Free Speech Banned in CCSD

Originally excised from a LVRJ Forum

You misunderstand.

A movie theatre is *private* property. The operator sells you a ticket. He can *eject* you for being noisy. If you don't like his rules, go someplace else. A public school is *public* property. Free speech rules apply. Every time. That's what the constitutional gurarentee is all about.

Here we go, again. The government creates a right out of thin air and the next thing you know, some minority class which just wants to be left alone must defer to a majority who wishes to "exercise" that right. In the case of public education, kids who don't want to be there are *forced* to sit quietly in a classroom for 6 hours (or else). Sorry, but there's NO WAY you can deny those kids a right to speak on their phones, especially if they're being considerate. If their inattention disturbs you, too bad.

The same goes for drivers.

Once again, BIG Government creates conflicts which only lawyers debating ad infinitum can resolve. You know, questions like:

"Should guns be allowed in public schools?", and
'Should Hotel Thayer be required to offer Kosher food?'

Resolutions of which would inevitably *reinforce* BIG Government. To use the classroom example, some Judge who knows *nothing* would issue a ruling which "balances" rights, but he'd NEVER sign an opinion which observes that the government has set up a situtation where conflicts are inevitable and if the government would just butt out of education the entire problem would go away.

Charitable Foundations

Originally attempted to post in a LVRJ Forum. Four times.

Board trustees said the transitional allowance will be funded with donations from the Lincy Foundation, the charity of Kirk Kerkorian

The foundation gave the district $13.8 million in 2008 to use for empowerment schools .. Jones recently got Lincy's permission and School Board approval to use $375,000 in leftover funds on consultants .. a $1.8 million grant from the Lincy Foundation to pay for an outside analysis of the reorganization of the district

I'm very impressed that KK dropped out in 8th grade. We know how *he* really feels about public education. It's no surprise that his Foundation agitates for the OPPOSITE. I'll bet you the *majority* of business tycoon granted foundations end up like that. My favorite one is probably the Duke's, which must be the world's most aggressive anti-smoking organzation.

Sooner or later these foundations come under the control of idiot princes who need the mental tranquility and peer acceptance which flow from backing PC causes. They also believe it rehabilitates the family's reputation.

Odds are that Lincy is just a big trust account for Linda and Tracy, that its CEO makes $1M++, and all the girls' personal expenses -- including travel and wardrobe -- are billed to it.

Hey, LINda & TraCY! How was the wedding?

How Many Teachers Does Clark County Really Need?

"Free" education combined with compulsory attendance has completely distorted the demand for teachers. It's not hard to estimate by how much.

If we abolished truancy laws probably 65% of CCSD students would dropout immediately, and not look back. That's ~200,000 kids who would refuse to go to *any* school -- academic, sports, arts, etc -- under any circumstances.

If CCSD charged actual cost for its "services" (~$12,000/kid*yr) it would immediately find itself noncompetitive with private schools. Sponsors of ~100,000 motivated, not destitute CCSD kids would find private alternatives, ranging from "classic" 180 d/y 6+ h/d schools down to 1 h/w schools. On average, about 1.5 h/d x 4d/w x 31  w/y.

Within CCSD the *real* aggregate demand is only ~18.6M h/y of instruction, not including the 3,000 or so hopelessly poor kids which CCSD would have to teach as part of the state's safety net.

Clark County already has ~34,000 kids in traditional private schools. ~36.7M h/y. When all those new privates open for the 100K influx, it's certain that the established schools will lose share. Over time, > 50%. But for starters, assume 5,000 (15%) leave. Net, that aggregate demand is:

 ~33.5M h/y   [31.2M+ (5,000 x 4d/w x 3 h/d x 39 w/y)]

Therefore, in ALL of Clark County, the real demand for K-12 education services is ~52M hours of instruction per year. 

Since each teacher works 2,000 h/y, as a first approximation the demand for teachers is ~26,000. Of course that would be for a 1:1 ratio and NOBODY ever mentions a CSR of *that* extent. 18:1 is a little more realistic. Therefore, a reasonable, ballpark guess is

1,444 teachers. That's right.

This estimate sounds *very* reasonable. It indicates that, as a result of unnecessary regulations, CCSD employs > 10X as many teachers as it should. Which is typical where government work is concerned.