Patting the wrists, rolling the eyes.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
That's pretty funny, since that article -- you know, the one that you linked to -- is about a school in Boston.

Here in California, we thank the conservatives for destroying what used to be pretty excellent public schools by removing the funding. Property taxes are capped, and localities depend on state funding. In order to raise taxes locally, you need a 2/3 vote. There was a ballot measure a few years ago to let towns hold a vote to reduce this threshold, and the conservatives defeated it -- apparently not content to have ruined the public schools in Orange County or wherever they live, they need to make sure that the lefties in Marin County and Berkeley can't opt to tax themselves to make their own schools better.

The Texas legislature is almost guaranteed to go into special session this summer to resolve the School Financing Fiasco. It's a nationwide problem, I believe.

The solution that's on the table right now was drawn up by a Stanford think tank. No one, with the exception of Guv. Goodhair, is particuarly impressed.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Hank Chinaski
Certainly there are troubled schools throughtout the country and despite accusiations from both parties little seems to get done no matter who is in charge.

It's easy to figure out how to ruin good schools. Just squeeze their funding.

It's much harder to figure out how to make schools better. Spending more money can help, but certainly isn't sufficient. If it was clear what to do, I think you would see individual towns -- except in California, where the conservatives prevent it -- making the various investments and changes to get better schools, because having a reputation for good schools is worth a huge amount to property values, etc.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Although the President is traveling in Russia, the White House has deployed special technology to ensure that First Lady Laura Bush need not miss a single episode of Desperate Housewives.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
It's easy to figure out how to ruin good schools. Just squeeze their funding.

It's much harder to figure out how to make schools better. Spending more money can help, but certainly isn't sufficient. If it was clear what to do, I think you would see individual towns -- except in California, where the conservatives prevent it -- making the various investments and changes to get better schools, because having a reputation for good schools is worth a huge amount to property values, etc.

I went to a fundraiser for (70% possible) gubenatorial Chris Bell a few weeks ago and someone asked him about school financing. It's a huge deal here, as a court has ordered the legislature to Do. Something. About. School. Financing. One of the common responses by the GOP to cries of increasing funding for education is that the money will get wasted.

Chris Bell said that makes some sense, but at the same time, he has a lot of acquaintances who send their kids to the private schools here in Houston. Parents gladly pay $13-17,000 in tutition to send their kids to those schools, and the schools have additional funding through grants, gifts and endowments, and there's a marked difference in performance on all measurements. The point was, to some extent, money is a factor. My application driven private school had 100% graduation and college rate in my class.

This is not to say that I have any interest at all in my property taxes going up.

[Hank Chinaski]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop

Shit. this thing is about as much use as the French were in achieving VE day. Who the fuck told Chirac he should stand next to us at the ceremony? and is that other guy a Jap? WTF?

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Replaced_Texan
I went to a fundraiser for (70% possible) gubenatorial Chris Bell a few weeks ago and someone asked him about school financing. It's a huge deal here, as a court has ordered the legislature to Do. Something. About. School. Financing. One of the common responses by the GOP to cries of increasing funding for education is that the money will get wasted.

Chris Bell said that makes some sense, but at the same time, he has a lot of acquaintances who send their kids to the private schools here in Houston. Parents gladly pay $13-17,000 in tutition to send their kids to those schools, and the schools have additional funding through grants, gifts and endowments, and there's a marked difference in performance on all measurements. The point was, to some extent, money is a factor. My application driven private school had 100% graduation and college rate in my class.

This is not to say that I have any interest at all in my property taxes going up.

You would make a good Virginian.

[Gattigap]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
You would make a good Virginian.

Sayeth the man from Chicago.

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Gattigap
Sayeth the man from Chicago.

Public Schools too! Lincoln Park cheated to get on that list.

[sgtclub]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
It's easy to figure out how to ruin good schools. Just squeeze their funding.

It's much harder to figure out how to make schools better. Spending more money can help, but certainly isn't sufficient. If it was clear what to do, I think you would see individual towns -- except in California, where the conservatives prevent it -- making the various investments and changes to get better schools, because having a reputation for good schools is worth a huge amount to property values, etc.

Arggggggggggggggggg!

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by sgtclub
Arggggggggggggggggg!

Note that this also was the theme of the campaign that got Prop 13 passed.

[Secret_Agent_Man]

Originally posted by Say_hello_for_me
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7761678/...week/?GT1=6542

FL and VA seem, well, disproportionately represented. NY seems to be well-represented too.

And six of the top 100 public high schools (according to this list) are located in the Maryland county in which I reside. Just goes to show you what high taxes and lots of government regulation can do for you.

S_A_M

[Say_hello_for_me]

Originally posted by Secret_Agent_Man
And six of the top 100 public high schools (according to this list) are located in the Maryland county in which I reside. Just goes to show you what high taxes and lots of government regulation can do for you.

S_A_M

Yup, just discussed this with a partner at my firm from Montgomery Co. and caught the MD concentration too. There are a lot of surprises on that list overall though. Not much in Chicago's north shore. Not much in Silicon Valley. But everything in the DC burbs 'cept PG county seems to be on there somewhere or other.

I'd love to see a national regression analysis to see what factors correlate most to placement on the list. Concentration of professionals? Pure unadulterated wealth? Spending per student (hello Chicago)? I'm not in a position to argue for any one thing over another. All I know is that there are only a few concentrations on that list, and the DC burbs are one of the more noticeable ones.

Hello

[Spanky]

Originally posted by Tyrone Slothrop
That's pretty funny, since that article -- you know, the one that you linked to -- is about a school in Boston.

Here in California, we thank the conservatives for destroying what used to be pretty excellent public schools by removing the funding. Property taxes are capped, and localities depend on state funding. In order to raise taxes locally, you need a 2/3 vote. There was a ballot measure a few years ago to let towns hold a vote to reduce this threshold, and the conservatives defeated it -- apparently not content to have ruined the public schools in Orange County or wherever they live, they need to make sure that the lefties in Marin County and Berkeley can't opt to tax themselves to make their own schools better.

GUNN high school which is just down the street from me, and a public california high school, is on the list. If Gunn can make it why not other schools. If you think funding is the problem, you don't understand the problem. Washington DC spends more money per student that any other school system, and you can probably guess what their schools are like.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

Originally posted by Spanky
GUNN high school which is just down the street from me, and a public california high school, is on the list. If Gunn can make it why not other schools. If you think funding is the problem, you don't understand the problem. Washington DC spends more money per student that any other school system, and you can probably guess what their schools are like.

Now that I know that what it takes to get on the list is to have students take AP exams, I'm even less impressed by the list. But if they stick to this methodology, and people care, you can rest assured that many more high school students will be taking AP tests next year than this. So, lo, kids will be smarter!

California used to have public schools that were the envy of the nation. Since Prop 13, they've suffered. Everyone knows this. Money is not the sole key to improving schools, but when you cut school funding, and when you make it difficult for cities and towns to choose to spend more money on their own schools, the schools will suffer. It's that simple.

If Berkeley wants to, it should be able to choose to adopt new school funding measures by a 50% vote. They're spending their own money. The people in your party wouldn't let them do this, and the only reason that I can think of is that they're worried that it will work, that spending more money will improve Berkeley's schools, and people in other cities will want to do the same.