Public Schools For The Rich

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The dozen or so homeschoolers that I know are *not* rich people. In fact many of them are *struggling*. Some private school parents I'm acquainted with receive financial aid. I also know a bunch of middle class parents who could afford private school -- if they were willing to sacrifice for it -- but use their local "good" public school.

My observation is that relatively few kids are so unfortuate that a "public option" is their only hope. My experience is that most young kids are eager to learn but school ruins them. Therefore probably no more than 6,0000 CCSD kids are both desperate *and* motivated. Very manageable.

Those who support public (free) education for all are defending a de facto system of economic (if not racial) segregation. Those who can afford to live in good neighborhoods (generally White) receive a tax subsidy to enable their kids to attend public schools more-or-less on par with private schools. Safe, advanced placement courses, etc. 'CCSD Ed Dump' (1719) is basically correct. Kids in bad neighborhoods (not so White) are condemned to absolutely horrible public schools.

Those who say that if it wasn't for the government they would have been shutout of education should consider the lament of parents who were unable to afford private or homeschool because of their tax bills.

Who's Worth More: A High School Kid or a 1st Grader?

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

CCSD should come with warning labels.

The chance of CCSD expelling a high school student for a gun violation is many times greater than for a first grader busted with the same caliber weapon. A high school student is "worth" far less than a 1st grader.

A high school student can only bring CCSD a few years of government revenue. He'll likely dropout before the duration anyway. A 1st grader represents potentially *many* years of state funding -- more if CCSD can successfully label him special ed.

The high schooler has already been ruined. His standardized test scores are a source of embarassment. CCSD can exploit the first grader as a sympathy case. He's what CCSD is all about.

There may be a market for PRIVATE gun schools. Curriculum could include The Chemistry of Gunpower, Aerodynamics of a Supersonic Bullet, Thermodynamics of a Gun Barrel, Lens optics, Infrared Imaging, etc. Electives in Hunting, Marksmanship, Trick Shooting, etc.

AND ANYONE WOULD BE ALLOWED TO CARRY ON CAMPUS.

Consultants to the CCSD Contractors

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Henry King, a consultant who oversees criterion reference tests for the state.

Charter schools are PUBLIC schools. They are government funded. So are "magnet" schools, "empowerment" schools, and all the other structural gimmicks.

Teaching the 3R's to poor kids -- pubic education's original, constitutional role -- is an intrinsically simple and inexpensive task. How many consultants do you need to accomplish it?

BTW. We homeschool. No endless testing. No teaching to the test. No consultants. NO GOVERNMENT FUNDING. Our kids are doing just fine, thanks.

CCSD's Suggestion Box

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Don't take that ridiculous survey. It just gives Rulffes an excuse to hire more IT people to build the web application, statisticians to analyze the data, and SGML document processors to produce the final report.

Then it goes in Rulffes' trash can. Along with your child's education.

UNLV Football Players Run to Practice

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Hauck is more interested in having them run onto the field ..

None of the football players run to class. They run *out*. That is, if they bother to show up.

Brooks and Taumua are both majoring in Criminal Justice. Clausen majoring in Interdiscplinary (AKA "Jockology"). Not serious.

UNLV Journalism

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Why are taxpayers on-the-hook for this? This is the sort of diversion offerred to 9 year olds at summer camps and tech museums. These kids could accomplish the same thing at home using cheap computers and video technology. Instead we have to pay to maintain the studio, the "Professor" and the entire ridiculous "Journalism" program.

Saleable skills. Really. Journalists are being laid-off left and right.

NSHE: The Future of Nevada. NOT!

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

A main criteria for figuring out which programs to cut is how much they cost.

That's very advantageous for the potentates who run UNLV. The state subsidy is the same for each undergraduate. Smatresk has an incentive to enroll as many warm bodies as he can (until marginal cost exceeds marginal benefit) and to direct them into the most vapid programs he can. Huge lectures on video. Sections taught by part-timer ESL instructors or graduate students; online courses, etc.

Smatresk can't be bothered with a task to train the next generation of applied scientists. That's just too costly. Meanwhile, 90%+ of students (who stick around to graduate) earn worthless diplomas. Staffers at all levels earn money they could not make in the private sector -- especially those wacky liberal arts professors. Administrators make $200K+ for lording over the empire and shmoozing with bigshots (or whatever it is they do).

Now what's all this talk about higher education being key to the future of this state?