From: Rex.Beard@f32.n373.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Rex Beard)
Newsgroups: hsv.general
Subject: Re: America 2000 school plan
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 92 21:46:39 CDT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:373/32

 TA> From: aumantb@eclipse.msfc.nasa.gov (Tim Aumann)
     
 TA> Leah.Wesolowski@p0.f2.n373.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Leah Wesolowski) 
>> OK everyone vote!
>> Here and now...
>> Would you rather A) Have year round schooling to aleviate the
>> overcrowding problem...
>> B) Have shift schooling
>> C) Have the tax voucher system and year round schooling;
>> D) Have the tax voucher system and shift schooling.
>>    Everyone please vote.
>> 
 TA> None of the above - I would rather that we build the classrooms 

I would also vote none of the above. My choice would be "Have a tax
voucher (Tax credit) system."   Then parents and kids can decide if
they want to go year round or shift or at 2 o'clock in the morning!

 TA> we need to handle the load, and then staff those schools with 
 TA> competent teachers to bring the class load done to a reasonable 

Beautiful platitudes. Now the important question is whats a good school?

*I DON'T KNOW*!!!!  And I really don't think you know either!
There is *NO* one best solution one size fits all solution. That is why
giving parents and children the choice to find the best educational solutions
for *their* needs, is the answer.

 TA> level. And yes, I AM willing to pay more in taxes for that 
 TA> purpose! 

But will paying more taxes help? It hasn't in the past. You would think
with all this talk about money for education that we weren't spending enough.

Doesn't that make you think? How much *are* we spending on each childs
education? According to my almanac the U.S. spent $4,639 per child per year
in '88-'89 on education. My brother recently called the department of
education. The 1992 numbers are at $5,500. We spend more than any other
country. (I heard perhaps Switzerland beats us.)

Yes, I read the Parade article last week that placed us 4th in spending.
The numbers used in that article were *lower* than I've seen anywhere else.
I don't beleive it. And even if you do beleive it. THose numbers make
us number 4 in spending. And well ahead of Germany and Japan.

More money is not the answer.

 TA> Failing this, I would go for a year round plan (no vouchers - I 
 TA> think that is opening a whole new kettle of worms, and not 
 TA> solving the fundamental problems). The year round plan which I 

Funny. I see free market competition and parental choice as the *only* way
to solve fundemental problems.

 TA> Better yet (after the first point) is to increase the length of 
 TA> the school year from 170 days to 200+ days. Summer vacations 
 TA> are a hold over from when we were an agricultural society, and 
 TA> we needed our children at home to help on the farm during the 
 TA> summer. This is no longer true, and the summer vacation should 
 TA> be shortened considerably. 

You see. Maybe you're right. BUT maybe you're *wrong*. WHy do you want
to force *your* choice on the rest of the country?

Why can't we do it *both* ways? Or *lots* of ways? 

You know, I think that is the *real* difference between Democrats &
Republicans on one side and Libertarians on the other.

Democrats and Republicans want to take all your money and they promise that
*they* know what is best. *They* know how to solve all your problems.
They have the one truth. The real answer.

Libertarians are realists. We don't know the answer. We honestly don't
know what is best for you. But we think that you do.

You have your own answers. Your own dreams and desires.

-rex-

Andre Marrou / Nancy Lord - Libertarians in '92

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