On Public officials keep trying to stifle free, open media
Posted on June 17 at 4:02 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Andrew, You should read all about Mayor Soglin's effort which, as The Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty states "according to Soglin himself, the proposed ordinance "is intended to discourage contributions to organizations with which he disagrees.""
Soglin wants to force contractors to stop donating to conservatives or deny them contracts. Politifact Wisconsin says "His statements make pretty clear he looks forward to forcing contractors to choose between trimming their political activity or disclosing it and facing the consequences. And he predicts some will stop making donations." He's not avoiding "impropriety". He's wants to play hard ball politics of the worst sort that would probably be illegal too if he gets his way.
You cans see it here for yourself, Andrew. http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/stat...
On Evidence suggests voucher expansion won’t lift education
Posted on June 17 at 3:43 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
So now vouchers and pensions are "welfare payments"? Some folks are really scraping the bottom of the barrel!
On Evidence suggests voucher expansion won’t lift education
Posted on June 17 at 3:26 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Untred, if it's wrong to use tax dollars for private, parochial schooling, then you no doubt have an issue with the government helping students attend private parochial colleges and universities with tax dollars too.
I wonder, do you realize that not all private schools are parochial? Or that parochial schools teach subjects besides religion?
Is paying private schools through vouchers really counter to everything this country stands for? Again I have to point out the fact that our government uses taxes to help students attend private colleges and universities. Why is it OK for such payments to private higher educational institutions but wrong for private elementary and secondary educational institutions to receive taxpayer financed payments? I would say the answer to that rhetorical question is self-evident.
Posted on June 16 at 3:49 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
I don't think James is engaging in self-recrimination, Gary. Rather, it's introspection meant for council. Perhaps James should have prefaced the above with "He that hath ears to hear, let him hear." Or maybe "he who has eyes, let him read".
On Evidence suggests voucher expansion won’t lift education
Posted on June 16 at 3:34 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Untred, whether using tax dollars for private schooling is good public policy or not is a matter of opinion. It seems to me that your concerns are for the public school systems, whereas my concerns are for the students. Good public policy demands an alternative where public schools are failing. Remember that public schools have the same bureaucratic inertia that every other governmental body has. Without some pressing need for change that threatens the status quo, all you get from them concerning reform is lip service. Add the inertia that unions bring as well, and the resistance to change becomes overwhelming. I remember how bad things were before the advent of even the ideas school choice and vouchers came to be. Not only were the schools decaying at an alarming pace, but the school systems and the union denied it, just as they do now. Vouchers aren't meant as just a way to let parents send their kids to private schools. It's also meant to force public school systems to do better. Much better. Therefore, it's my opinion that using tax dollars for private schooling is good public policy.
Your contention that parents won't rationally choose their children's schools is a bit irrational. Sure, some parents won't, but is it right to deny all because of the "some". Conversely, some parents who could get vouchers won't because it would be too much effort for them to make the change. They're comfortable with public schools who take their kids off their hand a few hours a day.
In short, it's wrong to deny all children and their parents access to vouchers based on the presumed irrationality of a few. Besides, most parents have their children's best interests at heart. They should have the option to choose vouchers if they think the public schools aren't doing the job.
On Evidence suggests voucher expansion won’t lift education
Posted on June 16 at 10:31 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Uhtred, I think it's you that actually has it wrong. Parents want the best for their kids. If the public schools are just as good or better, why would parents take their kids out of a perfectly acceptable educational setting to gain nothing? Obviously they wouldn't. So again I say, if the public schools are great, no one will take the vouchers. After all, no one has to take a voucher, unlike those with no voucher alternatives who have no economic choice but to send their kids to public schools. Denying school vouchers to kids who are so economically disadvantaged as to have no other choice but public schools is not very progressive, is it?
On Evidence suggests voucher expansion won’t lift education
Posted on June 16 at 10:19 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
Yada, maybe you should take off the blinders. By the way, when was it that you said the indictment of Governor Walker would be handed down? I keep looking for it in the news but I must have missed it. You remember, you said about a year ago that it was coming just about any day now? So, when was it?
On Wisconsin DNR warns of poison plants
Posted on June 16 at 10:02 a.m. ( Suggest removal )
2 pictures!
On Evidence suggests voucher expansion won’t lift education
Posted on June 15 at 5:08 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
If all the studies commissioned by the unions are right that say the public schools are great, no one will take all these new vouchers. However, I suspect they will all be snapped up as quickly as possible.
It's really quite progressive. Give parents and students a choice. They are the ones for whom our educational systems are meant to benefit, not the systems themselves (or their employees).
It's a pity that Mr. Dommershausen has to resort to boilerplate rhetoric with his statement at the end of his article, "Those who support privatization should be ashamed of seeking to profit at the expense of our children’s future". Considering the more than generous salaries, benefits and retirement packages our public school employees receive, and their continual clamoring for more, it takes a towering heap of chutzpah for him to make that absurdly naked assertion. Mr. Dommershausen is the one who should be ashamed. But then, those who parrot party lines aren't very introspective.
On Public officials keep trying to stifle free, open media
Posted on June 17 at 4:06 p.m. ( Suggest removal )
Perhaps, if reporters and the organizations for which they work would actually maintain political neutrality instead of the partisanship so many engage in, politicians wouldn't be as eager to control or shut them out. There is fault here on both sides. It's not just the politicians.