Dispelling the myths of charter schools

Someone in my own small town of Doylestown, Ohio had the idea that they might want to start a little charter school.  The Gilcrest Wellness Center already houses a daycare center, a senior daycare facility, a fitness center, and a rehabilitation center.  The planning commission recently approved a conditional permit (pending a detailed site plan) for 2-3 modular units with two classrooms per unit.  Oh my!


This prompted the Chippewa School Board, the Chippewa Education Association, and even the local Catholic school, Saints Peter and Paul, to move swiftly and decisively to eradicate this menace to our bucolic way of life. Within days, the village council had 25 letters of opposition to the dreaded mini-charter school that threatened to suck the life out of our public and private schools.  


The Chippewa School board's unanimous letter to Council President Anthony Lindeman said the school would, "divert local taxes to a for-profit company," and that charter schools "are not held to the same standards as public schools and often lack highly qualified teaching personnel."


The Chippewa Education Association's (CEA) letter said,

"We understand that some communities need to develop charter schools to offer an alternative to a failing system. However, Chippewa Local is not failing....This is a time for the community to rally its resources around what is best for our children, not take them away...We are also concerned that our children may not receive instruction from someone highly qualified...There are too many unanswered questions for this school to be effective."

[for an explanation of how little it takes for a school to receive an "Excellent" rating see my previous blog post]

These are common concerns and arguments against charter schools.  Unfortunately, they're not factual.  Let's look at them one by one.  


First, let's get a couple terms right.  In Ohio,  charter schools are legally called "community schools."  And they are public schools.  The state pays for them, the students take state-mandated tests and the state has the authority to close them if they fail. 

The first assertion is that they "divert local taxes to a for-profit company." The fact is that community schools receive their funding from the state through the per-pupil foundation allocation.  Many also receive funding through grants and other government and private sources.  The formula amount for FY 2010 was $5718 per pupil.  Some students came with additional funding due to IEP's, special education designation, poverty-based assistance, etc.   There is no funding formula or per pupil funding that "diverts local taxes to a for-profit company." That statement by the Chippewa Board is simply untrue. Surely Superintendent Higgins, who has been a very outspoken critic of state budget cuts and lack of local funding, is aware of the flow of local dollars and is also aware that local tax dollars are not sent to charter schools. 


The only possible "local taxes" that could be used on behalf of community school students would be transportation costs if the parents insist that their children be transported to the new school at district expense, as is their right.  Of course, if the child decides to attend a community school or private school 29 minutes away from Doylestown, the district must also pay for that transportation, so that's probably not the expense the school board is complaining about here, since choosing a community school in Doyestown over an out of town school might save the district money. 


The second allegation is that community schools "are not held to the same standards as public schools and often lack highly qualified teaching personnel." Wrong and wrong again.



All Ohio certification and licensing requirements do apply to community schools, with the exception that teachers may teach outside their areas of certification.  Teachers must be highly qualified. 


As for the standards, community schools are required to follow the Individuals with Disabilities Act, No Child Left Behind, Ohio Core graduation requirements, and students take all state-required assessments.  Community schools are identified for improvement based upon performance and required to participate in the Ohio Improvement Process, just like every other public school in Ohio.  They are subject to closure criteria based upon ratings of performance. 


The main difference is that the teachers have more freedom in curriculum development and implementation. 


The letter from the Chippewa Education Association (the union) said, "This is a time for the community to rally its resources around what is best for our children, not take them away." [emphasis added] 


This is the biggest myth of all - that teachers, school personnel, bureaucrats, government officials, that anyone but the parents know what is best for their own personal children.  In fact, this is the very reason that many families choose alternative forms of education, including homeschooling, because they want want to be the ones influencing and making decisions for their children.  


I have no doubt that the Chippewa School Board and the CEA believe that they are providing an education far superior to anything a community school could ever provide. And perhaps they are.  But you don't prove that by bullying the little competitor out of town and shouting down any voices with alternatives ideas.  We live in an exciting time when education is exploding in a hundred different directions across many platforms.  We should encourage expansion rather than limitation in the best interest of the children and the community.  This isn't about building kingdoms, it's about the building kids. 

Dictator Ohio Dems want to hold kids captive in public schools

S.B. 175


Sec. 3314.062.  No community school shall admit any student ... for the school year in which admission is sought, to a district building whose most recent rating issued under section 3302.03 of the Revised Code is better than the most recent rating issued to the community school under section 3314.012 of the Revised Code...


This lovely little piece of legislation, introduced by State Senator Joe Schiavoni (D-Canfield), says that if you want to enroll your child in a charter school that happens to be located in the school district where you live and the public school has a better state report card (nanny nanny boo boo!), your child is banned by law from enrolling in that charter school.  


You see, the public school union bosses (and the Democrats, by extension) are so insecure about their product that they will go to great lengths to destroy their competition.  They don't want you to have choices for your child because they're afraid you might not choose their government-run school.  So they seek to pass ridiculous laws like this one (co-sponsored by Senators Tavares, Cafaro, and Sawyer) to put a stranglehold on parental choice. 


Schiavoni says it's all about accountability:

"Of the 14 traditional public schools in Mahoning County, 11 are rated as 'excellent' despite yearly budget cuts. However, these 'excellent' public schools continue to lose funding to charter schools whose educational track record is inferior. Our educational systems should be held accountable for their failures, regardless of whether they are community or public. In these difficult economic times, there should be no reason for our state's highest performing schools to lose additional state funding to underperforming community schools."

Does he think to ask himself why so many students are fleeing these 'excellent' schools in Mahoning county and flocking to 'inferior' charter schools?  Besides the fact that an 'excellent' rating isn't really....excellent (see my previous blog post on that subject), and besides the fact that when they "lose funding to charter schools" they also have fewer students to teach and provide services for, I'd be interested to know if Mr. Schiavoni is in favor of wholesale banning of enrollment in failing public schools.   Is this about providing the most effective education for the children or is it a schoolyard turf war?  I suspect it's the later. 


The truth is,  this type of legislation tells us a lot about Senator Shiavoni and others who continually battle against the inevitable forces of school choice.  They think they know what's best for your children and for mine. They think that parents are inherently too stupid to know the difference between a good and a bad school and so the state must be charged with making laws restricting the choices for parents because too many choices would just be confusing. Clearly Senator Shiavoni thinks that the parents in Mahoning County are ignorant of the facts for choosing the 'inferior' charter schools.


I imagine the thinking goes something like this:  If parents had to choose between a dangerous, excellent-rated school, where the child was miserable, and a safe, continuous improvement-rated school, where the child was thriving,  how could they ever decide such a thing without state oversight? Parents aren't qualified to make such decisions. It takes hoards of PhD-laden bureaucrats to crunch the numbers and determine which school should survive and which should be starved to death by mandate of the union bosses and their those who do their bidding in the Ohio Senate.


This is why it does not take a village to raise a child.  It takes a family.

Chinese vs. U.S. Education

Last week I posted my thoughts about Governor Kasich's screening of Waiting for Superman and the discussion that followed with Michelle Rhee. This garnered a couple of comments from people who think   that other countries are surpassing us in education and both cited the creativity of the students from those countries.  I wanted to flesh that out a bit, so I've posted the comments below, along with my thoughts about them:  

One reader commented...

How many countries see their best and brightest attending American colleges to be doctors, engineers, and researchers? More than most of us would expect.

Why is that? Obviously, they want creative thinkers and problem solvers. Not people who can fill in a bubble on a standardized test.

__________________________________________________________________

My response (expanded from my original blog comment):

I disagree with you that countries are sending their best STEM students here because they are the most creative and the best problem solvers. On the contrary, countries like China prepare their students to be champion bubble-fillers. Read  this article, for example, about the differences between the Chinese and the Western styles of education. For the Chinese, it's all about rote memorization and the result is 'teaching to the test' on steroids: 

"China has a long history of standardized tests, beginning with the ancient imperial exams initiated during the Sui Dynasty (581-618). Used for over 1,300 years as a method of selecting government officials, some suggest that official exams should be counted as one of China’s major ancient inventions alongside gunpowder, paper money, printing and the compass.

Today, national tests determine which elementary, high school and university a student will attend. They are still the single most important factor in deciding one’s general career path.

"The testing period — especially of the college entrance exams — is a major event throughout the Chinese mainland. In Shanghai, government regulation has established “green protection zones” around exam sites where construction projects are suspended and traffic is redirected.

Taxi companies offer thousands of cars to be reserved in advance. Oral test questions are played out over the radio — and there are even stories of late students receiving police escorts to get them to the exams on time.
However crucial in the cities, the nationalized tests are even more important in the countryside, where they are seen as the only way to escape an otherwise dismal social fate."

As a result of the pervasive, high-stakes testing, the entire system is built upon rote memorization:

"China’s emphasis on memorization and rote learning has significant consequences. Students are taught that all questions have but one right answer and there is little room for debate and original thought.

Subjects like history and politics are focused solely on dates and names. Even the Chinese language exam, which requires students to write essays, allocates grades according to how well one can quote classical texts and idioms...

...Yet, when they go abroad many of these students find they are ill-prepared for Western education. Chinese students with phenomenal TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) scores are often incapable of taking part in simple English conversation.

At least one graduate school in one of America’s most elite universities has now become wary of accepting students from China for this reason...Assumed skills such as in-class participation, seminar presentations and individual research projects, common practice in elementary schools in North America, are largely unheard of in the Chinese classroom — even in most universities."

The author of the article (who, incidentally is sending her child to a Chinese school) tells how this translates into real life:

 "Arriving late for the set breakfast at a five-star hotel in Chengdu, for example, I, along with a group of other foreigners, found that the coffee had run out. Our request for more threw the staff into crisis.

It was not until a series of meetings had been held and permission sought from senior management that a fresh pot could be brewed.

Passing even trivial problems up the management hierarchy in this way is simply impossible in a sophisticated post-industrial society."

___________________________________________________________

Another reader's comments with mine (expanded from the original blog comment) interspersed: 


Anon said, "In China, they have discovered the HARD way that their system is failing their national interests. Their students come out of school with NO critical thinking skills, no creativity to use when solving real world problems.

My response: On the contrary, their system is highly successful at promoting China's national interests! Children are trained from a young age that their purpose in life is to serve the state. Training children in critical thinking would be completely counterproductive to that Communist system. Because of their highly industrialized society, they need to train factory workers, not innovators.

Anon said, "Most all [Chinese students] entering the work place require years of remedial work to over come this"

My response: Putting aside for a moment that a third of U.S. college students need to take remedial classes to be able to handle college work and 4 out of 5 of those had at least a 3.0 GPA in high school....

Anon said, "China has turned it's back on what they used to be doing, what so many corporate powers who see our education system as a profit center are proposing. They made an easy decision, based on the evidence, to change direction. 

My response: I'm not sure what you mean by this. China is and has been, since 1949, a Communist country. It's only been recently that they've begun to reform their education system. They've only had compulsory attendance since 1989 and illiteracy rates approaching 20% in some areas.  The situation is grim in rural provinces:

"Educators were recently shocked by a scandal in Minqin County, Gansu Province, where authorities mobilized 40,000 secondary- and primary-schoolchildren to collect the season’s cotton crop. One student died when a tractor driven by his classmate accidentally rolled over him. Yet, despite the number of brutal accidents, it is not uncommon for administrators in poor, remote areas to ask students to “contribute to the common good” by spending several hours a week working in factories, including those that lack proper industrial-safety standards. Moreover, given the near-universal gender discrimination, it is routine for rural families to keep their girls at home, rather than send them to school. Minister Zhou admits that in particularly impoverished villages, the dropout rate in junior high schools can be as high as 10% (Lanzhou Morning Post, December 1; Xinhua, April 27)

Teachers in rural areas often have to farm on the side because the pay is so low. Check out the movie "Up the Yangtze" sometime to see the desperate circumstances in rural China. 


And what does any of that have to do with "corporate powers," other than the fact that this nameless entity is always to blame for everything?

Anon said: "China is going to leave us in the dust if we let the deformers who spokes model Rhee is fronting for have their way."

It's very frustrating to have discussions with people who insist on name calling.

China may very well leave us in the dust, but not because they have a superior education system - they don't. They are able to produce an impressive number of students who are able to ace our standardized tests and are super-students. But will they be the innovative thinkers, the creators, the people who invent things and the thinkers of great and lofty ideas? Their education system and their culture are not designed to produce such students.

If they do leave us behind, it will because we are in debt up to our eyeballs to China, not because their system built upon prolific testing, one-size-fits-all rote learning and student tracking is superior to what we have here in the United States, even in it's current state.  The truth is that we do know how to deliver a quality education in this country.  It happens in quality schools across the country.  There are public, private, charter, and homeschools that are successfully educating students and preparing them for post-secondary education and life beyond school.  We're just not doing it consistently for all students in every school, which is why we need to give parents more choices in education so they can evaluate the quality of a school and choose the best one for their children.  When we do education well, complete with critical thinking, the Chinese are not in our league.

Waiting for Superman...in the meantime, there's Kasich.

Last night I attended a screening of the documentary, "Waiting for Superman," hosted by Governor John Kasich and former D.C. Schools Chancellor, Michelle Rhee.  As we pulled up to the Cleveland State University Student Center we saw about a dozen protesters in front of the building.  I caught a glimpse of an anti-SB5 sign as we drove by.  SB5 is Gov. Kasich's public union reform bill and there is no small amount of opposition to it.  


There was a palpable tension in the room.  It was clear that this was not a crowd packed with only partisan Kasich supporters.  Ohio Democratic Party leader Chris Redfern, always ready with a lengthy, rhetoric-laden critique said this:

“Taxpayer dollars should not be used to promote the agenda of charter school fat cats at an invitation-only event sponsored by the corporate backers of John Kasich’s anti-middle class policies. To say the least."

"Invitation-only event" might be stretching the truth a bit.  I received an e-mail about the event from Americans for Prosperity Ohio.  It said the event was free, but an RSVP was required.  I responded to let someone at Gov. Kasich's office know that I would be attending and added my son's name as well, though he hadn't technically been invited.  Not a problem.  Then, at 4:45, right before the event, I sent another e-mail adding my son's girlfriend.  Again, not a problem. They even managed to have a name tag ready for her when we arrived at 5:45!  So it was clearly not a closed event, though the invitations may have initially been sent to those supportive of school choice. 


The movie "Waiting for Superman" follows the saga of several children trapped in failing public schools in some of the poorest, most crime-ridden cities in the U.S. These children are in desperate circumstances: Daisy, Emily, Francisco, Bianco, Anthony.  Unlike my children, who have had every advantage in life, these children have futures that are bleak, hopeless.  

As we were being introduced to these children and getting a glimpse of the warehouses that pass for schools in their inner-city neighborhoods, the narrative was suddenly interrupted.


The union protesters thought this would be a good time to march through the halls shouting their anti-reform slogans.   It was very disturbing that while people inside the auditorium were in tears over the plight of the children pictured above, union activists were demanding that we maintain the system that is failing these precious children. 


Just as a side note, I have been very frustrated by the misinformation being spread about SB5.  It's not extreme.  It's not "busting the unions," it's not eliminating pensions for government employees, it's not eliminating "tenure" (continuing contracts) for teachers who currently have that status. If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to read the American Policy Roundtable's Frequently Asked Questions about SB5.  This non-partisan guide answers many of the questions that people on both sides of the issue have been discussing in a fair and non-emotional format.  Please share it with others.  


The movie was disturbing on so many levels.  It's heartbreaking that in the year 2011 we are still sentencing millions of children to spend their formative years in schools from which they will not graduate.   In one school, in the past 40 years, 60,000 students have passed through and only 40,000 have graduated.  What happened to the other 20,000?  


I was surprised to learn that the problems are not just in lower income,  inner-city schools.  Many affluent schools "track" students, meaning someone decides at a young age,  which children are college material and which are better suited for vocational school.  Those who are not deemed college material are put on a track that makes it almost impossible to later change tracks, sealing their fate at a young age.  They receive a far different education than their more academically gifted peers.  


The movie highlighted charter schools  and teachers with innovative solutions that were succeeding in the worst, most poverty-stricken areas of the country. But they've met with resistance from teachers unions and those who consider school reform - school choice - to be a turf war.  And the children pay the price.  It's disgusting and cruel to make these children enter a "lottery" for a 1/732 chance to attend a decent school.  No 2nd grader should have to suffer the fate of being labeled "not accepted" and forced to return to the dropout factory.  I'm in tears again just thinking about the sad faces of the children and the helplessness of their parents. 


Watch the trailer for the movie here:






After the movie, Gov. Kasich and Michelle Rhee answered questions from the audience.  The session was broadcast to screenings of the movie across the state.  


Michelle Rhee is a rock star.  Rhee, who is hated by the Left,  looked chic and beautiful in a tangerine dress.  She was featured in the movie as a tough innovator of the D.C. schools who was blocked at every turn by the powerful teachers unions.   Last night she proclaimed proudly that she was a life-long Democrat but insists that school reform and school choice is a bipartisan issue, saying, "I'm agnostic as to the delivery method."  In other words, she doesn't care how or where a child receives an education, as long as it's a good one.    If ever there was a bipartisan issue, this should be it.  


This was the first time I have heard Gov. Kasich speak in person.  He was very likable and passionate about this issue.  I mentioned that there was tension in the room.  When Kasich gave his opening remarks, it was obvious that some lines were designed to elicit applause from the audience.  Nothing.  Dead silence.  I was all ready to clap but got the same feeling I get in our Baptist church when I get the urge.....clap cramp.  It was an interesting group dynamic.  It was as if we sensed the tension, understood the powerful feelings of disagreement bubbling just below the surface, but somehow came to a tacit agreement that we would remain civil and polite. Somehow, "spiking the ball" at a Kasich applause line didn't seem appropriate.  Nor did booing.   While the rabble was roused outside, inside the auditorium it was a good moment for Ohio.  We were all there because we cared about children.


Whether or not you're a fan of Gov. Kasich, you have to give him credit for sticking his neck out and nearly exhausting the audiences' supply of questions.   It was about a 50/50 mix of questions from supporters of school choice and his reforms and from those opposed.  All were civil and polite.  He threw a good number of the questions to Michelle Rhee, who is clearly the expert on the topic.  Kasich stuck to the questions related to Ohio's specific reforms and those related to the union reforms and budget cuts.  He didn't flinch or back down, but stressed that he wanted to hear from teachers and work with them to create a fair way of evaluating them. 


An interesting tidbit that came out of the session was that Rhee convinced Kasich to include the performance pay for teachers in SB5.  He was going to scrap it, but after some heated debates with Rhee, realized it was necessary for true reform.  


At the end, everyone stood and gave Gov. Kasich and Michelle Rhee a round of applause.  I heard people around me, who didn't seem inclined to agree with Kasich on much, expressing their approval for the event and Kasich's demeanor.  I don't think he made any (new) enemies and probably gained a few (perhaps reluctant) supporters.  And if anyone came away from that movie not wanting to fight for school choice,  they are completely heartless.  

April 27, 2011

The Gospel is preached on MSNBC

It's clear that MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell (who calls himself a Socialist)  was attempting to show that Franklin Graham was some kind of  GOP tool for his positive statements about Donald Trump as a presidential candidate.  While I'm certainly baffled by Graham's positive statements about Trump, who is clearly no conservative, social or otherwise, the statements certainly did not rise to the level of "semi-endorsement" as O'Donnell claimed.  

They then moved on to the subject of whether or not President Obama is a Christian.  O'Donnell surely thought he was being clever and that he would "get" Graham with his carefully chosen proof-text verse, ripped out of context.   A fascinating discussion ensued about what it means to be a Christian.  To O'Donnel, it means saying you're a Christian and making an appearance at church now and then.  To Graham, it is receiving forgiveness for your sins by trusting in the work of Christ on the cross.  

I happen to be a bit of a cable news junkie and have seen Franklin Graham do these brief interviews dozens of times.  WITHOUT EXCEPTION, the man finds a way to get a short gospel presentation into the interview.  And this interview was no exception.  In fact, I think it was exceptional - Graham, I thought, was especially earnest.  He came out swinging with the Gospel and ended the interview with this:

"God loves us and he wants us to be saved from Hell. There is a Hell and there is a punishment for those who reject God. And there is salvation in Jesus Christ and for me as a minister the most important thing is not who's going to be president, or who is trying to run for president. The most important thing is, is a person ready to stand before Almighty God? Are they ready to have that time face-to-face with God and answer to him, because God's going to ask you, "What did you do about my Son? I sent my Son to take your sins. Did you accept him or did you reject him?"

~~~~~

Speaking of Donald Trump, conservative columnist and intellectual Thomas Sowell warns the GOP about the dangers of a Trump candidacy in an excellent piece at Town Hall.  Aside from Trump's inconsistency on a number of issues, which Sowell calls his "versatility of viewpoints,"  he says this: 

"Donald Trump is dangerous in at least two senses. If, by some tragic miracle, he should become the Republicans' candidate for president in 2012, that would be the closest thing to an iron-clad guarantee of a second term in the White House for Barack Obama. 

That would be a huge setback for the Republicans-- and, far more important-- a historic catastrophe for this country. 

What seems more likely is that Donald Trump as a candidate for the Republican nomination would use his superior articulation skills-- not to mention brash irresponsibility-- to trash all the other Republican candidates for that nomination, leaving them damaged goods in the eyes of the public, and therefore less able to gather the votes needed to prevent the reelection of Obama."

We can all hope that Trump-as-Presidential-Candidate would follow Reagan's 11th Commandment and never publicly criticize another Republican, but Sowell is right, Trump will do and say anything to promote the Trump Brand.  In fact, he has already started trashing the GOP by going after Paul Ryan and his budget plan:

"I'm very concerned about doing anything that's going to tinker too much with Medicare. I protect the senior citizens. Senior citizens are protected. They are lifeblood, as far as I'm concerned. I think Paul Ryan is too far out front with this issue. I think he ought to sit back and relax."

~~~~~

I'm no libertarian, but I do agree with many of their principals.  This video clip about the influence of tax money on education makes some good points.  In particular, I agree with him when he says that "school choice" isn't really "choice" when the government is involved.  For example, charter schools are closed when they don't meet government standards even though the parents may feel that it's a good school and their children are learning and in an environment that best suits their needs.  So their "choice" becomes a victim of government accountability. 

I think at this point government involvement in education is so entrenched that it would take something cataclysmic to get the toothpaste back into the tube, but the more we can think and work outside the box and try innovative solutions, the better. 

~~~~~

Earth Day Ends Obama's 53,300 Gallon Trip - Washington Whispers (usnews.com): 

"President Obama declared today's 41st annual Earth Day proof of America's ecological and conservation spirit—then completed a three-day campaign-style trip logging 10,666 miles on Air Force One, eating up some 53,300 gallons at a cost of about $180,000. And that doesn't include the fuel consumption of his helicopter, limo, or the 29 other vehicles that travel with that car."

Meanwhile, the Green Police are coming after Google, Facebook, and other companies that rely on cloud computing:

Cloud computing and Internet use suck energy, emit CO2, says Greenpeace | Technology | Los Angeles Times:

"Computer servers in data centers account for about 2% of global energy demand, growing about 12% a year, according to the group.  The servers, Greenpeace said, can suck up as much power as 50,000 average U.S. homes.

But most of what powers the cloud comes from coal and nuclear energy rather than renewable sources such as wind and solar, according to Greenpeace. Clusters of data centers are emerging in places like the Midwest, where coal-powered electricity is cheap and plentiful, the group said.

In its report, the organization zeroed in on 10 major tech companies, including Apple, Twitter and Amazon. Recently, the group has waged a feisty fight against Facebook, which relies on coal for 53.2% of its electricity, according to Greenpeace."

But wait, electric is good, right?  These are the same people who are pushing the electric cars, aren't they?  I'm so confused.   If these people get their way, the internet of the future will be solar and wind-powered server farms.  Instead of "HTTP error 504" we're going to start seeing "NWT Error - No Wind Today."  

~~~~~

 Pro-Choice Vandals Desecrate Cemetery of the Innocents Display - Students for Life: 

"In a breathtaking public display of anti-Christian and anti-Life motivations, 350 crosses were pulled up and re-inserted in inverted fashion, a well-known anti-Christian symbol. Additionally, red paint was splattered on crosses and signs. Even eerier was the mock bloody footprints of an infant painted in front of the display...

 ...Last week was Clarion Students for Life’s annual “Life Week”. Each year the group organizes a Cemetery of the Innocents Display in the middle of campus. They have 350 crosses and two signs explaining that each cross represents 10 children aborted every day.

Every year Clarion SFL experiences some sort of vandalism – broken crosses or knocked over crosses – during their Life Week, but this year the opposition on campus has taken its vandalism to a whole new level. Members of Clarion’s Students for Life group see an anti-Life motivation to this vandalism, but also an anti-Christian motivation as well. The inverted cross has long been a symbol of anti-Christian and anti-religious sentiments."

 

 ~~~~~

Republican Study Committee (RSC) - Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011: 

"Washington, Mar 31 - Reps. Jack Kingston and Louie Gohmert introduced the “Ensuring Pay for Our Military Act of 2011” to authorize the Secretary of Defense to continue to provide pay and allowances without interruption to members of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps who perform service during any funding gap. Without action on the measure such funds could be delayed or withheld. During the government shutdown in 1995, soldiers were paid because the Defense Department had already been funded through the year; the current funding for the Defense Department is set to expire on April 8."

Let's hope they can get this passed and take military pay off the table when it comes to these budget negotiations.  Our men and women in uniform should never be used as human shields in the budget wars.  Would any legislator dare to vote against this?

~~~~~

And just for fun....

April 13, 2011

Did a Michigan Town Ban Tea Party Signs in Public Parks? | The Blaze: 

"The Common Sense Patriots of Branch County–a tea party group–has filed a lawsuit in federal court objecting to the city of Coldwater’s ordinance prohibiting the posting of signs in a public park."

"A federal lawsuit claims a Branch County tea party group was denied the right to display banners and signs at a tea party rally at a public park in Coldwater because it was “too political” and “too controversial.” The Coldwater City Council then passed a resolution banning all banners and signs in that park.

The Thomas More Law Center law firm filed its lawsuit last week in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Attorney Robert Muise of the Thomas More Law Center alleged that Coldwater City Manager Jeff Budd objected because the Common Sense Patriots of Branch County were “too political” and “too controversial.”

Coldwater, MI is about 30 miles west of Hillsdale, where my son attends college.  Nothing against the good folks in Coldwater, but we spent a couple terrifying nights in a Super 8 Motel there.  The hotel we originally booked had some sort of "mechanical problems" so they moved us to the Super 8.  When we arrived,  they didn't have us on "the list" and had no rooms.  No worries,  the front desk clerk walked down the hall to "look in a few rooms to see if any were empty. " I am not making this up!  She found a room for us and the next day we returned to the hotel to find that the room below us had been sealed by the police - apparently it was a meth lab. When my key card didn't work in our room, the nice tattooed and pierced desk clerk was happy to re-program it for me, no name or ID required,  I simply told him what room number I wished to enter.   At the breakfast "buffet" there was a sign that said (all caps),  "ONLY ONE DOUGHNUT PER PERSON!!"   Apparently, someone didn't heed the sign, as there were no doughnuts at all when we arrived.  In fact there was no food whatsoever.  Or coffee.   Our room also featured a toilet that leaked onto the bathroom floor and a security lock that was broken, as if someone had broken the door down from the outside.  


On the plus side,  Coldwater does have a mighty fine BW3's and a fantastic thrift store.   I hope these Tea Party folks prevail in their fight for free speech in a public park.  


While we're in the netherlands of Michigan,  Roll Call had a nice story about Hillsdale's College and it's new Kirby Center for Constitutional studies in D.C.:


‘Conservative Citadel’ Comes to Capitol Hill : Roll Call Around the Hill: 

"The Michigan college that National Review once touted as a “citadel of American conservatism” is making its mark on Capitol Hill...

...Late last year, the private college opened the Allan P. Kirby Jr. Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship at 227 Massachusetts Ave. NE, a stone’s throw from the Capitol, to hold classes for students in its internship program and host public events and lectures....

... The Hill is already turning to the center as a resource, [Kirby Center Director David J.] Bobb said, thanks to the newfound fervor for the Constitution. With the reading of the document at the start of the 112th Congress and the new Constitutional Authority Statement required for bills in the House, Bobb said Hillsdale is looking forward to using its D.C. location to engage with Members.

“This is precisely what we exist to do — to foster debate and to make an argument that the Constitution means something,” Bobb said. “There’s a tendency for some Members to say that you have to be an attorney or a judge to weigh in on the Constitution, and we think that is contrary to the understanding the founders had and what we ought to have today.”...

 ...According to Hillsdale spokesman Joe Cella, about 20 alumni work on the Hill in positions ranging from legislative assistant to chief of staff.

They bring with them an education steeped constitutional principles, limited government and individual liberty — a decidedly conservative take on the typical liberal arts education. 

In keeping with its mission, the college operates completely without federal or state funding. Students take a core curriculum modeled on a classical liberal arts education with a required course on the Constitution, keeping with its mission statement of “maintaining inheritance from the Judeo-Christian faith and Greco-Roman culture....

...[Bentley] Graves, a 2005 graduate who studied political economy and moved to D.C. for a Heritage Foundation internship before joining King’s team, said he credits Hillsdale with developing his political ideology. He noted, however, that the college’s educational experience focuses on the intellectual side of conservatism rather than a political agenda.

“One thing that people always think about when they hear conservative college is Republican factory, but honestly, over my time there I became much more conservative than I was knee-jerk Republican,” Graves said. “And I think a lot of kids come out of Hillsdale that way, with a much greater appreciation for what it means to be a limited government, constitutional conservative and more motivated by that than pure politics.” 

Economic Liberty and the Constitution
Hillsdale College's Allen P. Kirby Center for Constitutional Studies and Citizenship will be hosting an Online Constitution Town Hall on "Economic Liberty and the Constitution" on Saturday, April 16, 2011.  It's FREE, FREE, FREE!!  All you have to do is register online to watch the event live (it will also be archived on the website a few days after the event if you miss it).  Most of us won't have the opportunity to attend Hillsdale College, but these online events give us a chance to learn from Hillsdale professors and scholars and experience what the students hear each and every day in their classes.   Here is the schedule for the event:
   
Saturday, April 16, 2011        
10 - 10:15 a.m. (EDT) 'Choosing Liberty': Welcome and Introduction
The Honorable Mike Pence
U.S. Representative, Sixth District of Indiana
Today citizens must choose whether they will live as citizens, or subjects.


10:15 - 11: 15 a.m. (EDT) 'How Our Economic Liberty Has Been Diminished'
Dr. Paul Moreno
Grewcock Chair in Constitutional History, Hillsdale College
Economic liberty was revered by the Founding Fathers, who enshrined its principles in the Constitution. A hundred years ago, those tenets were attacked by the Progressives, who saw property rights as the protection of special interests, and our Constitution's structure as an impediment to progress as they defined it.

11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. (EDT) 'How Our Economic Liberty Can Be Restored'
Dr. Larry P. Arnn, President, Hillsdale College
Economic liberty can be restored as decisively as it has been lost, but a restoration of constitutional principles cannot happen without citizen understanding and vigilant defense of the principles of the Declaration of Independence and Constitution.


David Cameron brands 'all white' Oxford University a disgrace - Telegraph: 

"On a visit to the north of England, the Prime Minister singled out Oxford for criticism when he accused elite institutions of having a 'terrible record' of enrolling teenagers from state schools.

Senior officials at the university described the figure as 'highly misleading' as it related only to British students who described themselves as black Caribbean. They said Oxford admitted another 27 students who described themselves as black African and another 14 who were mixed race."

Oxford defended itself, saying that only 452 black students across the country had met it's rigorous admissions standards.  So should Oxford lower its standards?

"Graham Stuart, the Conservative chairman of the Commons education select committee, suggested that the Government's approach was wrong. 'The problem we have with various minority groups in this country who don't get into the best universities is that they don't receive a sufficiently good education in the first place,' he said.

'You don't solve that by forcing institutions with high standards to lower their intakes, you deal with it by improving the standards of state education for all. That's the betrayal and the scandal here – we don't provide good enough education in our schools. 

'We let down the poorest and those from ethnic minorities and that's what we have got to put right, not blame Oxford for the situation we've got ourselves into."

The larger issue seems to be the state of "state schools" in the country:

"The Prime Minister, who studied at Brasenose College, Oxford, said leading universities did not have a good record when it came to admitting state school pupils, claiming the numbers had gone down in the past 20 years. “That is a terrible record,” he said. 

An Oxford spokesman said the university was “fully committed” to admitting the most able students regardless of background. “The fact remains that there is a real issue around attainment in schools,” she said."

Britain has a fledgling school choice movement and is now experimenting with "Free Schools" in response to parental demands. 

"Free Schools are all-ability state-funded schools set up in response to what local people say they want and need in order to improve education for children in their community."

As of September 2010, only 16 free schools had won approval from the government.  

  "The group behind the King's Science Academy, a free school due to open in Bradford, is driven by a vision of liberating inner city children from 'ghettoisation'. Sajid Hussain, a science teacher and assistant head who hopes to lead the new secondary school, said: 'We hope to teach good manners. We're looking at a sense of responsibility, social conduct, sitting down and dining. Independent schools are quite good at this kind of stuff.'...

...James Turner, projects and policy director of the trust, said the group was aiming for a school which is 'very academically focused' and encouraged pupils to apply for elite universities.

'We want to be clear that coming from a poor background does not preclude success – students from these areas can get good qualifications in valued subjects and gain access to top universities. We're addressing the inverse snobbery which says that 'people like you' don't go to certain universities or follow certain career paths or achieve at the highest levels.'"

Of course,  the teacher's unions and education establishment types are all for these innovative schools because they'll go to any lengths to raise student achievement.

Ha! You didn't fall for that, did you?

 "The new schools, many more of which are expected to be approved in coming years, could also pose a challenge to the teaching unions because they emphasise raising standards through longer hours and more flexible teaching. Both methods could prove contentious."

 The approval process is now getting bogged down in building codes and disagreements about whether profits should be permitted.  


As an aside, I think the whole concept of counting people by their skin color is offensive.  As a Christian, I believe we are all "one blood," descended from Adam.:

"And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth" (Acts 17:26).

 The rest is just variations in pigment and melanin. 

April 5, 2011

Republican Presidential Hopefuls Tell SBA List: Defund Planned Parenthood | SBA-List: 

"This week, the Susan B. Anthony List contacted Republican presidential hopefuls to ask them where they stand on defunding Planned Parenthood. Several hopefuls, including Rep. Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, and Sen. Rick Santorum, had already publicly spoken out in support of defunding America's largest abortion provider, which receives a third of its income from taxpayers' pockets.Gov. Haley Barbour, Gov. Mike Huckabee, Gov. Sarah Palin, and  Gov. Tim Pawlenty also provided statements to the SBA List."

Apparently, Gov. Romney did not respond to SBA's request for a statement.   


If you can spare five minutes, it's worth listening to Rep. Mike Pence's speech on the House floor about the "Pence Amendment" which would end federal funding of Planned Parenthood.  A few disturbing facts:

"In 2009, the group made only 977 adoption referrals and cared for only 7,021 prenatal clients, but performed a record 332,278 abortions. In other words, a pregnant woman entering a Planned Parenthood clinic was 42 times more likely to have an abortion than to either receive prenatal care or be referred for adoption. Planned Parenthood recently made plain the centrality of abortion to its mission by mandating that every one of its affiliates have at least one clinic that performs abortions within the next two years… 

According to its most recent annual report, the organization raked in $1.1 billion in total revenue. Of that amount, $363.2 million came from taxpayers in the form of government grants and contracts."

The Circle of Corn-based Ethanol. | RedState: 

• The US Government subsidizes the production of corn-based ethanol, as a substitute/supplement for gasoline.
• To maintain a demand, the US Government pushes for standard gasoline mixtures containing 10% ethanol.  This will supposedly decrease pollution and increase efficiency.
• Corn is then turned into ethanol wholesale.
• Corn-based food prices rise.  That includes critters that eat corn, by the way.
• This results in higher food prices domestically.  This decreases efficiency.
• This also results in more food insecurity globally.
• Corn-based ethanol, being subsidized, crowds out other ethanol fuels.  If this is confusing: please, reference Gresham’s Law, and generalize from its specific example.
• Ethanol, being less energy efficient than gasoline - which is why we weren’t using it to begin with - ends up causing effective inflation, as it costs more to go the same distance in your car.  This also increases pollution.
• In short, 10% ethanol gasoline results in more pollution and less efficiency.
• Therefore, the only solution… is to raise the amount of ethanol in gasoline to 15%.

We are not digging ourselves out of this mess anytime soon!  What a disaster!

Or maybe we should all move to N. Dakota (HT: Glenna)...

Why N. Dakota May Be the Best State to Live In: Yahoo Finance: 

• Lowest unemployment rate among the 50 states. North Dakota's 3.8 percent unemployment rate is less than half the national rate.
• Statewide GDP growth of 3.9 percent ranked third in the nation in 2009 behind Oklahoma and Wyoming (2010's figures are not yet available.)
• Best job growth last year. A Gallup survey reported that North Dakota businesses had the best ratio of hiring to firing among the 50 states.
• Stable housing market
• Low violent crime rate. The incidence of violent crime per 100,000 residents in North Dakota in 2008 (latest available data) was the fourth lowest in the country and nearly 60 percent lower than the national average.
• Lowest credit card default rate

N. Dakota is also ranked as the third happiest state and in order to deal with a recent budget surplus, the state rolled back property and income taxes $400 million! I'd be happy about that!

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Here's a really depressing food stamp graph that needs no commentary:

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VICTORY! Supreme Court Upholds Education Tax Credits | Cato @ Liberty: 

"Ruling in ACSTO v. Winn today, the United States Supreme upheld Arizona's k-12 scholarship tax credit program. Under this program, individuals receive a tax cut if they donate to a non-profit scholarship fund that gives out private school tuition aid."

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that tax credits Arizonians receive for donations to a state scholarship program could continue because the respondants had not been injured: 

"tax credits and governmental expenditures do not both implicate individual taxpayers in sectarian activities. A dissenter whose tax dollars are “extracted and spent” knows that he has in some small measure been made to contribute to an establishment in violation of conscience.... [By contrast,] awarding some citizens a tax credit allows other citizens to retain control over their own funds in accordance with their own consciences."

This is a huge victory for school choice in Arizona and will likely pave the way for similar programs in other states, possibly even Ohio.  

The Arizona School Choice Trust  is an innovative program which awards scholarships, currently $5400/year, to low income students to attend the public or private school of their choice.  It is funded by taxpayer's (in effect) designating a portion of their annual tax liability to the program. Individuals can receive dollar-for-dollar tax credits up to $500 per year ($1000/married couples) for donations made to the ASCT.  Corporations can donate up to 100% of their tax liability to the program and receive a dollar-for-dollar credit.  

Last year the ASCT awarded  over 600 scholarships to low income children, empowering these families with choices that were previously out of reach. 

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A few days ago I shared the story of a  dog that was rescued three weeks after the tsunami on a flotilla of wreckage at sea.  More happiness from this story: the dog, Ban, has been reunited with his owner.  She saw the story of his rescue on television and immediately recognized him and sent word to the shelter.  Watch the joyous reunion....

Finally, in case you've been in a cave or away from all media for the past week and haven't seen the Eagle Nest Cam, here you go:

Live Streaming by Ustream.TV
I have been addicted to this drama, day and night, keeping it up on my computer all the time because I don't want to miss the hatching of the all-important third egg.  Currently there are two hatchlings in the nest and if you've been watching, you'll know that #2 is a bit weaker than it's sibling and #1 is kind of a bully.  The parents have loaded the nest with food stores, including a rabbit, at fish, a crow, a large mammal of some sort (maybe a prairie dog?), and a smaller rodent (maybe a rat).  It's starting to look a little creepy up there.  Yesterday the camera operator zoomed in on a crow that was lurking in the distance, leering at those vulnerable chicks.  Next thing you know, crow is on the menu.  Oh, the drama!  


I am amazed by these dutiful parents who are taking turns tending the nest, feeding the hatchlings and incubating the remaining egg 24-7.  Their work will intensify as these hatchlings grow and begin demanding more food and hobbling around the nest, especially if #3 joins the brood.