Harry Krause wrote:

Alan Gomes wrote:
Ok, Keith. You win. I'm convinced. The public school system produces such a
massive societal benefit that no amount of taxation to support it is
excessive. Without it we'd have a society of kids who could not read or
write and who are in general functionally illiterate, who could not do
simple math, and who had no knowledge of world history or even of the great
books of western civilization.

Oh, wait! That's what we presently have *with* the public school system.
Quick! Someone raise my property taxes so we can throw some more money at
it!
snip

You might have a bit of credibility on this issue if your wife were not
teaching in the public schools and drawing benefits from doing so.

I was a teacher and so was my husband. We got out of teaching and
took LOWER paying jobs because teachers are treated so poorly by the
administration. That's where you should have your beef. Not with the
folks on the line.

The teacher's salaries were negotiated by the union rep, but they did
it for all the teachers whether they belonged to the union or not. It
wasn't mandatory.

I really regretted leaving teaching because it was something I really
wanted to do. But not enough to let them have me teach math, which I
was certified for but horrible at (I actually took pre-calculus in
college and passed it with a B, and then the following year took an
exam to see if I could take calculus and failed it. My high school
daughter took it with me and passed.)

And in my husband's case although he was certified to teach physics,
chemistry, math and general science (he is an engineer), he told the
powers that be that he did not believe he was qualified to teach
chemistry. They not only assigned him to teach Chem II, but also told
the local community college that he would be glad to teach their Chem
labs.


Last week, a "Beltway Bandit" contractor I know offered me a subcontract
in connection with a government agency involved in aspects of "Homeland
Security." The project involved researching and writing a number of
manuals and other instructional materials. I have the proper clearance.
I turned him down. The work was "political" in terms of inclusion of
materials and levels of approval.

I turned the work down. There is nothing I would do to help the Bush
administration, directly or indirectly.

grandma Rosalie