Midwest Public School Abolishment Proposition

[CheeseWhiz]

...a.k.a. the ILV Will Never Speak to Me Again Proposition

So, here's the proposition:

1. All Public School funding will be cut by the year 2007.


I could see why Public Schools might be needed before, but not now.  Anything and everything you need to know is on the internet, and if you really want your kids in school, you can send them to a private one.  Those too poor to afford internet services or private schools can go to their local Library System and pick up books on subjects they’re interested in. I know I’ll come under fire for this by just about everyone imaginable possible, but I hope I can get at least two other Midwesterners who feel the same way.

I also think this will greatly benefit our schools.  Schools without competition will almost definitely do poorly, while with competition it gives the parents a choice, so if their school is doing poorly, they can move to another one.

[CheeseWhiz]

Come on, I need two signatures before December 1st to get it on the December ballot!

[DanielX]

If you add a voucher program allowing poor midwesterners to send their children to private schools, then i'll sign. Either that, or funnel a large chunk of former public school money to public libraries, and maybe offer ad-hoc literacyand basic math classes in libraries.

[CheeseWhiz]

Yeah, I really like your second idea.  The first one's okay, but I like the second one better.  How big of a chunk should we funnel?

[CheeseWhiz]

I'll update this as I get more info:

STATE PUBLIC SCHOOL BUDGETS:

Colorado:
Iowa:
Kansas:
Minnesota:
Montana: 767 million (04-05,) 811 million (06-07)
Nebraska:
North Dakota:
Oklahoma:
South Dakota:
Wyoming:
TOTAL:


STATE LIBRARY BUDGETS:

Colorado:
Iowa:
Kansas:
Minnesota:
Montana:
Nebraska:
North Dakota:
Oklahoma:
South Dakota:
Wyoming:
TOTAL:

[MasterJedi]

That is one of the most horrible proposition's I've ever seen. I urge anyone with sense to vote against this!

[CheeseWhiz]

That is one of the most horrible proposition's I've ever seen. I urge anyone with sense to vote against this!

*shrug* They probably will.

Anyway, I'm working on some revisions at the moment...  But it will still cut Public School funding.

[CheeseWhiz]

Maybe I’ll just go with arbitrary numbers
 
1. All Public School funding will be cut by the year 2007.
2. 45% of that money will go to the State Library System in order to create learning centers open to the public. 
3.  Teachers and Librarians will be trained as facilitators and field experts will conduct specialized classes as a public service.
4. The other 55% of the money will go to balancing the Regional Budget.

[DanielX]

Maybe I’ll just go with arbitrary numbers
 
1. All Public School funding will be cut by the year 2007.
2. 45% of that money will go to the State Library System in order to create learning centers open to the public. 
3.  Teachers and Librarians will be trained as facilitators and field experts will conduct specialized classes as a public service.
4. The other 55% of the money will go to balancing the Regional Budget.

DanielX

[CheeseWhiz]

W00T!!!

[WiseGuy]

X Ron Dubya

And if anyone wants to make something out of it, just remember I'm in control of the Nukes j/k

[CheeseWhiz]

YAY!

[Јas]

Before I confirm it's place on the ballot, could I ask Dubya to clarify which version he has put his name to?

[WiseGuy]

The latest one.

[CheeseWhiz]

I put up the Wiki page for it.

[CheeseWhiz]

That is one of the most horrible proposition's I've ever seen. I urge anyone with sense to vote against this!

Also remember, this is Federal money supporting our Public School system.  If we can get a surplus out of this, then you'll save and we'll ultimately help reduce the Federal deficit.  It will only do a little, and it's a big if, but still.

[Јas]

The latest one.

Very well, as the conditions of Section IV, Article I have been met this will be placed on the ballot.

I put up the Wiki page for it.

Thanks CW.

[Јas]

On a personal level, I am very much opposed to this measure.
Education is crucial to the well-being of society. It is in all our interests that our citizens are educated to a high level, if only so that we can be economically competitive in the jobs market. Education is good for long term economic growth, I sincerely doubt anyobe here will or can effectively deny this. To implement this measure would lead to a great diminishing of our status as a society. Indeed economics is only one aspect of the argument, and I hope to put forward further arguments against what I consider to be a seriously backward step.
I will do all I can to prevent this measure.

[CheeseWhiz]

Thank you, Mr. Governor.

Did I do it right?  I sure hope I did...

I hope the people of the Midwest give this a fair chance and read it, not just vote no because of it's title.  Not saying that anyone who opposes this is dumb or nothing, I just hope people look over it before making up their mind based on the title.

[CheeseWhiz]

On a personal level, I am very much opposed to this measure.
Education is crucial to the well-being of society. It is in all our interests that our citizens are educated to a high level, if only so that we can be economically competitive in the jobs market. Education is good for long term economic growth, I sincerely doubt anyobe here will or can effectively deny this. To implement this measure would lead to a great diminishing of our status as a society. Indeed economics is only one aspect of the argument, and I hope to put forward further arguments against what I consider to be a seriously backward step.
I will do all I can to prevent this measure.

And people can't be educated without Public Schools?  There will still be Private Schools, the Internet and a new sort of Public School that this bill creates through Libraries.  We don't need Public Schools to ensure an educated society.

[Јas]

And people can't be educated without Public Schools?  There will still be Private Schools, the Internet and a new sort of Public School that this bill creates through Libraries.  We don't need Public Schools to ensure an educated society.

Private schools will ensure that a large section of the community will be effectively excluded from education. Cost will simply be too prohibitive particularly given the terms of the proposition pur forward here. As soon as our public schools lose funding, a massive number of our citizens will seek education elsewhere. The private schools will not be able to absorb that number of students, at least not in the short or medium term, as they don't have the capacity. To deal with this massive demand and same level of supply, prices will increase dramatically, putting education beyond all but the economic elite of our region. What will the other former schoolgoers do? Many will be far too young to enter the jobs market. Many parents will have to become full time homemakers to mind their once occupied children. Thus draining our workplaces economic potential and many families income.

The internet can be a wonderful tool, but it cannot replace the school environment, certianly not without effective supervision and guidance. How will this be achieved?

We absolutely need public schools for our society. This proposition would lead to chaos in the Midwest, and I will not stand idly by while it is given serious consideration.

[WiseGuy]

And people can't be educated without Public Schools?  There will still be Private Schools, the Internet and a new sort of Public School that this bill creates through Libraries.  We don't need Public Schools to ensure an educated society.

Private schools will ensure that a large section of the community will be effectively excluded from education. Cost will simply be too prohibitive particularly given the terms of the proposition pur forward here. As soon as our public schools lose funding, a massive number of our citizens will seek education elsewhere. The private schools will not be able to absorb that number of students, at least not in the short or medium term, as they don't have the capacity. To deal with this massive demand and same level of supply, prices will increase dramatically, putting education beyond all but the economic elite of our region. What will the other former schoolgoers do? Many will be far too young to enter the jobs market. Many parents will have to become full time homemakers to mind their once occupied children. Thus draining our workplaces economic potential and many families income.

The internet can be a wonderful tool, but it cannot replace the school environment, certianly not without effective supervision and guidance. How will this be achieved?

We absolutely need public schools for our society. This proposition would lead to chaos in the Midwest, and I will not stand idly by while it is given serious consideration.

You ignore the fact that this bill does create a substitute through the public library system.

[CheeseWhiz]

That's why I'm giving them two years: They can see it coming and hopefully build more Private Schools to meet the demand.

Internet works far better than Private Schools, IMO.  Let's take a Private School test on, say, Biology.  This kid taking the test is a math whiz, and he hopes to go into the field of computers.  He doesn't give a hill of beans about Biology, but he has to learn about it so he won't get an F.  Now, he's wasting valuable time when he could have been learning about Computers.  Granted, he needs back-up skills, but he can learn about those by himself on his free time.  I wish to become a Film Director, but I think I know enough to become a Politician, an Architect, a Carpenter or anything in the field of Geography.  No one forced me to learn any of that, that's the stuff that I wanted to learn, and most of it I got on my free time on the internet.  When I'm forced to learn something I forget it after I don't need to know it anymore.

What about our Library idea?  People can learn what they want to learn from there.  I find this far superior to being forced to learn something you may or may not want to know all day long, until you're bored to tears.  IMO, we aren't really getting rid of the Public Schools, we're replacing it with something that is much better.

[WiseGuy]

I'm not Midwestern, but I encourage the region not to do this.

I'm very libertarian, but in this case, this is just fundamentally a bad idea.  Public schools are key in securing that students' futures are competitive with Asian markets that are quickly taking our jobs.  They also are key to preventing crime.  If kids are not in schools, they will be on the streets.  You can't afford to send every child to a private school.  It would be better to just end up funding.

The problem with the library idea is that not everyone is capable of independent study.  And with the average library serving, what, several ten thousand people, can we fit all of the kids who cannot afford private schools in poor areas into libraries?  No way.

This plan is fine in the middle class suburban areas we all live, maybe, but it is entirely ignorant of impoverished urban areas that can barely afford to educate children with the funding they have.

This is the last thing that should be cut totally.

The libraries can hire former teachers, since librarians will basicly be teachers under this plan.  Also, education wasn't under the feds thumb until Carter, and it has been in steady decline ever since.

[CheeseWhiz]

Securing their future:  I don't understand, are you saying we cannot learn without Schools?  What you need to know, you will learn on the way.  What you will need to learn for your future, you'll learn because you want to learn it.

Keeping kids off the street: Maybe parents should take the responsibility?  For those who have both parents at work, they can arrange to leave them with friend.  Also, I never proposed we pay to put everyone in Private schools.

Why not?  Given the materials, can't everyone learn on their own?  For those who can't, we have "field experts" come to the Libraries.  This would be someone who actually does what they're teaching.  That is solved very simply:  Build more Libraries.  If there is more demand than supply, you get more supply.

I think they can go to the Library just as easily as they can go to a Public School.  What's the difference?

Well, it's one of the things I've always wanted to cut.