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Forum Post: Charter School studies that have been under-reported are a gold mine!!

Posted 11 years ago on Nov. 16, 2012, 10:27 a.m. EST by zacherystaylor (243)
This content is user submitted and not an official statement

While writing a blog post that was related to advertising to children and Charter Schools I found a bunch of studies by Alex Molnar on the topic that have a lot to say on the subject and it isn't being reported by the corporate media but it is much more credible than what is. Also there are many more academic sources at the National Education Policy Center which I thought some of you would be interested. Here are a few of what I thought were good highlight that I found so far. I still haven't read most of it so there is almost certainly much more that is worth more attention.


http://nepc.colorado.edu/author/molnar-alex

Charter Schools: The Smiling Face of Dis-investment Oct. 1996

Charter schools are hot. But will commercial motives, money problems, and unproven boasts about student gains cool down the education reform of the '90s?

Everyone, it seems, loves charter schools. Time magazine has called them the "New Hope for Public Schools" (Wallis 1994). The New Democrat, the Democratic Leadership Council's journal, says charter school advocates are "Rebels With a Cause" (Mirga 1994). And The New York Times (in an unusual note of irony) calls them the "Latest 'Best Hope' in U.S. Education" (Applebome 1994). ....

Despite the rosy image provided bythe child-centered reformers, most of the money and political influence drivingthe charter movement have been provided by the zealots and the profiteers. ....


“The Educational Cost of Schoolhouse Commercialism” by Alex Molnar, Faith Boninger, Joseph Fogarty Nov. 7 2011

How Commercializing Activities Discourage Critical Thinking

Promoting critical thinking is the essence of what John Dewey termed an "educative" experience. 50 Educative experiences increase students’ ability to have fruitful, creative, and enjoyable experiences in the future. Mis-educative experiences, according to Dewey, are those that arrest or distort the growth of future experience. 51 They may be fun at the time, or even increase some automatic skill, but they narrow the range and richness of possible future experience. When for-profit corporations are involved in schools, irrespective of what the particular surface aspects of a given relationship may be, the heart of the relationship is mis-educative. This is because for-profit corporations must maintain a focus on the bottom line—they must make a profit. The mission of the school, on the other hand, is to provide educative experiences for students. The tension between the educative mission of schools and the corporate imperative to earn profits means that when corporations enter the schools, there is going to be pressure to create student experiences and shape student attitudes in ways that support, or at least do not undermine, the corporate bottom line. This pressure is inherent in the relationship. When Gary Gutting considered the implications of the corporate profit motive more generally in a recent New York Times op-ed, he pondered what corporations do in the case of conflict between profit and responsible action. He concluded: “Given their raison d’être, when push comes to shove corporations will honor their commitments to shareholders’ profit.” Moreover, he pointed out, from a profit perspective, the appearance of social responsibility is worth more than actual social responsibility. Both of these conclusions are relevant to corporate activity in schools, which is portrayed as socially responsible action but almost always involves an attempt to influence students to buy, either immediately or in their future. In their attempts to influence public policy regarding advertising to children in schools (through lobbying) and public perceptions (through advertising), corporations promote first and foremost their profits, even when that goal undermines genuinely educative experiences.52 And although it is true that all curriculum has limits, and that some of the schools‘ non-corporate curriculum may very well be mis-educative as well, all corporate commercializing activity in schools has a core element that is inherently mis-educative.

Commercializing activities in school foster a common-sense culture that favors both the specific brands that get their advertising into the school and a noncritical mindset that facilitates the effectiveness of such advertising. At their most simplistic, corporate commercializing activities discourage thinking of any kind (“Hungry? Grab a Snickers!”). When more complex, they discourage aspects of critical thinking that might lead to disagreement with or discrediting of the sponsor‘s message—especially critical thinking skills having to do with identifying and evaluating sponsors‘ points of view and biases, considering alternative points of view, and generating and evaluating alternative solutions. They insinuate sponsors’ points of view or products into the daily life of the school in a way that students accept them without thinking about them. They also (either actively or passively) inhibit critical thought about those points of view or products.

When Nike adopted the fourth grade at Rachel Cloues‘s school for a year, for instance, the company‘s employees played games with the children and gave them branded gifts. In an article she wrote about her experience with Nike‘s sponsorship in her school, Cloues described watching “… as our students were indoctrinated into a corporate culture, experiencing the lovely Nike Campus without being asked to consider where Nike products are made, who makes them, and under what conditions.” 54 She, however, was wondering about those questions that Nike was happy to avoid. Back at school, she tried to teach her students to think more critically about their consumer choices. 55 She designed a math lesson to help them think about where their sneakers were made and an advertising unit to help them see how media influences their decisions. This teacher felt, however, that such lessons were not supposed to be happening as Nike support flowed into the school. In the end, she wrote, "I didn‘t have the tools or the support to take either of these projects to any great depth. I also was not comfortable using Nike as an example for critical study. I worried that people at our school would view it as 'inappropriate.‘"56 If Nike had been aware of her efforts, it seems very likely the corporate sponsors would have found the lesson inappropriate." …..

That‘s a very good question. As matter of policy, the best way to stop is before you start. This can be accomplished by changing the current tacit presumption that commercializing activities in schools are not harmful unless proven to be so to an explicit presumption that commercializing activities are harmful unless proven not to be. This is, in fact, the way new drugs are tested and reviewed before being allowed on the market. Pharmaceuticals are not approved for use until they are proven to cause no harm to potential patients and that they provide the benefits claimed. So too, commercializing programs in schools should not be approved until they are proven to cause no harm to the children who will be their targets; and further, that they demonstrate a clearly understood educational benefit for those children.

….. Their harm becomes apparent only when we look for what is most hard to find, because it resides in what is not there rather than what is. What is not there—with any and all types of corporate engagement in the schools—is dedication to the best interests of the children. It bears repeating and keeping at the forefront of any discussion of corporate involvement in the schools: corporations are self-interested entities in business for one purpose—to make money. Publicly traded corporations are required by law to put the interests of their shareholders first. Educating children is not their mission. ….


Study's Results Are Flawed and Inconsequential March 3 2012

To the evaluators of the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, vouchers are like a vaccine. Once students are "exposed" to the voucher program - even if they subsequently leave - that "exposure" somehow accounts for any good things that happen later on.

And leave they did - a whopping 75% of them.

Here are the details: (You'll have to read the report for this but trust me this and many others are worth it.)

But evidence doesn't seem to matter. The "choice" system has become the broken status quo - choice as an end in itself - vigilantly guarded and professionally promoted by a well- funded, well-compensated and well-placed phalanx of advocates while the real needs of Milwaukee's schoolchildren remain largely unaddressed.


I found these studies while reviewing material for my own blog posts on the subject including one recent one and another from about a year ago. My views may not be peer reviewed or as well informed as Alex Molnar's but I have the liberty of not having to worry about pressure from the corporate world as Molnar does so I can point out issues like the possible cause and effect of the marketing to children on Black Friday Riots and other things. Also, these include additional sources on the subject as well from books that are readily available in many libraries.

The bottom line is that corporate influence in schools has been disastrous and it is because their primary motive is to make a profit; not just for the Charter Schools but for the advertisers as well. Students take a distant back seat.

http://zacherydtaylor.blogspot.com/2012/11/count-down-to-annual-black-friday-riots.html

http://open.salon.com/open.salon.com/blog/zacherydtaylor/2011/11/09/roy_fox_harvesting_minds_channel_one_indoctrination_of_kids

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49 Comments


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[-] 4 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Yes, 'corporate influence in schools has been disastrous and it is because their primary motive is to make a profit; not just for the Charter Schools but for the advertisers as well. Students take a distant back seat.' Thank you very much for posting on this very important matter which is close to my heart.

[-] 3 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Your welcome but they did all the work; all I did was re-post it to spread the word. Until the mass media starts doing its job this can help if more people do the same.

I found other sites that provide additional research on this subject and others which don't get as much attention as they should and have added a section to my list of alternative media outlets for academic studies.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Zacherystaylor/Alternative_Media#Academic_studies

[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Charter schools are a very important issue and we should be aware that greedy eyes are looking at this with a view to extracting profits from our kids' education. Thank you for highlighting this matter here.

[-] 3 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Agreed, they can't even seem to satisfy themselves with a modest amount of profits at the expense of students education; or at least some of them can't. They've just been exposed in Arizona for corruption by the New Republic.

http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/expose-charter-corruption-new-republic

This is of course outrageous and it should be stopped as fast as possible; however if their is a silver lining it makes it even clearer that they can't trust private corporations with the education of children without accountability, not that I think this would be a worthy silver lining if they could have avoided this in the first place.

[-] 4 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Please read this Noam Chomsky article on Public Education - http://www.nationofchange.org/assault-public-education-1333634007 . It is very interesting and extremely relevant for this post. Thank you for posting on this important matter and for your interesting links. Never Give Up! Go Occupy and a Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

[-] 3 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Thanks for the link, I'll have to reread it and some of the back up information it refers to including some that I have encountered before. The following is a "failure by design" by economic policy institute file I found. I don't think it is the whole thing but it includes a lot of easy to understand charts with statistics that the average person can comprehend.

http://tinyurl.com/avn9hle

This is blatant class warfare! Another one which I like to cite although I don't have exact facts (Naomi Klein and others provide some to back this up though) is that they have sent advertising budgets through the roof and cut manufacturing costs to the bone so now everything they sell falls apart much faster than they used to. The percentage of the GDP that goes to fraud due to deceptive advertising or other jobs that do nothing to improve the quality of life is sky rocketing.

We can have an improved quality of life by dramatically shrinking the economy if we reduce this fraud and keep or perhaps increase the worthy jobs. A growing GDP doesn't mean the economy provides increased benefits if the money is being stolen.

FWIW here is another blog about why we should provide educational opportunities for all. "Saving Public Education: Quality Education for All"

http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/saving-public-education-quality-education-all

"But what if all schools were schools parents wanted their children to go, where wanting a choice wouldn’t even be necessary?"

It's too late to wish you a happy Thanksgiving so have a happy Christmas season without buying crap that is designed to increase profits without benefiting the recipient.

[-] 4 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Your post and indeed all matters pertaining to Education in the US, is very important for OWS i think. This site - http://www.nationofchange.org/education - may be of some interest to you and my sincere thanks for your efforts here and I extend to you and yours my best wishes for a peaceful Christmas :)

[-] 4 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Thanks I'll have to take a closer look and add it to my media list. A couple of the stories look disturbing; I wish I was more skeptical of them but these stories are all too common.

Without the education system this country is bound to fall apart the sooner more people realize this the more likely it is that this can be prevented.

[-] 4 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Education is key for the future of our country so thank you very much for your post and all your good efforts here and I attach some useful links below.

'Public Education Under Massive Corporate Assault — What's Next? By Noam Chomsky' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q97tFyqHVLs .

'Why the United States Is Destroying Its Education System. By Chris Hedges' - http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/why_the_united_states_is_destroying_her_education_system_20110410/

'The Uneducated American. By Paul Krugman' - http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/opinion/09krugman.html?ref=opinion&_r=0 .

There are many important matters that OWS & this forum addresses and 'EDUCATION' is one of The Most Important in my opinion. Please read and listen to these links as they all are extremely relevant to your important post, comments and links here.

Never Give Up! Go Occupy!

[-] 2 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Thanks for the links; Hedges article was well worth it as well as the others although I haven't had the time to listen to Chomsky nor do I have video at this computer.

Until about six to eight months ago I never even heard of Hedges; the same went for Zinn and Chomsky until about six years ago. the most reliable sources don't get any coverage from the traditional media. For a long time I was one of the clueless that thought they had some relatively minor problems but that some of the more credible stuff they presented presented a fairly accurate picture of current events.

There are almost certainly still many more people with their heads in the sand but with things collapsing all around that number is surely dropping.

FWIW I came up with a follow up to the Black Friday post that lead to this string if you're interested; "Why no discussion on preventing Black Friday Riots in the media?"

http://zacherydtaylor.blogspot.com/2012/11/why-no-discussion-on-preventing-black.html

[-] 2 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

'The Educational System Was Designed to Keep Us Uneducated and Docile' --------------------------------- http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article11693.htm - and I recommend ICH, this piece and also this site - http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/ & thank you for your reply and your post and comments here as well as for your blog link. We all need more 'education about education' :) Never Give up! Go Occupy!

[-] 2 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

I recognized John Taylor Gatto from a Woodrow Wilson quote that I ggogled a while ago, "We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks." I forgot about this; at the time the only thing I found was the Google version of it and didn't realize the whole thing was online.

Thanks for the links although I don't know when I'll find the time to read them all.

[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Take your time but never give up! Keep Occupying The Issues! Thanks for this very good posted item and thread on the very important matter of education, our kids and our future in the world. Solidarity :)

[-] 2 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

I'll be sure to get to it when I can.

FWIW Shortly after I last commented on this story they announced the two winners to the Powerball lottery which is being promoted as a leading source of funding for schools. I agree that we need to find much better funding but this isn't the way to do it; this creates many of the same conflict of interests that Charter Schools and provides incentives for teachers to abstain from teaching children about how this shifts the tax burden to the poor and those that have little will power and it comes at a greater cost to society than benefit. It is just another way of shifting the tax burden away from those with connections.

http://blog.taxguru.net/2006/06/05/if-vegas-had-truth-in-advertising-laws/

[-] 3 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

Sadly 'Gambling - The Voluntary Tax On those Who Flunked Basic Math' (from your link) is so Very True! The utter greed and sense of entitlement of those who claim to be better, richer and wiser than us and who claim to rule us over us, namely THE PLUTOCRATS - is totally outside most decent peoples' imagination. Thanks for your link and good efforts and information on this post and one last link - http://www.nationofchange.org/turning-college-students-commodity-1344266531 - from, http://www.nationofchange.org/education . Never Give Up! Keep Occupying The Issues!

[-] 1 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Thanks, they already seem to have done what Hightower was criticizing with college students as well as many grade school students including those that have been subject to advertising in schools whether it is Channel One or otherwise. Fortunately at least when it comes to Channel One which I covered in a blog about Roy Fox at the end of the opening post it seems to have peaked and they're losing a lot of schools that were previously dependent on Channel One. That particular post isn't working right now since the Open Salon server is down at least temporary but if it doesn't come back up I will re-post another copy of it before too long.

Also, if you're interested they recently came out with another review of a study that promotes private schools and once again they found it was flawed.


BOULDER, CO (December 4, 2012) – Between 1992 and 2009, the number of school employees grew at more than twice the rate that the population of students increased, a recent report found. Author Benjamin Scafidi and the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice, which published the report, used the finding to argue for expanding school choice, including private school vouchers.

But a new review finds that the report is based on faulty premises, lacks any analysis of why school staffing has grown, and promotes choice without offering any evidence that it would have altered the trend.

The School Staffing Surge was reviewed for the Think Twice think tank review project by Joydeep Roy, visiting professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and senior economist in the Independent Budget Office of New York City. The review was published today by the National Education Policy Center, housed at the University of Colorado Boulder School of Education.

http://nepc.colorado.edu/newsletter/2012/12/review-school-staffing


BTW the software doesn't seem to provide reply options on this board, for some reasons which is why I responded to a different post; I'm guessing it only provides so many follow ups or something like that.

[-] 2 points by Ache4Change (3340) 11 years ago

On the matter of private corporations in education, your OP really summed it up very well - ' Their harm becomes apparent only when we look for what is most hard to find, because it resides in what is not there rather than what is. What is not there—with any and all types of corporate engagement in the schools—is dedication to the best interests of the children. It bears repeating and keeping at the forefront of any discussion of corporate involvement in the schools: corporations are self-interested entities in business for one purpose—to make money. Publicly traded corporations are required by law to put the interests of their shareholders first. Educating children is not their mission. '. Thank you for your work in this matter and all your links here. Never Give Up Occupying The Issues!

[-] 3 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Great info. Thx.

It is a long standing goal of the small govt ideologues to privatize schools (and eveything else).

Excellent to have reliable data to judge the affect of introducing profit to the education profit.

[-] 3 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

The data that isn't being reported by the corporate media is much more reliable than the data that often is being reported by the corporate media. One of the reports that probably gets more coverage from the media is from the Gates foundation; according to the following report it has problems not surprisingly.

'A recent report from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s “Measures of Effective Teaching” (MET) Project presents advice on administering and using information from student surveys to evaluate teachers and provide feedback to teachers. A new review, however, finds that the report doesn’t provide sufficient justification for many of its conclusions.'

http://nepc.colorado.edu/thinktank/review-asking-students

This one is from a different author, William J. Mathis and Eric M. Camburn, but the same institution as Alex Molnar.

[-] 1 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

Thanx. Looks like good info. Will peruse later.

[-] -3 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

I actually think public schools have a very poor performance record in some areas - autism is one of them and with more and more males producing children later in life, due to divorce and remarriage, it is destined to become a growing concern.

How many even have a doctorate in this area? Very few and those that do are not helping children, they're teaching college courses. They are far more challenging students which require teachers that are more intune and attentive; I think nationally funded charter schools are an excellent idea.

[-] 4 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

Some public schools almost certainly do have a poor performance record; but the follow up question should be why? The leading answer to this is almost certainly that we don't provide enough funding or support for the schools. A system that only provides incentives for corporations that are solely interested in increasing short term profits won't solve this problem.

Corporations only invest in things that increase the wealth of the people that are already rich even if it comes at the expense of the vast majority; which it does in the case of Charter Schools. They're more interested in increasing profits by indoctrinating children to buy without scrutiny. If we're going to have a democratic society we need to hold the most powerful accountable and prevent them from pursuing a course of action that will destroy our society for the sake of short term profit; whether this involves the destruction of the environment or the education system or anything else.

Workers consumers and students should be entitled to share int eh benefits they help create; if corporations aren't held accountable they won't.

[-] -1 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

No, in reference to autistic children it's not a funding issue. For the administrators of our current public school system, special ed is a secondary concern. We need private schools administrated by people who are both skilled and caring. And there simply is not enough of that. I'm not talking about corporate education here - I'm talking about the publicly financed through federal grants, privately owned schools.

[-] 3 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

The education system needs to be accountable to people that have an incentive to care and are well informed about a variety of issues. It is hard to imagine how this could be done in the private sector especially in for profit schools. If we were talking about non-profit schools that might be a different story if there were a good plan that included accountability but I haven't seen that either. The discussion about Charter Schools has been promoted almost entirely by people with an ulterior agenda and nothing about what you have written indicates that you have an exception in mind.

If you have a better plan I might take a closer look at it.

[-] 1 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

I do have an ulterior agenda... my daughter has two masters in specific areas of special ed and has received offers for a free doctorate from her university; they have offered an educational roll, but her dream is to open her own charter school because in her area the public school system is failing these children miserably.

Anyone who thinks that public education in non-profit or not for profit is extremely foolish. And I would suggest that you yourself have an ulterior motive in discouraging privatization.

Truthfully, with that advent of modern computing, there is no reason whatsoever to have children in a classroom. Public education and much of its expense are now obsolete.

[-] 1 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

I don't know what you think my ulterior motive is but I have no direct interest in the education system except the same interest that the rest of us have which is to have an education system that benefits society as a whole. However it is conceivable that you think I have a hidden agenda, which is typical to "ulterior motives" but I can't imagine what that could be.

Charter Schools on the other hand have a profit and an ideological motive that has been exposed by the sources that I have attempted to site as well as some of the ones others have added including Chris Hedges and Chomsky. They've provided an enormous amount of detail; you're welcome to address those details.

[-] 0 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

Yes I know there is a corporate element in your quite relevant argument. I'm not speaking to that; I am speaking to those who recognize a genuine need and consider personal profit as secondary. This nation could use more charter school, the result of grants; not as generally Federally funded.

[-] 2 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

That still doesn't explain why there needs to be a profit motive in it at all; how does that provide any possibility for improvements? I'm not aware of any evidence to support this possibility; all the evidence seems to refute it or at best be inconclusive and this might be because they keep some running with proper funds to keep a sample for propaganda purposes.

Even if they do consider Charter Schools they still need to find better funding and restore accountability that isn't based primarily on the political agenda of those with an ulterior motive.

[-] 0 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

There is a building and property to maintain and teachers require salaries; currently the state is paying 40000 a year for autistic children and public education is a complete failure. Are you saying there is no profit motive in public education? Because it would appear quite obvious to all here that there is.

[-] 2 points by zacherystaylor (243) 11 years ago

I see no potential profit motive for public education, unless you count the profit that we all receive as a result of have a well educated population that enables us to advance and prosper. Funds have to be raised one way or another to provide this education but the pay back isn't clear cut and there is no guarantee that it will always go in predictable places but it is clear that we will all benefit if it is funded and lose if it isn't so it is worthwhile to find a way to fund it.

[-] 0 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

The classroom is key to kids learning how to organize, work together, interact, etc.

The last thing we need are more kids sitting in their rooms all day on the computer, in my opinion.

[-] -2 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

I see no reason to pay school taxes to socialize children. Nor do I see a reason to acculturate them along present institutional lines.

Look, I can record a presentation and put it on a 50" LCD in the living room; they can watch it at will. Homework and testing can be conducted online; public education is obsolete.

[-] 0 points by hchc (3297) from Tampa, FL 11 years ago

The current state of education sucks, yes. But kids dont like school, they need to be forced.

Or we are going to end up with dumber kids than we already have. I pray your lackadaisical view of how to prepare kids for life doesnt ever see the light of day , for their own good.

[-] 0 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

CorpoRAT BS.

[-] -1 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

Not at all... And I can point you to exact circumstance - specific regions and specific school districts - where a well run charter school for autistic children is greatly needed and would be highly welcomed.

[-] 2 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

"autism".? How about we just deal with the continued racism and neglect of all poor districts. That will go a long way to deal with the poor education numbers.

I think autism is a fraction of the poor/minority students we have, but I certainly agree we should do something for them.

[-] -2 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

I don't think you have a clue - many of the autistic are minorities and there really is a serious need which requires a different environment and a far more generous and caring curriculum.

The problem, here, is that you only care about your political platform.

[-] 1 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

I agree something should be done for the autistic. I know there are vastly more poor/minorities neglected & at risk.

The problem is YOU don't want to help the vastly larger group of children in need.

[-] 0 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

No, that's no it. I know that throwing money at inner schools - teachers and facilities - is a complete waste of time if we cannot address our social deficiency. Only slightly greater than 50% of African Americans graduate high school and poor white kids aren't faring much better. These are parental issues and everybody knows it. We're paying lipservice to a problem that will only haunt us in the future as all of them become wards of the state.

Autism, which also effects our poor, is one area of public education that is seriously neglected. In fact, special needs children are neglected in general. Most of these children do not belong in the public education system; they belong in private, caring, facilities. It can make all the difference in the world.

[-] 2 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

A living wage and a maximum of 40 hours a week for the worker would make a huge difference in the proper direction.

[-] -1 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

Of course it would; tell that to those who are busy at the moment negotiating trade deals with other nations.

Simply put - there can be no equal opportunity without opportunity.

[-] 1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

I already am. Do not undercut domestic business with stupid trade deals.

[-] 0 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

Well see, now that's something we can agree on. And there's probably a lot more we could agree on if you were willing to let go the undying devotion to this president, who to me, looks very much like the last president.

[-] 0 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

I have no undying devotion to this current president - What I do Know is that he makes a better president then Mittens. I have an undying devotion to the People - ALL of The People.

[-] 0 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

Making a better president is far too little for me; other than Clinton's reduction of Federal civil service, and his elimination of welfare, I can't think of a single thing over the last 35 years that has served to benefit the people - not one single thing.

[-] -1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Because you dismiss the tax credits for the working family? Fundamental change for the better - For ALL - will come through the involvement of The People. Not through a continuation of opting out.

[-] 0 points by RedDragon (-161) 11 years ago

Of course I do... taxes should be all inclusive.

[-] -1 points by DKAtoday (33802) from Coon Rapids, MN 11 years ago

Ummm - that comment - standing all by itself - makes - NO - sense.

[-] 1 points by VQkag2 (16478) 11 years ago

I support helping autistic children.

I support even more the vastly larger number of poor & minority students at risk.

Done. If we disagree I don't know where.