The original idea behind taxation, and practically everyone reading this will know what I'm talking about, is the maintenance and construction of shared community structure. The general concept behind those with more land use a little more of this community structure than those without is intentionally vague, as opposed to paying taxes rather than just pitching in to maintain the road or sewage system in front of your home.
Whatever. There's a few holes in this, but that's about the way it started.
These days, several hundred years down the road, the idea is that our elected officials know how to spend our money better than we do, and when they run short of tax money, which they'll do on a regular basis, they just pass a new law demanding more. Except, you know, when the general public gets involved and are asked to pass a new tax levy, generally for the public school system.
Keep reading as it amuses you to do so.
I'm a product of the public school system. I hated school with a passion, and I still do, albeit for different reasons. To put things into prospective, I graduated high school in 1970. Back then we had corporal punishment, which meant if a teacher didn't like you, you would get a paddling. No reason was needed. The same thing was true about arguing with a school teacher. No matter what, the teacher was always right, and the student was wrong.
The public school system was, and still is, based on the prison model. One day my dear old mother asked me why I hated school, and I told her I didn't like being in jail. She didn't understand what I was talking about. Well, mom taught high school, but she wasn't like the majority of school teachers. Neither was her mother, who taught grade school. The fact is, if it weren't for my mother and grandmother, I never would have learned to read and write.
Skipping forward to 2025, we the people pay $15,698 per student per year, and for this the students get indoctrinated into a perverse, liberal life-style. What's worse is that only 29% of high school students in the city of Columbus tested at or above the proficient level for reading. That doesn't mean that these students are completely illiterate, but I'd venture to guess that none of them read for pleasure, and it's a sure bet that none of them will be able to read Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas R Hofstadter and discuss it over coffee.
The hard truth is that if you can read, you can teach yourself pretty much anything. Now, if you can't read, you are well and truly hosed. Back in the 1940s through the 1960s or so, there were long haul truckers who couldn't read well. When they stopped at a truck stop, they'd find another trucker to fill in their log books for them - which wasn't hard to do. So, they could make a decent enough living that way. But those days aren't even visible in the rear view mirror.
If you think this situation is bad, consider the fact that you, the taxpaying parent, are forbidden to observe a class in process. You want to see what's actually going on? Fat chance. The teacher's union forbids it.
People whine that it's a democracy, and it's only fair, and everyone benefits from an educated populace. Fine. Step one is voting. If you don't own property that you actually live on, you aren't allowed to vote for a school levy. Step two is failing the students who actually fail. You flunk, you repeat a grade. Step three is paying the school teachers based on their productivity, and it has to be real productivity. For instance, I could take any adult reading this hound and put them in charge of a classroom of gifted students, and they'll look like a great school teachers. I could even do this with Glen Filthie at the podium. At the other end of the spectrum, if I have an instructor who can take a roomful of incorrigible students and turn them around into honor students, that instructor is worth their weight in c-notes.
Mind you, this actually happened in NYC. One public school had a HS teacher they hated, and a group of students they hated, and so put them all together in a basement classroom. He taught them debate, and they came in second in the State. The bad news is that none of the other instructors wanted to know how he did it. None of them wanted to copy him. Think about that one for a second.
I'm all for eliminating property tax and regulating the public school system so hard it would leave welts. It turns out that in Ohio I'm not alone in this.
3 comments:
Preach it, brother! Too many idiots- and the worst ones are getting into politics.
How about this - every classroom has a video feed, and any parent at any time can see what is going on in the class. Need protections for the teachers, too but this stuff can be negotiated. I see this as a feedback loop on the teaching process, and could greatly improve the quality of teachers, too.
We also need some level of discipline and class control. Much firmer than current. If you don't want to learn, fine, but disruption is not tolerated.
I'm probably going too far down the "hard line" road, but I put two kids through public school and was very disappointed in what I saw doing it.
CW: They opt for politics because the private sector won't have them, and once you're an incumbent it's easy to get reelected. Also there's little to no responsibility.
Neon: I agree. I actually suggested video feed and the level of outrage among the moonbat teachers was off the Richter scale. The discipline during class is very likely lacking. Yes, we need class discipline, along with an intolerance of disruption. The trouble is that some of these teachers will go too far with the punishment for some minor infraction.
Video feed would enable correction of most, if not all, of the problems in education.
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