Many times in this weekly post I have opined that the education of all our children is our most important nationally priority. I frequently get chastised on SJI for supporting a system of public education that is perceived as weak and inadequate. There is no doubt in my mind that our public education system is our best path to the ideals that our Founding Fathers dreamed and that we commemorated on Sunday.
The war in Afghanistan is the longest lasting war in our history and our enemy is fewer than 100 according to General Petraeus. We are a country of immigrants yet we cannot agree on how to reform our broken immigration laws. We elected an African American President and soon we will have three women on the Supreme Court for the first time in our history. We are living up to the ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence. And for that we should stand proud.
On July 4, we celebrated the renewal of our belief: “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” There will be no happiness in America unless we provide a 21st Century education to all our children—immigrant, female, male, rich, poor, special need, gifted and talented, artistic, homeless, itinerant, emotionally disturbed, blind or deaf. And we must not do it on the cheap or we will all pay dearly.
Yes, we are the only country that has handicapped parking places at the entrance of an ice skating rink and Braille instructions at a drive-up ATM. That is why we are America, that is why we are unique in the world and that is exactly what Thomas Jefferson wanted to accomplish with that bold Declaration.
I walked down to the beach at Seacape on Sunday at 9pm with friends and relatives to witness a panoply of illegal fireworks that provided incredible colors on the ocean waters. One friend estimated dollars spent at this pyrotechnic celebration in 4 miles of beachhead was in the millions. If we can blow-up millions in minutes on July 4 we must find a way to balance our state’s budget without shorting our schools.
> . . . soon we will have three women on the Supreme Court for the first time in our history. We are living up to the ideals embodied in the Declaration of Independence. And for that we should stand proud.
> “That all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, . . . .”
At least one of the marvelous three historic women on the Supreme Court admits that she has no idea what an “unalienable Right” is.
I guess we can kiss those rights goodbye.
God help us.
> I frequently get chastised on SJI for supporting a system of public education that is perceived as weak and inadequate.
Thanks for the props, Joe.
I’m doing the best I can.
So much weakness and inadequacy, so little time.
“We are a country of immigrants yet we cannot agree on how to reform our broken immigration laws.”
Joe, the laws are fine, it’s those who choose to not enforce them that are broken.
Are you so politically correct that you can’t see that?
Agreed. I have no desire to see our immigration laws reformed. I merely want them enforced, and possibly supplemented by additional legislation in the precise same vein.
http://www.necn.com/06/14/10/Mass-town-will-charge-to-keep-street-lig/landing.html?blockID=253679&feedID=4215
The Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution sought equal opportunity; but today, we promote equal results. They certainly did not envision government run schools; especially those today that eliminate references to an almighty power, promote sex education, and free breakfasts and lunches for kids.
The system can only fail if we continue to focus on equal results as the goal.
And as the civil grand jury recently suggested, we need to consolidate the excesive number of school districts, each with bloated legions of staff.
Government run schools are older than you think. Starting in 1647, Massachusetts required all towns to fund and operate schools. Most of the colonies followed suit within a few years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massachusetts_School_Laws
The founding fathers walked past government run schools all the time. It certainly wasn’t a foreign concept.
Neither I nor any taxpayer in their right mind will be inclined to give even MORE money to education given the way teachers have evidently been ripping off the local community college system. Yesterday’s Mercury News article about Bayinaah Jones came as no surprise and is no doubt just the tip of the gigantic fraud/waste iceberg.
The sense of entitlement that is on display here every Tuesday apparently pervades the thinking of many of our so-called “dedicated” educators.
Some advice, Joe.
Try running a tight ship. Be grateful for the generosity of California’s citizens. If you’d remove the partisan blinders you might realize just what a fantastic amount of money you have to work with. You’d be amazed at the results that can be obtained when you focus on doing your best with what you DO have rather than constantly dwelling on what you DON’T have.
If our public education system is so great, why are we getting crummy results? The immigration law is not broken, it’s just not enforced – are you confused or trying to muddy the picture?
That little war in Afghanistan may seem bothersome but just go ahead, pull out and let Al Queda and Taliban use that country to take over the nuclear armed but shaky government in Pakistan – then you’ll really have something to sqwak about.
Another fuzzy myth: All people are created equal. Says who? God? Most liberals don’t believe in God. Its like saying all snowflakes and fingerprints are identical – they’re not. Get beyond that and then maybe problems become clear and ultimately solved. If all people were equal then Futzy Nutzel could earn the same basketball salary as LeBron James.They may have equal rights but they are not equal.
> Another fuzzy myth: All people are created equal. Says who? God? Most liberals don’t believe in God.
You nailed it, Biq.
For sure, liberals don’t believe THEY’RE equal.
Just about every liberal I’ve talked at seems convinced that they are one of the twenty or thirty smartest people on planet earth. And the thirty people who MIGHT be as smart as they are—as well as any Gods and Goddesses if there are Gods and Goddesses—certainly agree with them.
Have you ever tried to hold a rational conversation with a liberal using only facts, logic and reason?
First they giggle a little. Then they become angry. Finally they will state that the conversation is over with the only explanation being, “You just don’t get it, do you?”
When you ask them to explain “it” to you using the aforementioned facts, logic and reason they really get frustrated, call you an assh*le or something and state that they are done talking to you.
I always find this ironic since they are of the sort that preaches acceptance, diversity and freedom of expression – – that is except for anyone who doesn’t adhere to their beliefs.
> Have you ever tried to hold a rational conversation with a liberal using only facts, logic and reason?
> First they giggle a little. Then they become angry. Finally they will state that the conversation is over with the only explanation being, “You just don’t get it, do you?”
Exactly.
But there is a simple explanation: liberals live entirely within their own heads. For them, there is no external objective reality. Everything that people think they know comes from the perceptions of their senses. If you believe something exists but a liberal’s senses don’t perceive it, then it really doesn’t exist.
This is actually a very ancient belief system. It’s more or less what the ancient Greek sophist philosophers believed.
What is actually a MODERN belief is the notion that there IS an external objective reality separate from the perceptions of our senses.
Once you realize this, you will also realize that you will NEVER convince a liberal of anything tied to any facts, logic, or reason that exist in external objective reality.
Kind of like Republicans who believe cutting off unemployment benefits will help the economy? You can incorrectly categorize Liberals all you want but at least they aren’t heartless—the Right has that category all to themselves.
> You can incorrectly categorize Liberals all you want but at least they aren’t heartless—the Right has that category all to themselves.
Liberals aren’t compassionate; their narcissists.
Inside the tiny little isolated liberal world inside of their tiny liberal heads, they imagine that they are “open minded” and “compassionate”. But it’s not reality, its just a projection on the inside of their skull that makes them feel good.
Liberals love awards and praise, even if they have to do it for themselves.
Why do you think the Acadamy Awards and Nobel Prizes are such a big deal for liberals? Their nothing more than awards for “appearing” to be wonderful.
O.R.,
I appreciate your perspective. On a good note I am certain there were plenty of Republicans that voted affirmatively for the parcel tax increases for local school districts in the last two elections. Each parcel tax needed to win by a .666 majority and they ALL did. To me that means there is hope, however not if you just read the blog responses on SJI.
I fervently believe there is a vast majority of our fellow citizens, Left, Middle and Right, that want to see our schools become the best in the nation. The San Jose Mercury’s editorial yesterday underscores the dilemma both Liberals and the Right face. In the Editorial titled, “Deepening school crisis raises alarm”, it cites the new California Budget Project report as ranking our Golden State at 44th in per pupil funding and 50th in the number of students per teacher.
By being near last in both categories we are dooming this generation of children and all our great state’s future. I find it sickening to think of the seeds we are sowing by our selfishness today for tomorrow’s generations.
The Merc’s editorial mentions the respected report Getting Down to Facts, commissioned by the Gates, Hewlett, Irvine and Stuart foundations as the expert arbiter of the truth. The 2007 report concludes that schools need more money, in fact 50% more to meet the rigorous demands of teaching and improving student achievement across the board.
I agree wholeheartedly with the recommendations in Getting Down to Facts and have written similar posts in the last 18 months. We must hold superintendents and principals more accountable for results with more control over local spending. And we must reform tenure laws and develop meaningful pay for performance models for teachers.
Exactly wrote, “Once you realize this, you will also realize that you will NEVER convince a liberal of anything tied to any facts, logic, or reason that exist in external objective reality”. For me and those experts who wrote “Getting Down to Facts”, the facts speak loudly. It is depressing that so many bloggers to SJI do not see the facts when they are so close to their faces.
Caring about all California’s children as I have enumerated in my Post is compassionate and right. That is what I hope the candidates for Governor will debate and that is what I hope will be the critical issue of this new decade for us to solve. Yes, I still have the audacity to hope we can get there together.
Joseph Di Salvo
Wow. Quite a leap getting to the Academy Awards and the Nobel Prize. Thanks for adding so much to this discussion.
If caring for the children is so important, (and represent our future) then why don’t their parents who bring their children into the world voluntarily care for their kids’ needs like health care, meals, etc. In other words, practice a little self reliance. Liberals seek to exhibit compassion with other people’s money. The federal government is broke and seeks tax increases. The state is broke and seeks tax increases (unfunded liabilities for state worker pensions exceeds $400 billon). The county, city and school districts are broke and seek tax increases. Meanwhile, unionized government workers earn more in total compensation of about 40% or higher than what someone in the private sector earns.
Let’s abolish public schools and replace it with a voucher system. Give parents choice. Also, let’s get rid of teachers unions who are some of the largest contributors to politicians’ campaigns.
If parents fed & clothed their kids, a large portion of school costs could decline.
We need radical change in all aspects of government; not just schools. We are beyond the point where more money for the sake of the children will solve these fundamental problems.
In which “O.Really” makes his first appearance since last week when he dazzled us with his ignorance regarding public employee benefits. Just how much can he fail to understand this week? Stay tuned!
This is the only country in the world where ten cent bureaucrat can cash his government check and lecture us on toleration. You better hope we win in Afghanistan,Joe Bob, because the Taliban would have you in chains. No wonder the USA lags behind Nepal in educatiion.
It seems peculiar that DiSalvo brings up California’s 44th ranking in per pupil funding. Since he is such a strong advocate of policies that assure our state maintains this lowly status you’d think he’d be reticent about drawing attention to the subject. But such is not the case.
I know math and logic are not his strong suit but surely Joe is bright enough to understand that per pupil funding is calculated by taking total funding and dividing by the number of pupils. The greater the number of pupils, the lower the per pupil funding. DiSalvo insists that the children of illegal aliens have a “right” to attend our public schools. He and the other “progressives” that populate the Education Establishment have entirely gotten their way in this matter. This has had the effect of drastically increasing the number of students in California’s schools, thereby dramatically reducing per pupil funding. And yet there he goes again- complaining about a problem that he himself has been instrumental in causing! California’s taxpayers bend over backwards trying to fund our schools at adequate levels and we would succeed in doing so were we not constantly undermined by DiSalvo and his ilk. And then he has the audacity to lecture us about how stingy we are. UnFreakin’Believable!
If Joseph DiSalvo wants to find just who’s to blame for California’s 44th place ranking in per student funding he need only look in the mirror.
For all responding, read team of rivals about our early history and see this dialogue is necessary and agreeing or not,time to speak up. Leadership to evolve a compromise is still lacking and until it does, everyone keep on blogging.
How is DiSalvo able to use the Founding Fathers to justify anything? Isn’t that sort of like an atheist using God to justify something?