The Ignorance of education

The Political exploitation of our children
Illinois politicians refuse to recognize education faults

Winnetka, Illinois is an upper-class suburb of Chicago that rests on the north shore of Lake Michigan. To it's south are the suburbs of Kenilworth and Wilmette, while to the west and north we have the towns of Northfield and Glencoe respectively. These communities feed into New Trier High School, a public institution that is supported by the property taxes paid by the residents of these affluent communities.

Due to the high property values of these villages, the Winnetka based high school operates with a higher per pupil budget than nearly every school in the country. For this reason, political leaders are targeting the funding advantage of this school compared to poorer communities as a rationale to raise state taxes and or redistribute wealth in order to provide more money for poorer communities. Unfortunately we have seen for over sixty years that more money for schools doesn't improve the quality education.

State sen. James Meeks (D) has been the leading proponent of raising taxes to increase school funding. He is currently organizing a boycott of the first day of school in Chicago to raise awareness of the so called funding inequalities. Meeks is asking students get on his caravan of buses that day and head north to New Trier to have children attempt to register for classes at the suburban high school.

Unfortunately for our children they are being used by politicians to put forward their agenda of raising taxes, while actual concerns of improving education is either secondary or too many elected officials are ignorant to the real culprit. Accountability and lack of school choice.

Your brilliant blogger has been demanding more accountability and transparency for teachers and education boards for decades. I also have been a vocal proponent of school choice since Steve Forbes opened my eyes to the concept in the mid 1990's. Allowing parents to decide how their children are educated is a no-brainer. Unfortunately too many politicians, especially Democrats don't believe parents should have a say in their kids education. They're indebted to the teachers union, which means the concept of teacher accountability and implementing education standards is simply unthinkable.

Colin Hitt, director of education policy for the Illinois Policy Institute, recently published an editorial in the Chicago Tribune, where he explains the great success charter schools have had in Chicago. Unfortunately the politicians who claim they care about our kids have placed a cap on the amount of charter schools that can exist in Chicago.

These schools receive less money than regular public schools in Chicago yet out-perform their counterparts, often getting better results than the suburban schools who spend more money per student. Hitt writes about what I have been saying for years, Charter schools work because " they're free from burdensome state regulations and union demands. Thus they can innovate—and excel. Charter schools cannot discriminate against students; they must take all comers, up to their capacity. This has proven a recipe for success in Chicago."

If Democrats such as Meeks, who is African American, really cares about the education of "black and brown kids" he will get out of the bed he has made with the teachers union and embrace the idea of school choice. However, when Meeks had an opportunity to provide inner-city kids with more charter school opportunities, he refused to support the legislation to lift the cap.

The sad truth is that Meeks is just another political opportunist who is more interested in sticking it to upper-middle class and wealthy white folks than improving education for minority children.

Since the days of the new-deal education spending has consistently increased in America, while the quality has dwindled. We are at a point where our children cannot compete with kids in nearly all other modernized nations. Yet we refuse to admit what the real problem is and instead just throw more money at education which makes the unions happy and are our children stupid.

The fact is that government cannot and should not be responsible for educating children. Parents with help from the free market, meaning competition and accountability are the answers to solving the education crisis in America. Unfortunately for our kids, the teachers union and the Democrats they own rather keep dumbing-down our children instead of offering school choice and a brighter future for our children.


Rendell rips media for Obama bias
“MSNBC was the official network of the Obama campaign"

He was a hardcore Hillary Clinton supporter and has been a leading figure in calling for her backers to support Barack Obama. However the recent Democratic primary has left a bad taste in the mouth of Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell (D).

His anger is not directed at Obama or his campaign. Rendell has a beef with the mainstream media outlets, especially NBC and MSNBC for the "embarassing" bias coverage Obama received during the primary.

"Ladies and gentleman, the coverage of Barack Obama was embarrassing," said Rendell. "MSNBC was the official network of the Obama campaign."

The anger displayed by Rendell is typical of many Clinton supporters. For two decades fans of Bill and Hillary took for granted the press downplaying Clinton scandals and to an extent covering up potential scandals involving Hillary. However with the former first lady no longer being the anointed one, replaced by Obamessiah, she got to experience what it's like to be a Republican. Ruthless unforgiving scrutiny, while your opponent gets a pass.

As Socialists...I mean Democrats convene in Denver this week, their pundits will spew the word "united" to describe the convention. However even Barack "the chosen one" Obama won't be able to heal the wounds of the most ardent Hillary supporters. They want someone to pay for their candidate not being the nominee as well as the veep choice. That is why McCain will get the vote of at least 20% of her supporters come November.

Convention theme: Socialism

My critics will chide me for the above paragraph "Socialist" reference. However listen closely to the words used at the convention. You'll hear non-stop Socialist code terms from "universal" to "economic justice." Corporate America such as oil companies and mortgage lenders will be demonized to the point that you'll think every CEO in America is a descendant of Adolph Hitler.

Government will have the answer to all your problems. Government must do this and provide that. The wealthy are to blame for the woes of the middle-class and the poor. Your problems aren't your fault, someone else is to blame. Elect us and we will right the wrongdoings that have been perpetuated against you.

Democrats don't believe in the pursuit of happiness, they believe it's owed to you by those who have achieved it. Because if you have it you undoubtedly screwed someone over to get it. Now we will deliver justice in the form of bigger government.

Listen to their words. Understand what they mean.

Paulie