A study assembled by Newsweek

[duckhunter]

http://www.businessinsider.com/shocking-red-states-have-the-best-public-schools-in-the-country-by-a-long-shot-2011-6

[topgroove]

Forget Red vs. Blue -- It's the Educated vs. People Easily Fooled by Propaganda


Millions of Americans live in a non-reality-based belief system informed by childish cliches - they can barely differentiate between lies and truth.

anyone can compile data to skew an outcome. I think its fair to say Blue States have the majority of heavely populated Inner City urban schools. Cities like NY, Chicago, Detroit, Philli, LA,.

Sure It would be easy to compare average SAT scores from wealthy less populated rural red states With the inner city urban blight and come up with the silly conclusion that red states have a superior education system.

Every artical you read ask yourself a few simple questions...... who wrote it, why did they write it, and what propaganda are they trying to spread.

http://www.urbanarchipelago.com/images/county_map.jpg Take a good look at the map. The first thing you notice is its almost all red. The only thing that colors a state blue is if those small pockets of urban population out number the rest of the population. That red state, blue state crap is just silly. Geographicly it looks more like the democratic base is more like a bunch of small islands in a sea of red.

[hotwiretamer]

Here is an article for you DH. Arizona not only ranks 50th in education, but just as bad in Teachers salaries, student to teacher ratio, dollar to pupil ratio, etc. :confused:

http://www.examiner.com/parenting-teens-in-phoenix/u-s-state-public-education-rankings-arizona-ranked-50th-education-ranking

[topgroove]

you really got to admire there determinination and commitment. Clearly they will stop at nothing to spread misinformation. The plan is so simple but brilliantly construed. Divide the country into two groups. Blame the poor and unemployed as the root cause of economic blight and then starve them out and exterminate them:eek: Holy crap this plan worked extreamly well back in 1940 Germany.

[Trojan]

I thought the (completely skewed and misleading) article link was about public education.
I thought I told you take your pill, Swamp. Now you can't focus.

[topgroove]

Swamp totally drank the coolaid. In fact he loves it so much he opened his own stand. Lets see... outsource our manufacturing base so there are no longer any factory jobs or assembly work, drive unemployment up past 9% and than attack the unions. Show how sucsessfull scab right to work states can be with below scale workers. Paint the poor and unemployed as lazy system abusing slugs leaching from paycheck to paycheck living vanishing middle class. Create hatred and despise for the entiltement using lower class. Cut as much funding as possible so we can keep our tax cuts for the rich. Create a feeling of hopelessness so the black and hispanic population don't even bother to show up at the polls.

[hotwiretamer]

.

Any state, or federal agency that hands out...food stamps, welfare checkes, unemployment checks, or any other of the many "benifits" for the "poor".....
Every one of them, before they get their first Check, should be required to take a drug test.


Workin people gotta have drug tests!!! Why not people who are living off the Govt?



I will have to agree with you here, Swamp. I don't see anything wrong with that.

[topgroove]

Avoidin the question Groove....

"Any state, or federal agency that hands out...food stamps, welfare checkes, unemployment checks, or any other of the many "benifits" for the "poor".....
Every one of them, before they get their first Check, should be required to take a drug test."


Do you have a problem with that Groove?

When I worked, I had to take a piss test every month. What's the problem with people on welfare, and food stamps...takin one??:mad:

I'm OK with that but who's gonna pay for that. We have drug testing at work and it costs a fortune. All those estimates you see from the right are rediculously low. If you go to any of the occupation health testing places its way over $150.oo per test. Than if each state wants to hire their own nurces and collect and package the samples themselves it'll still cost more.
What happens if a single mother of five tests positive? Social services would have to take the children . Now were talking big bucks, $25,000 per child per year. Than you got the law suit crowd from the far right and the AFLCIU. Millions more in litigation. Hey if your State wants to do it have at it. Other states have tried it before and it never ended well.

[LostArt]

My stance is we pay for it either way. So, what is the solution?

[topgroove]

those who do test positive, a second test would have to be done. After that there's the cost of drug rehab. I can see all these costs ballooning out of controll. Its like spending $100 bucks to save 50 cents.

[LostArt]

Education is so important. Public education is. Without it, you are going to see worse things than what you see now. Charter schools will work hard to make it with little funding, without man power, and will be asked to make a miracle happen. I see the future for them if this is what it comes down to.

Right now, public school staff are working overtime just to "get it done" and stay above the mark. Yet, do not receive the money for tools to get it done. Over the 18 yrs of working in public schools, I've seen it tried in all ways but the classroom still takes the hit. That child is our future.

As I end this year, and move forward to next year (as a bookkeeper) looking at the budget, I know I will see the cuts. I had a big eye opener when taking on this job back in January. I knew it was there, but when you actually see the numbers, it just about blows you away.

You cut education, you are destroying your future. Our future. Our children's children's future.

[electriklady]

I agree Trac, you stated it very eloquently. I am appauled at what I see going on. Here in PA, it has been on the news constantly. Teachers being laid off, art classes done away with, phys ed being done away with, special needs programs done away with for developmentally handicapped children, no sports programs for kids.....what i feel plays an important role in building character, self esteem, and the concept of teamwork.


On the mental health end, my daughter works with mentally ill, autistic, mentally retarded youths and her budget has been cut 60% and is sure she will lose her job in the next few months. While that is not a huge concern for her, her concern is the loss of services for the recipients of this program and their families. Programs that not only help the youths but also teach them to be more self sufficient and monitor their journey into adulthood.

Here in PA we are selling our children out, while giving the million dollar gas companies a free ride....I cannot understand that mindset, the people are VERY unhappy with the powers in charge right now.


A very sad state of affairs.:(

[topgroove]

Just the tip of the iceberg. So many teachers are retiring in a mass exodus now. The retirement funding budget is gonna skyrocket with shortfalls in every State. Property tax freezes that are getting passed all over the country will magnify the budget woes. Education funding will be the first to take the hit. After school sports, Special needs kids, BOCES, trade classes like shop and tech will be discontinued. Most schools will no longer be able to provide a music program.
Just the price to pay so we can provide Tax breaks to big oil multinational corporations, And the Top 1 percent. notice swamp keeps ranting about socialism and the direction of America.:confused: Take a good look around the complete oppisite is happening. The fortune 500 is sitting on over two trillion in cash, energy companies enjoying billions in subsidies, Military spending out of controll, The middle class squeezed out. Notice the housing market still hasn't hit bottom. Who the hell can take out a 30 year mortgage with job cuts and a shacky economy. GE paid zero in takes last year.
Swamp should be beside himself gigiling in delight, basking in the great victory of capitalism. but there so much more work to be done. We must now attack the poor and denie public assistance to the less fortunate and slash education spending(0nly the lazy slugs send their kids to public schools anyway).
Good luck on your new job next year LA, your gonna be doing Gods work trying to keep everything in the black.

[hotwiretamer]

Here in Az. we have a program called "First Things First". It is a program for early child development (5 and under). The funding comes from a Tobacco tax that was voted in by the people of Az. Gov. Brewer tried to rob the interest from the funds saying that "the interest was not protected under the bill". FTF went to court and the court ruled in favor of FTF, getting there interest money back! They offered to lend the money to the state, interest free, but that wasn't good enough for Brewer. She put a proposition on the ballot last year to illiminate the program, and put the tabacco tax money in the general fund!! It was voted down by a landslide. I'm glad the citizens of this red Arizona state know the importance of early child development! She talks about the importance of education, then trys to cut the funding and use the money for her own agenda.

[topgroove]

We the People of the United States,( should be changed to multinational corporations)
in Order to form a more perfect Union, (change to.... maximize profit and enhance executive compinsation packages) establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility,( buy judges to rule in our favor )
provide for the common defence,( kick backs and contributions from defence contractors ) promote the general Welfare, ( welfare? must be removed completly, are you kidding, who the hell slipped that in there? )
and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity,( only if your the top 1 percent, the rest can go F@#k (F@#k) themselves ) do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

[electriklady]

Here in PA, the Catholic Church is closing many of their parochial schools too......people cannot afford to send their children to private school...I believe in the last couple of years they have closed 5 or 6 of them just in the Scranton/Wilkes Barre area. I see one closed in the Binghamton NY area that was in the paper yesterday.... Churches around here are being consolidated like crazy.......Is the Vatican hurting for money? Payouts on lawsuits?

Our roads are crumbling, and I am not exaggerating one bit......I have never in all the years I have lived here seen our roads in this condition.

Good, young teachers being laid off. Support staff being laid off, programs cut, both in education and social services, no jobs(big business sitting on their money), and the republicans state that their only objective is to get Barack Obama out of the Whitehouse. These sons of bitches need a wake up call.......and from what I see.....those in power in PA are getting one.

Power to the People!

[Highplains Drifter]

I read your article and it is obviously more Repuckian Propaganda sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce to keep the middle class fighting at each other so they will not see the big picture!

[LostArt]

At least the article had us, as Americans, all talking about the subject. I like to analysis though. :D I'm not looking at labels, I'm looking at an American's view point, I don't care what side of the line you are on.

If we keep pointing fingers(no matter what party) instead of finding solutions, how are we going to move forward?

[topgroove]

we can move foward by all of us seeing through their silly bull$hit and realize the plan is simple... devide and destroy.

[LostArt]

we can move foward by all of us seeing through their silly bull$hit and realize the plan is simple... devide and destroy.

You just described the government. :D

[Highplains Drifter]

At least the article had us, as Americans, all talking about the subject. I like to analysis though. :D I'm not looking at labels, I'm looking at an American's view point, I don't care what side of the line you are on.

If we keep pointing fingers(no matter what party) instead of finding solutions, how are we going to move forward?


Then why was it important for the writer of the article to bring up "right to work states"?

This whole article is a Union Busting tactic using our youth and their schools!

[LostArt]

**sighs**

I had written a post here, but just realized it's really not worth my effort.

[duckhunter]

There are not Republican schools or Democrat schools. They are schools. Washington and State captials have to quit telling local schools what they must teach. We expect everyone to be winners in a public school, yet we mu7st include everyone. Those who do not want to be there and those that do not have the ability to keep up. Parents scream because we fail their students, and principals put pressure on teachers to pass on problem students.

Then when the passed on students fail, we blame the teachers.

[topgroove]

Just tack it onto obamacare.:D Obamacare as you call it is simply the insurance companies having to insure those with pre-existing conditions and providing affordable insurance to those less fortunate. But if you really want to drug test .... lets start with every worker on wallstreet and every member of congress, every Judge, every lawyer , every doctor , and every last scumbag CEO living in this country!

[hotwiretamer]

Obamacare as you call it is simply the insurance companies having to insure those with pre-existing conditions and providing affordable insurance to those less fortunate. But if you really want to drug test .... lets start with every worker on wallstreet and every member of congress, every Judge, every lawyer , every doctor , and every last scumbag CEO living in this country!

Nice! I like that idea too!

[heelwinch]

Obamacare as you call it is simply the insurance companies having to insure those with pre-existing conditions and providing affordable insurance to those less fortunate. But if you really want to drug test .... lets start with every worker on wallstreet and every member of congress, every Judge, every lawyer , every doctor , and every last scumbag CEO living in this country!

We as a democratic society have NO say, as to how a corporation runs there drug screeing program... Thankfully......

I doubt very much that the COO of National Grid ever took a piss test....

[hotwiretamer]

We as a democratic society have NO say, as to how a corporation runs there drug screeing program... Thankfully......

I doubt very much that the COO of National Grid ever took a piss test....

Unless you are an employee that carries a CDL, or you are involved in a regulated industry (like the Natural Gas companies).

[Pootnaigle]

You sure about that?? I bleve they purdy much mandate you hafta have liability insurance to drive an automobile. and dont tell me that is a consious choice for people cause in this day and age an auto is all but manditory to get back and forth to work on time, shop for groceries.etc
They also purdy much mandate that when you buy fuel you get either some kind of biodeisel or ethanol mixture. so yes I bleve they can and will mandate what we hafta have.Do I agree with it???????? Nope but it is a reality

[Pootnaigle]

Wanna work as a lineman. I bleve a CDL is required by Every employer. I also beleive most Busses dont go anywhere near your showup. I done told ya it is mandatory in this day and age.

[topgroove]

your buddy Mitt Romney came up with the Idea:confused:

[electriklady]

I would bet the "mandate" goes away before the effective date..........President Obama is no fool..........It is always easy to make yourself into a "hero" when you are writing the book........Ya sit down at your 'puter" and start deleting and rewriting.......right at the time ya think the readers will have the main character figured out. The villan to some, becomes a hero, and for those who already liked the way the supposed villan works, he will become a bigger hero, and for those desperate to find a hero.......in this drama.....they will find one.


We need some major changes in healthcare, and I salute a politician for even giving a shit about the young, poor, elderly, already gravely ill to make an attempt to do something about it......right or wrong.....I feel there are better ways to tackle the issue.....but I am not President.....so we will see what happens.

[Trojan]

If it does. Obamacare is dead. It was designed around the Mandate that all americans MUST purchase healthcare...or be fined.

Good job of picking one item out of the big problem of access to healthcare, Swampy!
What's your solution? I guess I'll wait until you parrot some corporate front group's propaganda talking points.

[Trojan]

Swampee........? You there? Swampee......oh..........Swampee....

[Trojan]

You ever heard the saying "When the USA sneezes, Canada catches a cold"?

[Trojan]

[QUOTE=Swamprat;107670]THAT is the ONE Item that is gonna bring this obamanation TO the supreme court. This obamanation...that was passed by 51 democrats...by "Reconsilliation".:mad:

You can wait till hell freezes over dude. I'll wait, till the Supreme court Rules on this Travisty.

The United States Govt. Can NOT TELL the American People they MUST BUY healthcare, with their OWN money... or be
Do you understand what this means?

I don't know what the Supreme Court will decide. I know that every time somebody tried fixing health care ( going back to Teddy Roosevelt) big money fought it and cried 'personal liberty' as an excuse to do nothing.
There would not be health insurance if Unions hadn't bargained for it.
It comes down to a question: are citizens entitled to healthcare or should they pay for their own open heart operations and chemotherapy and rehabilitation when they need it. Do people put $100,000 in an account for that?
The "fine" is another tax. Taxes direct money where Congress directs. There are all types of tax breaks for mortgages. So f I pay cash for a house (maybe I could use that $100,000 I put away for an operation) I pay more taxes than someone who borrows money. If I get sick and spend a lot on health care, I pay less tax than someone who is healthy and spends their money on a car.

You are FOS.

[LostArt]

Double safe with two posts Trojan? :D

[Trojan]

Double safe with two posts Trojan? :D

That was an unintended duplication

[Trojan]

Just what we need - a Republican witch hunt. How much of our money will they waste on this. I still want a refund on the $45,000,000 Starr spent to catch Clinton getting a BJ.