CCSD Has Already Cut The 3R's. Time To Cut Football.

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

CCSD parent Joni Trageton said: It's scary what's going on .. They're cutting into the sports program. [Good Heaven's. NO!] I've seen the arts get cut, special needs get cut, even a program like GATE

What's the big deal? CCSD has already eliminated the 3R's. Why should arts, football, and G&T be protected from mere *cuts*?

Can we please stop talking about Republican style, big government ideas like vouchers?! Government solutions DON'T WORK. Government money always comes with strings. When private schools become dependent upon public funding they'll start performing like PUBLIC schools. Besides, government funding (such as vouchers) will just draw shady education operators into the market. Like those huckster trade schools who advertise on TV, and lure you with info that you might qualify for "government loans".

COMPETITION works. Get the government completely OUT of education. Almost overnight new private schools will come into the marketplace to fill the demand for quality education services. For all tastes and price-points. Religious schools, secular schools, arts schools, football schools, etc. $20,000 per year schools, $20 per week schools. And on and on. This is all so obvious. The only reason we haven't gone this route yet is because the Republicrats are beholden to the special interests" Democrats to the education unions, and Republicans to the education contractors.

Last I checked, by law homeschooled kids have the right to play on district sports teams. Though my kids would probably benefit from having access to the facilities and playing at competitive levels, we *still* won't take advantage of it. We don't want ANYTHING to do with CCSD.

Pete Goicoechea: RINO

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Several Assembly Republicans said they supported the spending in the budget but not the particular tax increases being used to pay for it, particularly the payroll tax.

"Although I never totally reached accord as far as the type of revenue we needed, I do support and worked with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to develop a budget that will ... at least sustain essential services," said Assemblyman Pete Goicoechea, R-Eureka.

Can you believe this RINO?! I smoked but I didn't inhale. What's the point of voting FOR bigger government and AGAINST higher taxes? Higher spending has to paid for somehow. I oppose BIG government and the high taxes necessary to fund it. The only "essential" services are the one mandated by the Constitution:

1. Three branches
2. Milita
3. One public school per district (18 statewide)
4. Three University Departments (Mining, Agriculture, and Engineering)
5. Prisons
6. Juvenile Hall
7. Institutions for the Mental Cases and Physically Handicapped

and that's it! Everything else is WASTE, and should be ELIMINATED. Small, constitutional government could be funded for only $100M per year, and probably less.

Should Gibbons Have Compromised?

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

I think the Gibbons tax-&-spend vetoes were correct. It's possible that the taxpayers would have done a little better had Gibbons made a deal. That's what Republicans always do, and all it does is implement the Democrat agenda at a slower pace. The compromise strategy assures we *never* get small government.

In the long run it's better that the Democrats and RINOs make the Governor irrelevant. The tax-&-spend bunch will win -- maybe even for one or two decades -- but as the corruption mounts voters will turn. They'll realize that big government is the problem, and start electing small government candidates.

Senate RINO's Overriding Executive RINO's Veto

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Meet the Republicrats. Most people won't care about this budget. RINO Governor Guinn screwed us over in '03 with a huge tax-&-spend increase and he was re-elected. Senators Raggio and Townsend voted FOR that tax increase. Only term limits will unseat them. Gibbons' first budget (FY 08/09) called for even higher spending than Guinn's last budget. I guess he felt Guinn didn't go far enough. Gibbons is only trying to keep the budget balanced without monster tax increases (room & sales hikes tax OK). If revenues were stronger Gibbons would be pushing for RECORD spending.

NV Spelling-Bee Champ Is Homeschooled

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The home-schooled eighth-grader correctly spelled cecity, which means blindness, and crocus, which is a type of flower, to advance to the fourth round of competition

Somehow, I missed the preliminary story. Congratulations to all the competitors. You kids are definitely NOT wasting Nevada taxpayers money, unlike the orangutans who make fun of you for being so smart. Good luck Tussah. You're making all of us proud.

There must be many good spellers attending public school, but as commenter Homeschool pointed out, any kid who tries to read the dictionary during some "more important" class function will be reprimanded. I actually *know* someone like this. This short, geeky and very bright young man, who is constantly teased by his classmates, was actually scolded by his teacher for reading his book (Potter?) in class! She made him put it away. One can imagine the sort of crucial lesson she had in store for the class. CCSD kids who succeed do so in spite of Rulffes.

Come to UNLV for the Hoops

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Kids transfer for all sorts of reasons, but a lack of playing time remains the leading cause.

The one thing they definitely DO NOT transfer for is better academic opportunities. UNLV's basketball program is completely out of control. Nevada taxpayers should not be subsidizing the NBA. If these kids want to play basketball, there are plenty of leagues to choose from. They don't have to waste their time (and Nevada tax dollars) in ridiculous programs like "Interdisciplinary" (jockology).

Public Education: Poitics & Football

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Public education is all about politics and football. Inject a little drug prohibition into the mix and you get random steroid testing of teenagers. Parents of jocks will cry "foul!". Blacks, who must compose a disproportionate share of varsity athletes, will rightly scream "discrimination!" The Board of Ed will respond in politically correct fashion, and impose random drug testing on ALL students. Can't afford to lose that grant money. Besides, it doesn't cost anything more. The tests already detect other "illegal" substances. I've heard that public schools place too much emphasis on testing, but this is ridiculous.

Scholastic football should be a completely privatized, like Pop Warner. If a private league wants to test for steroids, that is fine with me. What's the big deal about a few MLB players testing positive? I'd venture that almost every player in the NFL is a steroid freak.

CCSD Drug Testing

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In 2008, Clark County was among 50 public and private school systems awarded $5.8 million in federal grants for random drug testing programs.

The federal government has NO right telling states that they should overstep their constitutional limits to perform random drug testing. These sorts of warrantless searches are just as unconstitutional as DUI checkpoints.

If a private school imposes a drug testing requirement, that is their business. No one is being forced to attend Gorman. Government schools are an entirely different matter. The restrictions on unreasonable searches are meant to prevent abuse by the *government*. Maybe next year they'll expand drug testing to math clubbers. By the way, don't ever enroll your kids in a private school which pursues government grants.

Agassi (Rich Kids) Prep

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Only a quarter of Agassi Prep students qualified or applied for free and reduced price lunches this year. On the other hand, 80 percent to 100 percent of students attending public schools near Agassi Prep qualify for free and reduced price lunches.

Agassi Prep gets subsidized to teach rich kids. I LOVE IT! You know, public education was never meant to be this great egalitarian experiment.

The Nevada Constitution established it as a safety net. It was designed to help the relatively small number of kids who desperately wanted an education but had absolutely no other alternative. Seems to me that at least 75% of the kids at Prep could afford upper-end private schools. My guess is the remainder also,if only CCSD would get out of the way and let a market for inexpensive private schools emerge.

The monstrosity we know as CCSD (300K+ students) comes from crooked politicians who discovered that if you tell a big enough lie you can reward the special interests many times over and still get average folks to vote for you.

Dropout Agassi Teaches For CCSD

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Agassi, never graduated from high school.

I knew there was some reason why I liked this guy! What is all this talk about education being the "mossstt important thing", that dropouts are "condemned to being hamburger flippers", blah blah blah. For that matter, why do we employ truant officers (bounty hunters) to drag fugitive kids back to the school plantation? Agassi's career would have suffered from being drafted, just like Clay's.

If Agassi wants to operate a teaching business, he should NOT mooch off the taxpayers. Those rich-kid tennis schools in Florida don't receive public funding. He and Steffi are quite capable of funding their academy out their own pockets.

Regarding that statistic that Agassi spends "twice" the amount per kids that public schools do, that is just not credible. Public sector accounting is always fuzzy. Next term's direct state contribution will be $5,251 per kid. CCSD receives 1/3 of the local sales tax revenue. Then there's property tax revenues, miscellaneous public/private grants, etc. Commenter Patrick always posts a public education spending figure much closer to Agassi's number.

Jan Jones: Casino Mouthpiece For BIG Government

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In a letter to lawmakers, Harrah's Senior Vice President Jan Jones said that Nevada must compete with other destinations for the growing gay and lesbian business

Jan Jones is just another crook who profits from her political connections. Did you know that Jones is a financial supporter of that super left wing front organization known as PLAN? wiki says she sits on the Board of the US Chamber of Commerce. Does that have anything to do with the local Chamber pushing for higher state taxes and spending? The Chamber of Big Government.

Republicans Support Higher Spending. Where's The Money?

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In an apparent sign of bipartisanship, the Assembly voted 42-0

Once again, the Republicans expose themselves as big government, right wing Democrats. Remember just the other night some of these same Republicans voted NAY on tax increases. What's the point of voting FOR more government but AGAINST higher taxes? Spending increases have to be funded one way or another. I strongly doubt that the Republicans want to fund public education by imposing a $5,251 per kid user fee.

No More NFL/NBA -caliber Coaches At UNLV

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

AD Hamrick said: We've still got to run a Division I athletic program, and people still expect us to win and be successful

Hamrick makes $255K+. Did you know that? UNLV sports programs are not about building well-rounded student-athletes, but rather enriching mediocrities who cannot compete in the private sector (professional) sports world. For instance, basketball coach Lon "Freddy" Kruger($1M per year) and football coach "All About" Mike Sanford ($431K). Their assistants are also very well paid, I might add. If these guy are so good let them work in the NBA, NFL, or over at USC.

Why should serious students pay higher fees to train chowderheads how to catch passes? Non-jock undergraduates should not have to pay higher fees to support football! They already pay to support jock facilities and basketweaving courses. And if that's no bad enough, the football players receive scholarships. Put financially struggling science students on the football team and give *them* scholarships. By the way, if the jock graduation rate has improved, it's only because it used to rank among the WORST in the nation. Regardless, the majority of jocks still declare USELESS degree programs like "Interdisciplinary" (jockology). The core requirements are so weak they wouldn't challenge a third grader. Even so, most jocks still can't get through it.

The article is a little confusing. I think it means to say that UNLV's *sports* budget is $26M per year. Whatever the "official" figure is, it's misleading. Public sector accounting is alwayws fuzzy and not credible. For example, the Athletics budget does not include the pure waste jockology departments, or the compromised admissions/academic standards necessary to "recruit" a team. Finally, UNLV is all about Division 1 sports. The true cost of UNLV athletics is the cost of the entire University!

Homeschool Economics

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

CCSD spends ~$13,000 per kid. It doesn't matter to me whether they spend it all on teacher salaries or condoms. It's all waste.

We homeschool. We do it for a small FRACTION of what public school is getting per kid. Yes, that's after classroom expense (kitchen table), teacher salary (mom), and school lunch program (mom's gourmet cooking).

Nobody cares how much we pay our faculty/staff (ourselves) or how much formal education we possess. No studies or correlations.

We know our kids' strengths and weaknesses. The things we emphasize (like reading) they do as well as they can. The things we don't care about (like "diversity") they are ignorant of. No endless assessment testing.

We permit ZERO government involvement in our school. We don't spend a nickel on regulatory compliance -- floor plans, credentials, insurance, mandates, etc. We don't retain $100K consultants to search for a Superintendent. We don't maintain a legal department.

All our spending is "smart".

Hey UNLV Jocks: Turn Pro

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Why can't you UNLV baseball players just tryout for minor league ball? Most of you don't want to pursue college educations, anyhow. I don't care how much money Arizona State spends on baseball. I don't pay taxes in Arizona. When I have to pay higher business and sales taxes to support NSHE, which then turns around and pumps it into fluff like baseball, I'm sorry, but baseball has become politicized. That's right. I get enough of that every time Goodman talks about building a stadium to attract a MLB team.

Now if you boys want to convert me from one of your biggest critics to one your biggest supporters, you underclassmen should declare majors in Mining, Agriculture, or Engineering. Those were the practical fields our State University was originally chartered to teach. In fact, the University was endowed with sufficient capital to ensure that those departments would be funded in perpetuity, without further taxpayer obligation. That means you boys should all qualify for academic FREE RIDES. That's right. Then Nevada taxpayers could point to our baseball players as an example of our fine youth.

UNLV Athletic Dept Can't Be Trusted To Oversee Its Teams

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

[Gouldsmitsh's] kids go to class, proven by one of the athletic department's highest Academic Progress Rates, .. Twenty-five baseball players had at least a 3.0 grade-point average entering the fall semester.

No. There are two or three serious students on the team. The rest are majoring in jockology, and that doesn't count. Those boys should stop wasting Nevada taxpayer's money, and tryout for minor league ball.

Klaich Circles NSHE's Bureaucratic Wagons

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

überbureaucrat Klaich said he: wanted to form a group of people, including faculty, human resources experts, lawyers and administrators, to figure things out.

The amount of waste built in to NSHE is staggering, as Klaich himself just inadvertently pointed out. NHSE also employs a multitude of $150K+ guild Administrators (you need a PhD to qualify for a job that a McDonald's Asst Manager could do for $30K), a Professor of Men's Basketball (not a PhD!) for $1M per year (assistants who make more than science faculty), a football professor costing $431K, entire departments which exist only to provide academic cover to jocks (like "Interdisciplinary/University Studies) -- who are awarded scholarships to fill the space, diversity officials (thanks to the commenter who first cited it), and on and on. The way to pay for all this nonsense is to impose user fees. Raise UNLV tuition to $300+ per credit. Surcharge liberal arts students for the burden of supporting their teaching faculty (typically left-wingers who do not generate substantial grant money).

Of course, ALL students with declared majors in Mining, Agriculture, or Engineering deserve either nominal tuition charges or entirely free rides. The University of Nevada was originally endowed with capital sufficient to fund those departments in perpetuity (without FURTHER taxpayer involvement). The policy of charging science students the same (or even more than) liberal arts students is just an egalitarian scam concocted by politically correct academics.

Nevada Taxpayers Must Be Nuts

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

32.6% of the Gibbons budget was eaten up by HHS. The goal of small, constitutional government would have been served by cutting this cesspool down to its constitutional minimum: management of state institutions for the mentally ill and disabled. The HHS budget is completely opaque. A little transparency, please! Gibbons counts ~4,000 in-patients, and budgets ~$130M per year (less than 20% of HHS's overall budget).

The Public Safety budget (9.5%), at $285M per year, is perhaps most opaque of all. How many inmates are victimless criminals? Release them and CLOSE most of the prisons. Fire the political hires (ie females are guarding males). Stop enforcement of non-crimes.

I would not want to throw the helpless out into the desert, or parole violent felons, but I think that by attacking the waste within these legitimate functions, we could save a bundle. I conservatively estimate more than 50%.

Lobbyist For Big Government Buys Radio Time

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The ad is the first major action of the Western Alliance Fund, a new political action committee started by Reno-based Republican political consultant and lobbyist Robert Uithoven.

Uithoven is a leech. His job is to make GOP candidates look good so that they can vote for higher taxes and spending. He makes a nice buck on the deal, too.

Final Score: CCSD Sports Shutout Academics

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Many CCSD parents have in-depth knowledge of each school's sports prowess relative to it's enrollment. Do any of you know how POORLY those schools perform academically? Does anyone care? The crooked politicians shove tax increases down our throats and tell is it's to fund education, but everyone knows the money goes to fund fluff like sports, drama club, Mickey Mouse curricula, etc.

You parents who like scholastic football would be a lot happier without a public education system. Private football academies would spring up to teach the sport, without all the politically correct distractions like making the kids sit through dumbed-down math and science classes.

RINOs At The Gate

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Sources say leaders of the Republican minorities in both houses will not tolerate tax hikes totaling more than about $800 million

What would we ever do without those "less government" Republicans to protect us? The Republicans stand for NOTHING, except maybe "not Democrat". The Republicans *concede* that government is the answer. That is why when the Democrats push for BIGGER government, the Republicans can never find the right words to oppose them. All they can talk about is "limiting" the tax increases, "sunsetting" them, "No new taxes!" (old ones OK), or making sure that none of the money goes to fund abortions.

Here's a suggestion for those pathetic RINOs to fund the differential: impose "user fees" . You know, parents who send their thuglets to public school should be charged $4,800 per kid, visitors to UMC's ER must show proof-of-insurance or a high-limit credit card.

A Pox On Both Their Houses

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

the spending they deemed necessary is substantially more than Gibbons' $6.2 billion in recommended spending. .. Horsford .. estimated it at "just south of $7 billion."

The problem is not Fibbons/Horsefurd's $800M spending disagreement, it's the $6.2B they AGREE about. The parties keep very tight control over the debate: "Should our government be HUGE or GIGANTIC?" Nowhere in this session can you find discussion about "How *small* can we make goverernment?"

I can answer that question. $100M per year. Less than projected room tax revenue. That's right. Of course, we can't get there so long as the Republicrats are controlled by the education unions and all the other leeches who receive direct financial benefit from the system.

Coach Rulffes

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Athletes miss class time and coaches, generally teachers at the school, also miss class, forcing the school district to pay extra money to hire a substitute.

We've eliminated the 3R's. Can we at least *cut* football? We spend all this time, energy, and money on football. That is ridiculous. The Nevada Constitution authorizes a *small* public education system, not a public football training camp. If kids want to play football, let them form a club.

If we abolish public education, new private academies will spring up to help fill the void. Agassi will open a network of tennis schools. Horsefurd will open a chain of substandard vocational schools (he'll shakedown whites to donate). QBs and cheerleaders can audition for Rulffes's football school.

Not A Dime's Worth of Difference Between the Two Parties

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Democrats in the state Assembly and Republicans in both houses agree on a plan to cut higher education by 13 percent, but Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford wants a cut of just 12 percent

There's no real difference between the parties. The consensus is always for tax-&-spend, big government.

The original University of Nevada (now UNR) was established (under the Nevada Constitution) to provide practical instruction in just three fields: Mining, Agriculture, and Engineering. It was endowed with sufficient capital to make it taxpayer independent from then on. The Constitution authorizes the Legislature to create other colleges as it deems necessary.

Over the years, for political reasons ("why should Raggio's district receive all the money?, and "Why can't dopes go to college also?"), the politicians have given us UNLV, CSN, NSC, DRI, and on and on. Along with that, we give scholarships to dimwit jocks to play football, support departments that have no objective methodologies, pay huge salaries to coaches and administrators (UNLV men's basketball coach makes $1M/yr!), enforce left-wing policies like affirmative action (quotas), push left-wing dogma like global warming, etc. Worst of all, Nevada taxpayers are expected to support all this to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars per year. Give the politicians power over education and it winds up like any other government spending program: costly and far beyond the scope of original intent.

The Legislature should identify every NSHE function that does not further the mission of those aforementioned 3 departments, deem them unnecessary, and vote them out of existence. The University endowment should be more than adequate to fund those core operations. If not, charge tuition to cover it. This would reduce taxpayers obligation to NSHE down to ZERO.

That's right.

Abolish Public Healthcare

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Since Article 13 §3 was repealed, counties no longer have any authority to provide welfare -- including public healthcare or "indigent" accident-victim care. The State has no authority to support a public healthcare system, either. Nor does it have the right to impose an unfunded welfare mandate on the counties. This is all just a political turf battle to prop-up unconstitutional spending.

And who the heck is this county leech lobbyist, Jeff Fontaine? Here's a way for the counties to afford more indigent care: stop hiring $400 per hour scum like Fontaine to represent "your" interests. This government lobbying the government for more government is an obscenity. Government agencies should be prohibited from hiring lobbyists!

Public Education Is Completely POLITICAL

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Nobody cares what McDonald's crew members are making, how much education they have, whether they're trained to recycle, how many assistant managers work at lunchtime, etc. Those are entirely private affairs. But the public education system is completely *political*. The smallest details are subject to endless debate. Social engineering goals like co-ed gym and diversity become sacraments. Every possible constituency has a say except the one for academic excellence. And it's only going to get worse. In 10 years we'll still be having the same debates, the same poor results, the same high costs, the same trendy curricula. And the public education supporters -- especially those who make money off the system -- will still be talking about saving it. Meanwhile, my homeschooled kids will be outcompeting 98% of the public school graduates in everything except sociopathic behavior.

Too Many Teachers

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

I think K-16 accounts for 50% of the budget (mental health another 25%). If you're going to make cuts, these are the accounts to start. If we could abolish public education, our budget would be in huge surplus. Private schools would then fill the void to provide higher quality education at much lower average cost.

I agree that it is unfair to balance the budget on the backs of CCSD teachers. I'll make a deal with the CCEA. If we can reduce state spending to a very doable $100M per year, you guys can pick which little red schoolhouse stays open, and the teacher who gets to work there. Furthermore, you guys can be first in line for the other jobs which, constitutionally speaking, we must fill. For example, we should replace all those overpaid, dunderhead prison guards with 1st year teachers. Laid-off teachers can work as support staff in our few state mental/physical benevolent institutions. CCEA members can be commissioned as (reserve) Lieutenants in our state militia.

Too Many Parasites

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Government jobs represent about 13.5 percent of all employment in Nevada

The Nevada parasites who hold government jobs and/or live off public programs should not be allowed to vote in state elections, because they're big government beneficiaries. As few as 5% of the voting age population could seal a big government fate. Count the fed/county/local employees (most courtesy of Government or NPRI):

State of NV 21,547
Clark County 8,106
Washoe 3,166
City of LV 3,847
Douglas 826
Carson City 969
Lyon County 718
US Gov³ 29,633
Reno 1,757
Sparks 650
NSHE 13,786
CCSD 34,763
WCSD 3,806
------------------------------------

PUBLIC EMPLOYEES AS A PERCENTAGE OF NV VOTERS: 6.6%

The number of workers who earn a living as government contractors must be much more than 1%, and there are many THOUSANDS of state government retirees. On average, each month, 92,353 people received government benefits such as Mental Health services & food stamps (some must also be current public employees). 168,197 of us were eligible for Medicaid. 50,000+ NSHE students eligible to vote here.

The constituency for big government has reached (or soon will) the point of no return.

Public Sinecures

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Everyone knows that public employee compensation is higher than what their private sector counterparts make. We shouldn't be surprised that a CCSD receptionist is making $76K. LVRJ frequently writes about CCSD non-jobs like "fire watcher" and "policeman" which are also ridiculously high (with guarenteed OT).

Remember Monica Lewinsky's "friend", Linda Tripp? She was a Pentagon office secretary. She was making $88K. Then you have the fact that many public sector jobs don't even have private sector equivalents. "Liason" to this, "coordinator" of that, etc. Such jobs are entirely worthless. I've read the complaints about low pay posted by alleged CCSD teachers. I'm sure private school teacher salaries are even *lower*.

Politicians Scrambling To Save Government

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

[NPRI] ridiculed Gibbons' new budget plan, saying he is trying to keep state spending at $6.1 billion when it should be $5.1 billion.

State government should minimally fund the few, constitutionally required government functions. Total cost: $100M per year, and probably less. NPRI supports BIG government, which it must be noted, is still smaller than the GIGANTIC government the Republicrats are likely to give us.

That $160M LOC is a real scam. It was delivered to government-order by our illustrious political hack state Treasurer, Kate Marshall. You remember her, don't you? She is the person who parked $50M of state funds in a Lehman Bros. investment account she believed was "risk-free". When Lehman went under, they took our $50M with them. Huh?! All Marshall had to do was read the investment prospectus and she would have seen the risks. Does our state *Treasurer* even *know* what a risk-free asset is? This is incredible. Sorry, but Marshall's conduct in this affair was either incompetent or criminal. Her actions really do warrant official investigation. She really should resign. It's not every day in the week that a small state treasurer makes a $50M mistake.

Now Marshall wants to allow $160M of public agency funds (LGPIF) to be loaned to the state. Some of this money comes from an agency that you pay taxes or fees to. Do you really trust Kate Marshall to watch your money? I don't. This Line of Credit needs to be rescinded, or the money should come out of Kate's own pocket.

Public Schools For The Public Unions

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The district is negotiating contracts with the four unions representing teachers, administrators, support staff and police officers.

Everyone knows unions exist to protect the jobs and pay of the membership. Public unions represent a very dangerous constituency for big government. They donate money and campaign workers to political candidates. They vote as a bloc. Very few politicians can afford to oppose them. The constituency for the 3R's, if such a thing even exists, is no match for them. It's a lot less risky for the crooked politicians to just vote for higher taxes.

"Doctor" Rulffes is just another politician. It's obvious that his job depends on union support. He'll do whatever he can to keep them happy, actions which must come at the expense of students.

Abolish public education. Many economy-priced private schools will come onstream to satisfy the demand for education services. Those business owners won't have any time for union politics, because higher costs will drive them out of business. Once those education union bureaucrats are cutoff from public money, they'll be exposed as the leeches they are.

CCSD Graduation Rate Inflated

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The number of students who graduate (the numerator) is misleadingly high. Most of those kids are just barely functioning. That is, by graduation day, they're lucky if they can read their own diplomas. The proficiency exam really only tests whether they can read the invitations.

Part of the cause of this disaster known as public education is revealed in the article. CCSD is teeming with bureaucrats. For example, did you know that CCSD employs a:

• director of testing
• Deputy Superintendent of Instruction

Do they resport to the Second Liason Assistant Coordinator of Quality and Scope, or to the Vice-Superintendent of Transporation Effectiveness?

CCSD Classroom Overcrowding

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

We should shrink CCSD down to the size of one little red schoolhouse. Granted, that would leave 310,000+ kids out in the hot, but it would pass constitutional muster. The minimum is one school per district. Of course, the constitution does not specify how big or small that school must be, so theoretically, CCSD could consolidate into a single school the size of CityCenter.

Above-average teaching ability more than compensates for above-average class size. Do you know what that means? With a good teacher we could put 25,000 3rd graders together in a single, arena-sized class!

More Safety Net

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

The Nevada constitution requires a "safety net". You know, mental institutions for the unfortunate FEW who are hopelessly bananas, and physical institutions for those thankfully small numbers of kids who were born seriously disabled. We can't cure them, but we can try to make their difficult lives as comfortable as possible. That's a very reasonable and humane thing to ask of people fortunate enough to avoid the same fate.

Public education was set up as a safety net, also. The committment is 1 school per district (18 statewide). Anything beyond that -- attendance rules also -- was left to the Legislature to decide. Public education was intended for kids who desperately want an education but whose circumstances are such that they have no other place to go. Very few kids fall really into that category.

If the crooked politicians -- who take money from special interests that leech off the public school system -- want to turn the Consitution on its head and make our committment a completely open-ended one, let them first get permission from the taxpayers in the form of a constitutional amendment. In the mean time, the legislature should deem those hundreds of other public schools unnecessary, and vote them out of existence. They should abolish ALL truancy laws. We shouldn't have to draft kids to go to school. We shouldn't be cheating generations of good students with McEducation. We shouldn't be ruining generations of bad ones with education quality unworthy of poodles in a poor circus act.

CCSD Lobbyist

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Joyce Haldeman, the district lobbyist, said she could not vouch for what promises might have been made in negotiations ..

If we had small government in this state, the session would last only 4 days, legislators would be paid like jurors, and lobbyists -- the scum of the Earth (although that might be unfair to scum), would be doing PR for Al Qaeda.

Public Education: Quo Vadis?

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

John Jasonek, executive director of the CCEA said: We support any reasonable means [whatever it takes] to bring reasonable funding to education in Nevada

The legislature should vote out of existence every CCSD school except the constitutional minimum. That's one, by the way. This would be a very reasonable way to achieve adequate public education funding levels.

Public education is a disaster. Who can deny this? 300,000+ students are being ruined each year. Most students learn nothing. Good students receive McEducation. Yet the only solution we ever hear about is "more money" (as much as possible). This benefits the CCEA, a special interest group that donates heavily to Democrats, and large contractors, who give to the GOP. It does ZERO for the kids.

If you believe that all children deserve an education then please stop thinking that public education is the correct approach. It's just another government political-payoff spending program that hurts those it purports to help. You might as well support a government nutrition program that serves foodstuffs out of the compost heap, or a government liberation program that kills you to set you free.

CCEA Sues For Higher Funding

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

Such a lawsuit would be filed on behalf of students and their parents.

I am a parent of homeschooled students. Please take our names out of your class of plaintiffs. Your classroom funding is more than adequate. We achieve excellent results for a small FRACTION of what you guys claim is necessary. The only lawsuit with any kind of merit here would be a malpractice claim by CCSD customers against the teachers who compose the CCEA.

Public Education Cannot Be Reformed

Originally posted in a LVRJ Forum

In 10 years we'll still be repeating the same questions and complaints:

• "Where does all the money go?"
• "Why are results so poor?"
• etc. and so forth.

CCSD will *always* need many non-teaching positions because myriad government regulations require a large staff just to comply.

CCSD will *always* find new "initiatives" to fund in order to qualify "federal matching funds".

CCSD will *always* need to satisfy trendy political goals like promoting "diversity", battling "climate change", and safe sex.

The result is an enormous, self-focused (and expanding) CCSD bureaucracy that by necessity must place a very low priority on the 3R's.