WUI (Writing under the influence)

Somebody once said we are all Americans, sometimes born in the wrong places.
On a warm autumn day in 1986, while enjoying beer with my college buddies,
I decided to join my new homeland.

I've come to appreciate the ideals that helped create this great country.
Liberalism, political-correctness, multiculturalism and moral equivalence
are destroying it.

This old house Grovenet Wal*Mart Visiting Poland American wine better than French.

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

 

Public school funding

This was news about three weeks ago:
Three Oregon school districts have signed on as plaintiffs in an impending lawsuit over the adequacy of state school funding, and nearly 20 more are weighing the possibility.
This is news today:
Portland's superintendent suggests drawing down reserves to maintain class size
[...]
Phillips conceded that her plan is riskier than simply making $24 million in cuts. It also could sour taxpayers who are wary of government talking gloom-and-doom then pulling out a last-minute reprieve.
[...]
The district plans to ask voters to approve a $33 million local-option levy in November to replace that package in subsequent years. Without some longer-term solution, Phillips said, the district will simply be staving off deep staff cuts for a year.
This should be news today but it's not:
The U.S. Census Bureau ranking released Monday uses financial figures for the 2003-2004 school year - the most recent available. It puts Utah's per-pupil funding at $5,008, compared with a national average of $8,280 and a high of $12,981 in New Jersey.
OK, so it's news in Utah. I also found one article from Texas. The reason why Utah and Texas news-papers may be interested in this ranking is because both states' spending per pupil is below average. Maybe both papers want to use the ranking to convince tax-payers not to be so "greedy."

The reason why the Oregonian didn't mention the new ranking is because voters could remember it in November and decide that the Portland schools have more than enough money to adequately educate their children. This is not the first time the Oregonian omits vital statistics to push its liberal agenda. Last year in June, the Oregonian selectively "analyzed" several conclusions of a Chalkboard Project report. In the process it also misrepresented some important statistics. Some of them show that the quality of education in Utah is much better than in many states that spend much more. Did the Oregonian decide to keep quiet rather than to lie? Maybe. Another reason could be that applying a very simple math (that even Oregon children could do) one could easily figure out that the US spends more per pupil than any other country and more for K-12 education than for national defense.

If anybody wants more facts about how much the public schools cost us already (the price tag is second only to health care and much lower than national defense) and how much is wasted, this guy knows it all.

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