So, considering my last post concerning education generated a bunch of comments I figure it’s something I should come back to addressing. For those who want to make personal attacks, grammar corrections, etc. Please direct your comments to me in an email, that would just help the comments section to be a little more constructive.
I guess I’ll just start by saying somehow I’ve ended up with a whole bunch of friends that are teachers, in a wide range of schools, all over the coutry. I’ll do my best to share stories and situations that I hear from them.
I guess the question I have in my mind right now is whether or not people actually want public schools. I have to say Stephen’s comment sort of floored me. Do most republicans think there isn’t any really justification for public schools? Do a lot of people think there is no reason why education should be “equal” or “fair.” I guess I’m eager to hear some responses.
Wow, I mean to even hear some of the comments that were given before, it’s just scary to me:
“I’m not certain where in the United States Constitution it says that all public schools have to be equal.” -Stephen
“They say nothing about using taxation to establish “equal” ends in education.” -Anonymous
(This seems to imply you don’t think they should be equal, is that true?)
“Sometimes I laugh because you all don’t know how to frame the debate at all. ” -Anonymous
(It’s not a debate, but I appreciate your response to Stephen’s comment)
“Look, we’re an advanced industrial nation. There’s no reason that our literacy rates should be so low; there’s no reason that our kids shouldn’t excel. We’re wealthy and industrious, and it’s a crime that any child should languish with inadequate preparation for the industrial 21st century!” -Anonymous
Everything is a debate. When you begin talking about using people’s money to accomplish certain ends, whether it be national defense or equal education, you invite dispute from those who do not wish for their money to be used or wasted for those purposes. Therefore, it becomes a question of determining, via debate, who possesses legitimacy and reason. Everything in politics is a debate.
But if you don’t like that word, I will state it differently:
“Some times I laugh, because you all don’t know how to frame the issue at all”.
You have no clue how to persuade people that your ideas should triumph over others. Your words are couched in ambiguity, i.e. “i guess” and “i don’t know”. How then can you expect others to happily turn over their money at the point of a gun for use in something that will guarantee less-than-certain results?
You cannot.
Anonymous, my dear friend,
I’m sorry you feel everything is a debate. The reason I use words like “I guess” and “I don’t know” is because that is what I mean. I don’t pretend to have the right answers or the perfect solutions. As I wrote in my post I’m asking questions, you seem to think I’m trying to persuade you of something.
Somehow you’ve jumped to the conclusion that I’m trying to convince you of something that would take you away from money you feel you’ve earned, and that I’d do it at gun point. Obviously, we’ve got a lot to learn about one another.
Back to my questions:
Do you really think it’s fine for education to be unequal?