are doing and want to keep people out.

My school invites parents in as much as possible for a variety of reasons. If you live where I teach, you probably didnt have a good experience in school and we want to be a part of changing that cycle for the kids. We do a ton of parent trainings on how to work with the kids because most dont know how to help them with homework. Parents and grandparents being invited to different events is fun for the kids and gives them motivation to work hard so they can show off. But, we mostly do it because we are proud of what is going on at school and have nothing to hide. Most of us work crazy hours six days a week and want to show off what we can accomplish with the kids. I would question any low income school that isn't doing all they can to involve parents.

Vol, the mediator probably sided with the parents because schools (in Texas) have to have what is basically a parent involvement plan as defined by No Child Left Behind. It would be hard for a school to be following their own plan if they are running parents off.

For other parents, please tell your administrator if you think your child has a bad teacher, especially if that teacher is new to the campus. It is very easy to get rid of new teachers and parent complaints are a great motivator to most administrators.
 
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