TwistedCopper said:
As for the taxes, it is my opinion that the government has no business taxing anyone for schools. I don't think the government should have anything to do with schools. I beleive it should be completely privatized. I know this would never be the case so I say give tax breaks for those who choose an alternative to public schools - homeschooling, private schools, whatever the alternative. This is of course with the mindset that the Gov't should keep it's nose out of it as well. Yes I want to have my cake and eat it too.
no right to tax for schools? maybe they shouldnt tax for police and fire protection either. these are public services. services that are
free to each and every person of the community. what are the chances of john doe's house catching on fire in his lifetime? not very good. so what if he were to say, well i dont want fire protection, i'll be very careful, and if i should have a fire, i can put it out myself. or, i think we have a safe neighborhood, there's no reason for police to patrol here, but you'll be crying for them the second something does happen.
you may think i'm comparing apples and oranges, but i'm not. these are all public services that everyone should be entitled to. services that should not be based on how much money you have. there's not much money in the ghetto's, they're obviously not funding the police, so we shouldnt have to patrol there. nonsense, the money is allocated, and goes to where it is most needed, the suburban streets get less patrols, while the slums are frequented courtesy of the money from the suburbs.
and how would you privatize school? nowadays the mindset of america is that you need a college degree for a good job. is that the case? no, i know a guy who drives a lamborghini diablo, never finished high school, but he's obviously not the norm. and a college degree sure doesnt hurt. i grew up in the upper middle class. i attend northeastern university in boston for $38k a year, i went to a private catholic high school for $5k+ a year, but i went to public schools before that. not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to afford school like that. hell, in state tuition at UNH is still $13k a year. not exactly chump change.
so we take underprivelaged neighborhoods, with the highest dropout rate in the first place, and we then charge them for school. good idea, thats going to improve things. and when they go home and tell their parents, who already buy dinner with foodstamps because they're so poor, that they now have to pay for school, what do you think the answer would be?
fine, you already said yourself that you realize privatization will not happen. but you come up with tax breaks instead? how is that any different. say (completely fictitious numbers) in community X that 20% go to a private school, 5% are homeschooled, and the rest go to public schools. the public schools get 100% funding under current conditions. but you give the 25% who dont use those schools tax breaks, and you're left with 75% funding for public schools. that seems pretty privatized to me. its giving the rich, the opportunity to go to private school, and put their money towards that, and only that, and its leaving the 75% of the community that is still going to go to public school (whether by choice or financial constraints) with less funding. obviously there are less children to teach, but not enough where their lack of tax money makes up for it.
i said it before, and i'll say it again, i see where you're coming from, but i do not believe, under any circumstances, that families who choose to send their children to private schools, or to home school their children should get any tax breaks. it is a public service that you are making the choice not to use. if you tax for schools on a case by case basis, whats next? well, i dont vote, and i dont really care about politics, so i would like you to take my taxes out of the fund for that politician's salary, and put it towards having another patrol unit in my neighborhood. not going to happen. i went to a private high school by choice, i go to a private university by choice, i shouldnt get any tax breaks for that, and neither should you.
If you were a Muslim, you could live in a Muslim community and send you kids to that school, freedom of Religion.
i took out the name of the author of this, cause this is not a shot at them, but that is the most asinine thing i've heard in a long time. follow that one comment and you set this country back 100 years civilization wise. we're back to blacks going to black schools, whites in white schools, but its ok, cause we're being fair now, we're giving muslims their own schools too.
this country is already going in circles with equality, but make no mistake, this is straight backwards. because you would like religion taught in school, we are going to separate our kids. we are going to tell this white child, who is friends with this indian child, that they have to go to different schools because their religion is different? as if going to separate churches isnt enough. everyone on here who advocates home schooling says a big reason is so they can teach their kids proper values, fine, i applaud you, but you truly expect your 6 or 8 year old child to understand why people with different color skin must go to different schools?
i firmly believe, home school, private school, public school, or no school for that matter, that ones beliefs, morals and values should come from their parents. school is to educate children on the "three r's" as you have so adeptly put it. are morals learned in school? sure, but they're not always right. its up to the parents to be involved in their kids' lives. again, i went to a catholic high school like i previously stated. what i did not previously state is that i am agnostic. my mother is not religious, and my dad is a catholic. my high school was catholic one, i took theology. i took morality. i took ethics. but the thing was, i was there to learn about different views. i wasnt there to shape myself as a person. i wasnt there to learn from a class that hey! pre-marital sex is wrong! and so is killing! these are values that my parents gave to me before i ever stepped foot in a school, and continued to make sure i had while i was going through school.
this stems to so many things. not just schooling now. parents are supposed to raise their kids. not the television, not their teachers, not their friends, not the video games they play, and certainly not the athletes. now i do not want to hi-jack this thread. but on st. patty's day, we had the infamous congressional hearings on steroids in baseball. there were parents who testified of kids who died from steroid use, and even one who committed suicide while on steroids. and the father had the gall, to get up and say that "athletes dont see themselves as role models, well they're dead wrong, they are role models." maybe you think me heartless for saying so, but, as sad as his story was, his passion was misplaced. your 18 year old son was taking steroids, and you had no idea? give me a break. my parents would have to be dead for me to have ever gotten away with such an act. and thats the way it should be. did i look up to athletes as kids? absolutely. i wanted to be bobby orr hugging the stanley cup like a baby, i wanted to be roger clemes, striking out 20 mariners in a single game. but i never said hey, i want to be like darryl strawberry and blow coke! or i want to grow up and beat my wife just like jason kidd. because i knew better, not from the athletes, from my parents. i played violent video games, i watched T2 when i was in kindergarden, but i havent killed anyone. i've never been arrested. i never brought a gun into school. i never sold drugs. i never drove drunk, and i dont hit girls.
the point is this, school, the media, sports and everything else, are merely background noise to children. those drug free commercials on TV might be cliche, but they're the truth. if you talk to your kids, they will listen. be involved. you dont have to home school your kids to keep an eye on them. and hopefully, they wont believe everything they learn in school (unless its a fact, like 2+2=4, because, any way you look at it, it does), maybe they won't believe darwin's theory. maybe they will become a priest. who knows, but just cause its taught in school, doesnt mean they dont have a choice.
. Now, if you grossed say, $250,000 or more a year, there's probably a way! :wink: 
