The American Politics Thread

Several responses. 

First, maybe you are sincere in that belief, as are others, (and indeed I know liberals even who are wary of the teachers union) BUT don't kid yourself that is what will happen, that is the goal. Even if you and reasonable people don't share or want that, you will be used for it. The want IS to have a mostly private education system, either forcing middle/working class families to spend extra thousands of dollars on it OR force em into what remains of public schools, which will be pretty dreadful. Leading to point number two:

There is nothing inherently wrong with public schools, they just don't get funded. That article mentions the deplorable public schools in cities that many poor minorities have to deal with...that makes it sound like it's inevitable. That is foolish. What has happened with city public schools is what has happened with cities in general: People move out, leaving them starved. People have moved into surburbs, then exurbs, into different pockets of town, they keep moving to stay away from whatever they dont want, OR so they can keep their income more for themselves and not spend it on others. Which is rational and understanding, and since we can't control how people move and live, that's I think government investment is necessary but that's for another time. But yeah there's nothing wrong with public schools in themselves. Think about why test scores and income tend to sync up, why schools in poor areas are bad while schools in more affluent areas are good. It's kind of obvious the problem. 

Also I fear mass private schooling will lead to, well what happens with all privatization: the best benefits accumulate at the top, for those who can best afford it. I have already read about charter schools moving from their traditional poor urban areas into more middle class and affluent ones. With private incentives, why wont better teachers flow there as well? More resources. By removing the level foundation and making it "market based" it'll just lead to inequality of opportunity in education, which is supposed to be the one equalizer. 

Three: We have choice already. There are private schools, you can send your kid to one if you want. Yes you'd have to pay for it but don't force that upon the rest of us. Public education is for the public good, if you want to go private fine, but you pay on top of it. But the choice is there, this choice idea is silly, its a cover itself for the real intention: people just dont wanna pay for others' stuff. 

Finally: I get why perhaps there may concern with the teachers union, I think its unfair to teachers themselves the vitriol. Remember, these people have to go to college, get 4 year degrees and do very important work, perhaps the most critical for society. They deal with a lot and it's not like they're living high end lives. Is the teachers union too powerful? I honestly don't know, given the crud most I know deal with and how burned out they get their incomes (and NJ was a very generous state for teachers) I find it hard to believe. But maybe. Is tenure a luxury and it makes it too hard to remove bad teachers? Yes of course. I have seen personally how it's damn near impossible to get a teacher removed, hell it can be near impossible to even get them moved (or even the child moved!) even if the teacher could be called a bully. And I've seen the damage that can do to someone.... Was it enraging to see a teacher who's caused multiple children over the years to have mental breakdowns finally get pushed into retirement after years? Of course. 

But as they say, dont throw the baby out with the bath water. Especially since many teachers are good. If your issue is solely tenure, how hard it is to remove them if needed, OK...that's not unreasonable. But don't look for more extreme options, and remember they are working people too, ones that do essential work. As state employees, they are directly hurt by necessary budget cuts. If you want to trim the girth OK I can work with that, but the way things are going/ideas out there is not that, it's just a push for privatization, to the benefit of well off people and investors...hedge funds, Goldman Sachs, finance always itching to get more charter schools. There is clearly a reason for this. Don't throw the baby (or children?) away with the bathwater over a few issues. 

True, but there are 7,080,857,996 of us who don't live there. 

So new year, new thread, maybe a permanent one? After all political discussion will continue past 2017, if the world makes it past 2017

Let's start off with a bang! Possibly from the guns soon to be allowed in schools for bear protection!

Betsy DeVos was confirmed, the vote went as expected: 50-50 with Pence breaking the tie. Every Democrat opposed, joined by Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins. No shocker, no others broke rank. Some felt that Dean Heller of NV or Pat Toomey of PA might break since they represent blue states, especially Toomey.  Oh poor poor Republicans, I do feel bad. They think these people care a lick about their constituency. 

I know her direct impact may be minimal, and with 48 Democrats I can't imagine something extreme like abolishing the Dept of Ed getting through, but I do fear with this Congress what may happen with public education. The right may get a step closer to their dream of mostly private education, the "level foundation" and vehicle for meritocracy becoming a tool for the well off to better themselves, while all else can either for out thousands or get left behind. The guns may be needed in what remains of public schools...it'll become Mad Max in there 

On some better news:

Trump's pick for Sect of Labor, Andrew Pudzer has admitted to hiring an undocumented worker as his housekeeper. Given that this same thing has forced nominees (from both parties) to drop out, and Trump's stance on undocumented workers...seems like this may be tough to reconcile. Add to it his extremely anti labor views, perhaps our only chance to see a Trump nominee fail.

Finally: San Francisco makes all city colleges tuition free, paid for with a tax on properties worth over $5 million. http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2017/02/07/san-francisco-announces-free-community-college-all-residents/97591606/