Miscellaneous And Off Topic Subjects

[entropy]

because blaming $$$ gets you votes. Telling people they can do better with their kids and that is most important is insulting..

JFK would never get past the primary today.

[lineygoblue]

JFK would never get past the primary today.

That "Ask NOT what your country can do for you" thing would have cost him his Democratic Party membership, and put him on Hillary's hit list.

[Buckeye Paul]

I couldn't agree more, iam416. It's the same reason why you hear Hillary and/or Bernie talking about getting the rich to pay their "fair share". Nobody who uses that "fair share" terminology will ever actually tell you what a fair share amount or percentage actually is. That way, no matter how much taxes get raised, they can still always claim that others are not paying their fair share.

[Da Geezer]

Geezer where is the empirical evidence that charter schools in Michigan are "run more efficiently" because they "don't have to pay off the unions." What empirical evidence the suggests that charter schools do a better job educating their students?

I just got on the internet, so excuse me for not replying. I feel like the mosquito at a nudist camp. I know what I have to do, but I don't know where to start.

Stan, you wouldn't believe anything I say anyway about the efficacy of charters. You have made up your mind on that already. I simply point you to the oversubscription of every urban charter school that I am involved with (around 60), that is, people with a choice choose charters. Or do you figure the poor, black folks are just too stupid to know the difference?

We hire only certified teachers, and we try to hire teachers from parochial and private schools. Starting pay is around $ 40,000 plus benefits, which is more than parochial schools pay.

I spent 16 years as a board President at an urban school. In our charters, the President occupies the roll that you would associate with a Superintendant in a government school. He is responsible for the budget and paying the bills. So, when the government school gets $ 19,000 per student and I get $ 12,000 per student I either have to make up the 7k out of my pocket, or cut the fat that exists in the government school budget. And remember, the government has a different source of funding for their buildings, while charters have to supply their own buildings.

[Da Geezer]

Jon: What state do you live in that has charters with starting pay at $ 23,000?

[iam416]

I couldn't agree more, iam416. It's the same reason why you hear Hillary and/or Bernie talking about getting the rich to pay their "fair share". Nobody who uses that "fair share" terminology will ever actually tell you what a fair share amount or percentage actually is. That way, no matter how much taxes get raised, they can still always claim that others are not paying their fair share.

In case you haven't figured it out, I'm "The Talent" -- the legend. God to some, hero to many, friend to all. Every women's desire, every man's envy. The only poster that matters.

And so forth and so on.

But, anyway, I should be clear on increased funding for failing public schools. I'm all for it if (a) they make the case for it including how they expect it to increase outcomes; (b) they put a specific number to it -- I don't care if they inflate it, but put a number to it that you expect to see increased outcomes; and (c) metrics are identified and quantified.

I understand that some schools face staggering societal problems that make it far more difficult for them to succeed and which may require greater funding than cruise control districts. But I want accountability.

I also think it's important to provide every opportunity for parents stuck in awful school districts. I'm not a huge fan of charter schools, so meh, but if they are accountable and produce results similar to public schools, then ok. I'm far more a fan of open enrollment systems that allow parents to upgrade districts. The luxury public schools are maybe too far away or too inaccessible, but there are often public schools in a ring around the city district that are considerably better and completely accessible.

Basically I'm all for a multi-prong approach with the caveat that "just because we're bereaved doesn't make us saps!"

[entropy]

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/17374929/otl-investigates-implosion-daily-fantasy-sports-leaders-draftkings-fanduel

Implosion of DFS..

[UMStan White]

Geezer I asked for empirical proof that that charter schools in Michigan are "run more efficiently" because they "don't have to pay off the unions." That was your claim, not mine. Put up or shut up.

[entropy]

http://nypost.com/2016/08/23/new-revelations-show-a-nation-for-sale-under-hillary-clinton/

Clinton's nation for sale

[Da Geezer]

Care to respond, Geezer? Tell us all how Jon's experience was atypical while your pet project schools are "outperforming" public schools because his school didn't have to pay off the unions"

Jon's experience would certainly be atypical for the schools in which I am involved. The one thing that does ring true is the idea of homework. All I know is that our schools have a requirement of up to 2 hours of homework for upper grades. I will again point out that Jon chose to place his children in this horrible school. At all points, Jon had the choice to place his children in a government school, which, I suppose, was well run.

And no, Stan, YES academy is not one of my schools. Dan Quisenberry is a friend, and the charter school association is an organization that lobbies on behalf of charter schools. It is a trade group. I think his statement is responsible, and operations like YES do damage to all charter schools.

Stan. Do you favor teacher tenure? If so, why?

What you hate about charters is that they threaten the massive fundraising advantage Democrats enjoy in which the AFT and the NEA are the largest players. Like all leftists, you don't give a damn about the education of inner city youth other than that they provide the votes directly, and the money indirectly, to elect progressives.

I engaged in everyday administration of an inner-city charter school for 16 years. What have you done to address the problem? The pity is that you don't even see there is a problem.

[Da Geezer]

Geezer I asked for empirical proof that that charter schools in Michigan are "run more efficiently" because they "don't have to pay off the unions." That was your claim, not mine. Put up or shut up.

I know you can't understand this, but we provide a superior education for 63 cents on the dollar. In Detroit, we spend $ 12,000 per student to achieve better results than the $ 19,000 per student spent in government schools. Stan, in the real world, if you can do the same job for 1/3 less money, that is the empirical definition of "more efficient". What you should be focusing on is the massive waste in the current system, but of course, much of what I view as waste you view as money well spent to keep Democrats in power. I'd be happy to give you a list of things we do to save money, but I did that about a year ago. It won't matter to you. You want the status quo.

[UMStan White]

"Like all leftists, you don't give a damn about the education of inner city youth other than that they provide the votes directly, and the money indirectly, to elect progressives.

I engaged in everyday administration of an inner-city charter school for 16 years. What have you done to address the problem? The pity is that you don't even see there is a problem."

16 years! BIG FUCKING WHOOP! My ex-wife majored in urban education at UM and spent her entire career as a teacher in urban settings. We were HUGE supporters of public education in Detroit, and through her and my efforts, we donated time and money to her schools.She eventually became a principal and went from there to a superintendent level position within the district. She spent over thirty years dealing with the bureacracy and inner workings of urban education. She was a proud member of her union, was a union steward, and NEVER crossed a picket line even when it meant she would lose her job. Assholes like you who come into urban areas preying on people with your "keep the niggers on the plantation" ideology (your words not mine) make me sick with your sanctamonous shit that your way is the only way to achieve equality. Ain't you grand oh Great White Savior!

[SeattleLionsFan]

Geezer, do your per-pupil numbers include debt service and other costs? Also, what do your charter schools do with Special Ed and at-risk students?

[Da Geezer]

Assholes like you who come into urban areas preying on people with your "keep the niggers on the plantation" ideology (your words not mine) make me sick with your sanctamonous shit that your way is the only way to achieve equality.

heh. I indeed did say those words TO the AFT representative who was pushing a ban on charters in Detroit City. HE was the one who was proposing a trade of more charters statewide in exchange for none in Detroit. It was HE that I accused of keeping the blacks in their place, and his plan was adopted by the State.

Now we find out that your ex-wife majored in "urban education" and rose to the position of superintendent in the Detroit schools. And I suppose she did this all for free? You and she didn't donate anything to anyone. You and she milked the system for all you were worth. It was she and others like her that destroyed public education in Detroit. Of course, you don't see it that way, because you were and are benefiting from the corrupt system. But at least I now know where you are coming from. Follow the money.

[Da Geezer]

Geezer, do your per-pupil numbers include debt service and other costs? Also, what do your charter schools do with Special Ed and at-risk students?

.

Good question. In MI, there is a base grant for each district school, so I don't want you to take from our conversation that $ 12,000 comes to us for each student. 63% of base is what we receive. Where I live the base is approximately $ 12,500, so our grant is around $ 8.000. In addition, we are responsible for providing capital plant, that is, the school and other facilities. Debt service is included in our costs, but debt service is not a large factor since we are not paying for buildings through borrowing. For us, rent is significant, and for district schools it is not.

Most of the time, we rent from investors who build the buildings specific to our use, and then get back a long term lease. I suppose there are exceptions, but we have specific needs in our schools, like A/C, so most of our schools are new and basically identical.

As to the entire category of at-risk or special need student, it works like this: If the student wins the entry lottery, or any sibling of his wins the lottery, then the at-risk child has a place in the school. It really is a matter of chance. Our charters build a room for the parents where they can hang out, and many parents of needy children like to be around their child, which we encourage. Nationally, charters have a higher percentage of at-risk students than district schools and a higher percentage of poor students than district schools (the PC way of saying this is "free and reduced lunch students"). There are additional programs for at-risk students that give charters the same amount per student that district students receive, not 63% of the district amount.

The biggest constraint on charters is the hostility toward the concept, especially from the unions and newspapers. They watch charters like a hawk, and file FOIA requests for everything. This is all to the good for everyone.

I used to send a "Board packet" to the newspaper reporter who was covering us (10 days in advance) so that she would have the exact information that board members received. This allowed her to prepare and ask questions at the meeting, or often before the meeting. My attitude was that whatever the newspaper wants the newspaper gets. Other board Presidents disagreed with the way I handled it, but I made the call for my school.

If you want to try something interesting, try calling your local district school and try to get the number of total dollars spent for the system. I've never been able to ascertain that because there are so many sources and uses of funds, and they sometimes do not use double-entry bookkeeping. When you run a school like a business, you know to the penny what income and expenditures are.