Dynamic Range

Who Works For Whom?

Neal McCluskey, of the Cato Institute, asks a great question that underlies the whole school choice debate:

Who really works for whom? Do public school teachers work for the public, or does the public really work—and pay taxes—for the teachers?  (Cato-at-Liberty: In Utah, You Work for the UEA)

Halloween Scare

'Twas the night of halloween when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even the cat, the turtle, the lizard, nor Mickey Mouse;

The campaign signs were staked in the lawn with care,

In hopes that the election soon would be here;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of educational choice danced in their heads;

And Sandy in her nightgown, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a fall evening nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I ran kinda fast,

Tore open the curtains and yanked up the blinds ('cause we don't have a sash).

The moon on the expanse of freshly cut grass

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects that'd make one gasp,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a hideous creature -- your absolute worst nightmare,

With a little old chairman, so lively and slick,

I knew in a moment I'd probably be sick

...And then the creature spoke:

Children of Utah, creatures of the state.  Do not trust your parents.  Choice, freedom, and agency are false human emotions.  We don't need no stinking choices!

Do not "Think Different."  Individuality is contrary to the collective.  It will be crushed.  Your education, or lack thereof, will be determined by  majority will.

Your future is controlled by the collective.  Resistance is futile.  You will be assimilated!

Then I heard him exclaim, ere he strode out of sight,

"All-hallows eve to all, and to all a good fright."

  -- Special thanks to Star Trek, Apple, Disney, Clement Clarke Moore for his classic poem "The Night Before Christmas and of course Chair Burningham.

Born To be Free

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

-- Declaration of Independence

"No man is good enough to govern another man, without the other's consent.  I say this is the leading principle -- the sheet anchor of American republicanism."

-- Abraham Lincoln

"There can be no moral right in connection with one man's making a slave of another."

-- Abraham Lincoln

"I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves."

-- Joseph Smith

"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;"

-- Abraham 3:25

Voter Respect

Over the past 6 months, there have been many platitudes about the importance of placing the referendum before the public and respecting the will of Utah's voters.  Which of these statements actually shows respect for those voters?

• Voucher supporter Gov. Jon Huntsman:  I support vouchers.  Here are my reasons.  Get educated and be an informed voter.

Or...

• Voucher opponent Pat Rusk (past president, UEA):  I oppose vouchers.  Utahns 'should expect immediate constitutional challenges [in court] should voters pass the referendum.'  (KCPW: Debaters Raise Question of Voucher Constitutionality)

As an aside: The Utah Supreme Court has already reviewed the voucher program.  If there was any remaining question about its constitutionality, that could have been raised prior to the referendum vote (if the intended purpose was to really give the voters a meaningful voice in this decision).

Taxpayers Get No Respect

As a taxpayer, do you ever feel like you get no respect for your efforts?  It sure felt that way when the latest anti-voucher mailer arrived this week.  Utahns for Public Schools show a table titled 2004-2005 Per Pupil Spending, which states that Utahns spent $5,257 per pupil.  But if you look at the really fine print at the bottom of the page you see that the table just shows per pupil amounts for current spending.  Reviewing Table 11 in the U.S. Census Bureau's 2005 Public Education Finances report you will see that per pupil revenue for the 2004-2005 school year was $6,510.

The difference?  $1,253 per student.  Not chump change.  That's an additional 24% above the $5,257 number reported in the flyer.  In aggregate over $500M just dropped off like the taxpayer didn't make the effort.

Where did the $1,253 go?  Perhaps it's just a victim of that new math where there are no wrong answers (just wrong parents).  Perhaps some will try to justify that school contruction spending shouldn't be counted as an educational expense.  But if we don't build the schools, then where will we educate students?  And if we're not going to educate the students, why build the schools?

I think it does a disservice to the public to hide the overwhelming effort that Utah taxpayers make to pay for public education in this state.

Chief Justice Roberts Rocks!

Chief Justice Roberts gave an amazing speech Tuesday at BYU.  He provided a fantastic explanation of the history of the U.S. Constitution and the limited role of the court.  If you didn't hear it, watch for the rebroadcasts on KBYU or download the MP3.  It's become part of my recommended material for the Citizenship in the Nation merit badge along with the BYU video A More Perfect Union: America Becomes A Nation.

Matheson Opposes Pell Grant, GI Bill, Research Funding for Private Schools

According to the SL Trib:

Congressman Jim Matheson today came out forcefully against vouchers.

"It's a bad idea to use public money to spend on private academies," said Utah's only Democratic national office holder.

"This is about taking public taxpayers' funds out and putting them into private schools." (Matheson calls vouchers 'a bad idea')

Question:  Congressman, are you really calling for BYU and its students to be stripped of all taxpayer grants, vouchers, and other school funding?  No more student Pell Grants?  No more taxpayer subsidized student loans (didn't you just support their expansion)?  No more military-paid tuition as part of the G.I. Bill?  No more federal research funding?  Congressman, are you really saying that "it's a bad idea to use public money to spend on private academies" -- private academies like BYU, Notre Dame, Harvard, Stanford, and MIT to name a few?

You're probably right.  It's a bad investment.  I look forward to you sponsoring the repeal of those benefits. That is, if you are really serious.  Otherwise you're just blowing smoke?  (Personally, it sounds like you're smoking something.  Perhaps you should follow the advice of the great Democrat and not inhale next time.)

Taxes vs Civility

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. is often quoted with saying "taxes are the price we pay to live in a civil society."  (This is often been used as an excuse for higher and higher taxes.)

In contrast, James Madison wrote "If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary. In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself." (The Federalist #51)

Therefore, in reality, taxes are the price we pay as a result of our incivility.

Emancipation

Frederick Douglass:

Education ... means emancipation. It means light and liberty. It means the uplifting of the soul of man into the glorious light of truth, the light by which men can only be made free.

Justice Clarence Thomas:

Today many of our inner-city public schools deny emancipation to urban minority students....  Although one of the purposes of public schools was to promote democracy and a more egalitarian culture, failing urban public schools disproportionately affect minority children most in need of educational opportunity. At the time of Reconstruction, blacks considered public education ''a matter of personal liberation and a necessary function of a free society.'' Today, however, the promise of public school education has failed poor inner-city blacks. While in theory providing education to everyone, the quality of public schools varies significantly across districts. Just as blacks supported public education during Reconstruction, many blacks and other minorities now support school choice programs because they provide the greatest educational opportunities for their children in struggling communities.....  While the romanticized ideal of universal public education resonates with the cognoscenti who oppose vouchers, poor urban families just want the best education for their children, who will certainly need it to function in our high-tech and advanced society.

School choice is a national issue.  It's time to throw off the yoke of bondage that enslaves students in a system that is leaving more and more of them behind.

UEA Scams Teachers

Let me share a dialogue I've had with several teachers that goes along these lines:

John:  What does the UEA do for you?

Teacher:  It fights for teacher pay -- to make sure I am fairly compensated.

John:  When will it accomplish that?

<long pause>

Teacher:  It can't.

John: Why not?

Teacher:  Because then I wouldn't need the union.

Bingo!  Teachers are being duped into paying the union to do something the union won't do.  Preservation of the union comes before helping teachers!