A Very Modest Proposal

One of the best ideas I've seen with the question about what to do about public schools.

The smartest thing to do with the entire big mess of public schools in the U.S. is to give them straight-out to the teachers. If they believe that their services are worth more and more money every year, let them prove it. Let them earn it. Let them make a payroll. Let them figure out how to compete in the marketplace of ideas and students.

Teachers deserve to own the schools, and to have a say in how their schools function. Let them be shareholders, let them be on the board of directors. Create companies and give the damned school buildings for free to them. Let the teachers vote on their own Board of Directors, CEO's, CFO's, salaries, and more. What the hell, give 'em all five years free of taxes.

Let them GO.

Be sure to read the entire thing because there is more than the bit about the schools.

More: Back in my days as a security system technician, the company I was with bent over backwards in order to get a chance to submit a job bid on a new high school being constructed.

The sheer number of hoops the project manager had to jump through in order for a chance to just place a bid was amazing to me.

And after everything was done, the bid went to a someone else. Nothing wrong with that-- all part of business-- but for about a month, the project manager's main focus was on that bid. Everything else got pushed off onto the rest of the staff. All for a chance to get at that sweet, sweet public school building fund.

State Of Ohio To Mom, "Know Your Place"

Ohio mom arrested. All in an effort to get her children into a better school.

Kelley Williams-Bolar was convicted of lying about her residency to get her daughters into a better school district.

"It's overwhelming. I'm exhausted," she said. "I did this for them, so there it is. I did this for them."

Williams-Bolar decided four years ago to send her daughters to a highly ranked school in neighboring Copley-Fairlawn School District.

But it wasn't her Akron district of residence, so her children were ineligible to attend school there, even though her father lived within the district's boundaries.

The school district accused Williams-Bolar of lying about her address, falsifying records and, when confronted, having her father file false court papers to get around the system.

Williams-Bolar said she did it to keep her children safe and that she lived part-time with her dad.

"When my home got broken into, I felt it was my duty to do something else," Williams-Bolar said.

I don't know why the city of Akron wanted to shackle Ms. Williams-Bolar to a failing school district just because of her address. All she wanted was freedom of choice for her children to get a better education. But she is being punished for trying to leave the plantation failing school district.

Yes, she lied but she was also being forced, by virtue of her address, to send her kids to a lousy school. This is where school vouchers would have helped save her jail time and possible, her career. Enabling her a real choice to send her kids to a better school.

It's For The Children

AKA: How To Deal With The Teacher's Union.
By sh!tcanning the entire lot.

[A school superintendent's] plan calls for teachers at a local high school to work 25 minutes longer per day, each lunch with students once in a while, and help with tutoring. The teachers' union has refused to accept these apparently onerous demands.

The teachers at the high school make $70,000-$78,000, as compared to a median income in the town of $22,000.[bold mine]
[. . .]
The school superintendent has responded to the union's stubbornness by firing every teacher and administrator at the school.

Goes to show what the teacher's union really cares about.

Via Glenn Reynolds.

Outraged Out

I think I need a small break from politics for a while. I flipped over to Big Government the other day and saw this about Kevin Jennings, the Safe School Czar appointed by Barack Obama, and how he gave out fisting kits to students.

That's right, I said fisting kits.

In a normal world, Kevin Jennings would be on a sexual predator list and maybe even a staring role in 'To Catch A Predator'. In Obama's world, he's can hand out kits to instruct kids on how to safely insert your fist into someone else's ass. And I'm not surprised that it has happened. It must be Wednesday.



The shocker of it was that it was only Part II of a series. Part I is up and so is Part III.