Friday, August 30, 2013

EDUCATION FIGHT IN NORTH CAROLINA'S WAKE COUNTY

I tuned into +Joe Scarborough’s show this morning as usual to get my morning dose of conservative nonsense. I was not disappointed. The subject of discussion was a new book dealing with American students traveling worldwide to study, especially to the highest-ranking schools in the world: Finland and South Korea. It was interesting to note that the approaches to education in these two places are extremes; one is a nurturing environment (Finland) and the other an authoritarian environment. The thing that struck me was when they showed the comparative ranking of schools in the Untied States, which were dismal in light of the fact that we are the richest country in the world, the first thing out of Joe’s mouth had to do with schools in poor neighborhood dragging down the mean scores. The counter to this was that some of the worst scores in the Nation were from some of the richest districts. Thus, the conversation was changed from concern for what and how students learn to money.

Joe is a small government conservative. That includes getting rid of the Department of Education and turning everything over to the states. There can be no doubt what would happen in states with the plantation south in their history like North Carolina and Texas in terms of racism.  Look at Georgia where 70% of the people believe in creationism; that this is true in 2013 is shocking even with public education—local school board control of education—imagine what it would be if churches directly controlled all education. What the Jesuit Priests say about having control of children is true.

There can be little doubt that Joe and his fellow small government conservatives supports withdrawing taxpayer’s money from public schools where the doors are open to everyone and putting it into charter school and private schools—voucher programs. That program has one objective in mind and it is not to the benefit of the students; it is to the benefit of “tax payer” in a special Republican sense.  If you do not have children, you should not have to pay for building schools and for paying teachers.

We are currently living through such a Republican nightmare in North Carolina with all of its deviousness in an effort of some not to pay taxes. A former school board chairman said a proposed $810 million school bond issue is not needed because of “increased competition from private and charter school”. In addition, his rhetoric is confused with statements such as, “we do not need more schools we need more seats”. A fellow named Ed Jones, who is chairman of an organization called Taxpayer’s Association, declares his organization “plan to mount a well organized opposition campaign to the school bond issue”. I that move fails Republican county commissioners will introduce legislation to have school construction authority over to them. These people do not give up.


It is all about money and not one word about quality of education. Greed knows no bounds. 

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