Good Schools, Public Schools Receive a "C" Grade

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CONTENTS:

"...every group that wishes to see conflicting interests resolved reasonably, or is wise about the conditions under which it enjoys its own freedom, must be profoundly concerned with the state of freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of inquiry and teaching, freedom of press and other forms of communication, freedom of cultural opportunity and development. For in large measure intelligent moral choice depends upon them."
--Sidney Hook (1902-1988), disciple of John Dewey, and champion of pragmatism and democracy

MICHIGAN PARENTS AND TAXPAYERS GIVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS "C-" GRADE
(Reprinted from: Proposal1YES - http://Proposal1YES.com)

Most Michigan parents and taxpayers still believe the state's public
schools have plenty of room for improvement; in fact, according to a
recent statewide poll, the majority of them maintain that Michigan's
public schools are barely earning a passing grade.

A poll commissioned by the Detroit News in late August found that most
parents and taxpayers would assign Michigan Public Schools an overall
letter grade of "C-". Only 25 percent of the poll's 600 respondents said
public schools deserve a "B" or better. And a disturbing 10 percent of
parents in Michigan gave their local schools an "F".

Results of the poll refute claims by opponents of Proposal 1 who continue
to insist that state schools are in no need of reform. And they dismiss
the 200,000 children who are trapped in failing schools as insignificant.

Proposal 1 is the only education reform proposal on the November ballot.
Voting 'Yes' on the measure initiates teacher testing, protects public
school funding, and introduces school choice in failing school districts.

PUBLIC SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS STILL DIVERTING EDUCATION TAX DOLLARS

Kids First! Yes! filed complaints last week against two Michigan school
districts after administrators there were caught breaking the law by
illegally diverting education tax dollars from the classroom to fight
against passage of Proposal 1.

Livonia Public Schools (Wayne County) and Grand Ledge Public Schools
(Eaton County) were named in complaints that were filed with the Secretary
of State. Administrators in both districts blatantly ignored the law when
they used public funds to finance their own personal political agenda.

But the violations that occurred in Livonia and Grand Ledge differ from
others that have been filed in recent months in that both of them occurred
after administrators in the districts had received personalized letters
from the Secretary of State warning them that public education tax dollars
cannot legally be used for political purposes.

According to the Secretary of State, administrators in Livonia and Grand
Ledge Public Schools could face fines of up to $1,000 per violation as
well as imprisonment.

"The fact that so many who control the state's public education
establishment continue to blatantly violate state law and cheat children
of public resources is extremely disturbing, and it is a matter of grave
concern," commented Kids First! Yes! campaign manager Greg Brock.
"Opponents of education reform are causing irreparable damage to their own
credibility and destroying public confidence in the status quo."

KIDS FIRST! YES! Q & A

Q: With the passage of Proposal 1, how many Michigan kids will immediately
have access to opportunity scholarships, or vouchers, because they live in
failing school districts?

A: The exact number is unclear, but based on a Department of Education
report that was released last week, at least 200,000 Michigan kids will
immediately qualify for vouchers with the passage of Proposal 1.

Many believe that the final number of children that qualify for
opportunity scholarships will be substantially higher. This is because a
number of school administrators may have either intentionally or
mistakenly misreported or miscalculated graduation rates.

Under Proposal 1, only school districts that fail to graduate two-thirds
of students will immediately qualify for vouchers. In other districts,
parents and taxpayers will have the option of opting into a voucher
program either through a local referendum or through a school board vote.

Two hundred thousand students represents more than 10 percent of all the
students in Michigan's public education system.

People who support Proposal 1 believe that a terrible social injustice
occurs every time even one parent is forced to send a child to a failing
school. When 200,000 children are forced to attend failing schools simply
because of where they live, it is a social injustice of the highest order.

Everyone in Michigan, including those who live in strong school districts,
pays the price in societal costs and financially when 200,000
under-educated children enter into adulthood.

PROPOSAL 1 . EASY AS 1-2-3:

1. Teacher Testing
Proposal 1 initiates regular testing for teachers in their academic
subjects, not unlike what is required for doctors, airline pilots and
other professionals who hold licenses to keep current and proficient in
this age of information;

2. Protected Funding
Proposal 1 increases the minimum funding guarantee for every child, while
protecting public school funding from future budget cuts; and

3. Opportunity Scholarships
Proposal 1 empowers parents in failing school districts with a voucher - a
simple piece of paper that represents half of their tax dollars spent on
their child in a public school - which can be used to put their child or
children in a non-public school if they believe it would serve them better.

Kids First! Yes! is a broad-based coalition working to pass an education
reform plan. The education reform initiative will be on the Michigan
ballot this November as Proposal 1.

--Mike Carrier (MA, NYU--Graduate School of Arts and Science)

This site features a frank presentation of issues facing parents, taxpayers and schools in reforming schools in the twenty-first century. Good Schools promotes good schools, and explains what is necessary to achieve good schools. We are convinced that good schools can be obtained only with sound curriculum, which does not include the teaching of Darwin's theory of origin, or Darwin's theory of evolution. We believe that local school boards need to be empowered, and the influence of teachers' unions ought to be limited to labor-related issues. Teachers' unions should have no say in curriculum.

We are convinced that the teachings of Darwin, particularly Darwin's teachings on evolution, and Darwin's theories on origins, ought not be taught as fact. Darwin and Darwin's theories are not generally accepted by contemporary physicists and cosmologists, and, therefore, Darwin and Darwin's theories ought not be accepted whole-cloth by our schools of education, and ought not be presented as fact in public schools.

Because Richard Dawkins has set himself up as the number one defender of Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, we will go to some length explaining Dawkins' Darwin defenses, and we will do our best to explode Dawkins' Darwin defenses.

We seek to show from Darwin's own hand that Darwin, and Darwin's theory of evolution, are racist at the core. Darwin was a racist, Darwin's theory of evolution is racist, and Darwin's theory of origins is racist.

We further seek to show that Darwin's theory of evolution is not scientific. We show that racism, more than science, was behind Darwin and Darwin's theory of evolution, and Darwin's theory of origins.

Some of the terms commonly used on this site are: Darwin, Dawkins, schools, public schools, education, gun control, teachers, John Dewey, Littleton, racist, racism , school choice, African American, Sidney Hook, evolution, and Mike Carrier.

Bottom line--good schools require work. Good schools do not just happen. We need good schools, if we are to have a good nation.