"The whole people must take upon themselves the education of the whole people and be willing to bear the expenses of it. There should not be a district of one mile square, without a school in it, not founded by a charitable individual, but maintained at the public expense of the people themselves." -- John Adams

"No money shall be drawn from the treasury, for the benefit of any religious or theological institution." -- Indiana Constitution Article 1, Section 6.

"...no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced, restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish enlarge, or affect their civil capacities." – Thomas Jefferson

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Other Options...

To the Central Falls, Rhode Island School Board:

If firing all the teachers isn't enough to solve the problems of poverty, here are some other options for you to try.
  • Fire the students for not learning enough. If you can blame teachers for not working hard enough so that all students can pass the test then surely it makes sense to fire the students for not working hard enough to learn everything that's being taught.
  • Fire the parents. If kids live in poverty it's their parents' fault for not working hard to make enough money.
  • Fire the textbook publishers for not working hard enough to include all the answers to "the test" in their books.
  • Fire the local police for not working hard enough to keep the students safe so they could go to school and concentrate on academics instead of worrying about making it home alive.
  • Fire themselves. The school board should fire themselves for not working hard enough to solve the problem of the students' poor performance.
  • Fire the Central Falls local government for allowing poverty to exist in their city. The link between poverty and low school achievement is well established. If the government had eliminated poverty the school would not have "failed." Fire the government of the state of Rhode Island as well...same reason.
  • Fire all the medical professionals in the city. The link between health and achievement is also well established. If the doctors and dentists had worked hard enough to keep all the children healthy, then the school would not have "failed."
Finally...
  • Fire everyone in local, state and national departments of education who has never been an educator. Being a former student does not qualify someone to make decisions affecting the lives of hundreds of children.
  • Fire Arne Duncan and Barak Obama for cheering this tragedy.
  • Fire anyone locally or nationally who imposes sanctions on schools because they are filled with struggling, children. These schools haven't failed...the nation has failed.
"Central Falls School District - Great Schools - Helping Each Other - Working Together - Making Dreams Into Reality." -- from the Central Falls School District Web Site

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