US Politics, March 2018: Why do people leave the White House for good?

the WV strike seems to have a decent chance of spreading to oklahoma

http://www.tulsaworld.com/homepagelatest/statewide-teacher-walkout-the-idea-is-gaining-traction-online-and/article_11c81ce5-e2fe-5051-be0d-bf7c8441bc3c.html

The Oklahoma teacher’s strike Facebook page now has more than 40,000 members. They’re fired up. pic.twitter.com/1e6h1bVRNO

— Matt Pearce 🦅 (@mattdpearce) March 4, 2018

Making it illegal to strike is yet another thing these fucked up GOP states have done to hurt their teachers.

who else in this country goes 10 years without a raise? Oh, I don't know, people who work at Veterans Affairs

El Tomboto: the South is weird. Here in New Orleans, anyone with remotely middle class aspirations, including plumbers and electricians, sends their kids to private schools. And without middle-class participation, the public schools are poorly funded and poorly administered. After some decades of this, in which even the physical state of the schools would embarrass a banana republic, the State took over running the local school district. The modern Republican party is dominated by politicians from the old South, where this is often the norm. It was totally foreign to my experience in a Texan suburb, and still further from the state of public schools saner parts of the country, like Minnesota or New York.

private schools should be illegal

i always feel very alienated when these things come up. there weren't any private secondary schools where i grew up (SE MO) (although there was a catholic elementary school). we all went to public school. it took me a long time to even figure out what people were talking about when they talked about private schools.

er, alienated is too strong. i guess i just don't how common it is to be in an area with no private option? seems like everyone else is always talking about private schools.

I didn't even know we had private schools where I grew up until I met one of my best friends in junior year, after she had been kicked out of her private school.

Re: Oklahoma, here's a quote for you, from a Tulsa teacher:

"If we strike, I double dare you to fire us. We'll just go to Texas; they're looking for new teachers," said Cagle.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/politics/texas/article/Record-885K-vote-in-Texas-primaries-12725903.php

Texas voters didn’t just set a record for early voting in a primary during a non-presidential election.

They obliterated the records.

More than 885,000 people voted in the Texas primaries through early voting or by mail in the state’s most populous counties, according the the Texas Secretary of State’s office. That is a 50 percent increase from the previous high of 592,000 in 2014, the last election cycle with the governor on the ballot.

For the first time in a decade more people voted in a Democratic Primary than a Republican Primary in the state’s largest counties. The last time Democrats beat Republicans was in 2008 when the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton drove record turnout in the primary battle for president.

Nice.

I had to unfollow Ned on twitter for unironically RTing Joy Ann Reid, an unforgivable offense given what she tweeted recently about the striking WVA teachers

(still <3 u ned)

I dunno how many ILXers are products of private religious education (worth a thread?), but I am, and you can't understand the contempt that parents of those children have for The System.

commuting to private schools isn't unheard of either

OK I give you guys are right 49% of america went to private school

Good news about the Texas primaries! Hopefully they roll it into something meaningful in November. A few days before the primary, the strongly-worded nervous text of a 11th-hour GOP fundraising email was circulating on lefty FBs & Twitters. Heat is being felt, but I'm not ready to gloat.

Abbott is a lock. I don't even know who's really the front-runner against him, some lesbian ex-sheriff from DFW I think?. Good luck with that. FWIW, Abbot's ads focus on the basic achievements (business, schools) within Texas during the last several years. Seems like he won a coin toss, BECAUSE...

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is doubling down on Trump. Two-Scoops' name is invoked as frequently (if not more) than Patrick's own. The Wall, Banning Sanctuary Cities, Liberal Agenda(s) are all discussed. Not sure who's running against him either, but he's really put out the ammo to any takers.*

I do feel Ted Cruz has something to worry about. Beto O'Rourke is really catching fire with progressives, and above all he was the reason Dem turnout was so high this time. Cruz still has the strength of running as a Republican in Texas, with the added bonus of being on the ticket alongside Abbot & Patrick. But what was once a cakewalk is now more like being the caboose to a partially loaded coal car and a steam engine. To my knowledge, Cruz hasn't started running ads.

*In a related story, Land Commissioner George P. Bush (aka "The Brown One") has been running ads boasting of an endorsement from Donald Trump (wait for it) JR. Said endorsement is a Tweet saying something along the lines "George P. Bush really helped us in Texas!". Yeah. Although I now read Two-Scoops has offered his own endorsement, possibly just to show up Jr. again.

you can't understand the contempt that parents of those children have for The System

counterpoint: those parents cannot understand the contempt that I hold for them

today I learned that when I said "a significant chunk of Republicans" I secretly meant every Republican in the world from now back to Abraham Lincoln

he was the first one, you know

freed the slaves

xposts

There are 33,619 private schools in the United States, serving 5.4 million PK-12 students. Private schools account for 25 percent of the nation's schools and enroll 10 percent of all PK-12 students. Most private school students (79 percent) attend religiously-affiliated schools

the URL has "facts" in it so you know it's right
http://www.capenet.org/facts.html

I do feel Ted Cruz has something to worry about.

He doesn't. Beto's awesome. Inspiring. He has zero chance of beating Cruz. I'm going to let myself get my hopes up anyway, because what could feel worse than what happened in 2016? Everyone hates Cruz. But Rs vote for the R, not the person. Soon, I expect to hear a bunch of Democrats start tearing O'Rourke apart, talking themselves into not voting for him. My prediction is Cruz beats O'Rourke 52-45. Close, for Texas.

...and Cruz is also quite possibly the luckiest motherfucker who ever lived.

well, yeah, he got to live in Texas

As in th UK, it’s not about the percentage of the general population who pay for/attend private schools, it’s about the percentage of the group who set policy/generally run things being privately educated (and how that affects attitudes toward and the shaping of public schools). The latter percentage is MUCH higher than that of gen pop, and the ideologues running down public schooling favour privatisation of education.

the URL has "facts" in it so you know it's right
http://www.capenet.org/facts.html

gonna not click on this and assume it's a Cape of Good Hope FAQ

latepass but

people don't buy american cars outside the US because, outside the amazon reviews for household gadgets written by people who are worried about "toxins", "made in the USA" is not a synonym for quality and hasn't been for 50+ years.

― 𝔠𝔞𝔢𝔨 (caek), Sunday, March 4, 2018 8:52 AM (eleven hours ago)

you guys actually bother to ever look stuff up?

This statistic illustrates the number of cars sold by Ford in the United Kingdom (UK) between January 2014 and December 2017. With more than 333 thousand units sold, Ford was the biggest car seller in the UK in 2015.In 2016, the sales numbers dropped from the previous year but Ford continued to perform as one of the strongest car manufacturer in the UK, selling more than 318 thousand cars etc etc

― It's not delivery, it's Adorno! (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Sunday, March 4, 2018 9:15 AM (eleven hours ago)

There are a couple of private schools where I live (which has a good school system and in particular a stellar high school and super high taxes that fund it) and the handful of nutballs who pay the high taxes and *still* send their kids to private school seem to do it for good (or at least, not terrible) reasons. I have two friends we've known since (Montessori) pre-school who helped establish further elementary classes there, so their kids have continued on in Montessori rather than pop into the public system (curiously, both have boys already in public middle school, so we get to watch the experiment play out in real time). The school is great and we loved it, too, and I'll be first to concede they are getting a great education, but the numbers bear out that when a private school or otherwise better prepared kid enters the public high school (which is their plan, since the high school is great), the numbers soon even themselves out. Other people we know going to private school, there's one family who felt their public school wasn't attentive to their gifted and talented super kid, so they send him to a neighboring village for a progressive private school. Same with friends with a transgender daughter, who tried in public school (where their other two kids are) but couldn't make it work out and decided to send her to the same very progressive private school, which is understandable.

The key is that all these folks are sucking it up and still paying the super high taxes while sending their kids out of the system, which really actually benefits the community, since the kids still live and participate here and the parents pay into a system they don't really use. On the other hand are some parents pushing lately for a charter school, which is some bullshit, because they think their kids are special enough that they need their own separate school (for various reasons, not all ill-intentioned) that nonetheless siphons public funds. Fuck that.

We have a Catholic school or two around here, but my understanding is that a lot of their students come from nearby elsewhere, and not where I live. I don't think I know anyone who sends their kids to Catholic school.

"And without middle-class participation, the public schools are poorly funded and poorly administered. "

I know that this is the case, but I still don't get why this is the case. If this is true (and it appears to be, everywhere), this means the school itself is too underfunded by the state. It should not matter how wealthy the populace of the school is; the school should be funded well enough to run independent of PTA and parent participation. Right? Maybe I'm saying something obvious.

In california schools with a significant number of children on the free lunch program get a bump in funding (our son's elementary school lost that funding in his last two years basically because the income levels of the population rose so much).

I had to unfollow Ned on twitter for unironically RTing Joy Ann Reid, an unforgivable offense given what she tweeted recently about the striking WVA teachers

Since I missed that -- I don't follow her and have no inclination to, the post was RTd into my feed -- I just took her separate sentiment re the Philando Castile fund as it is. Which struck me as true.

Fair enough.

what did she tweet? I saw this: "Meanwhile, teachers in West Virginia are on strike for better pay and healthcare. If they start voting for politicians who actually support those things, look out GOP." which, I'm not seeing what's so terrible about this.

this means the school itself is too underfunded by the state. It should not matter how wealthy the populace of the school is; the school should be funded well enough to run independent of PTA and parent participation. Right? Maybe I'm saying something obvious.

Schools are funded ~10% by the federal government, ~45% each by state and local taxes. This is the cause of massive inequalities in funding. PTA/parents pay for 'extras,' but they don't form a line In school budgets. On the whole, PTA and parent participation magnifies the effect the local tax burden. High local taxes are correlated w/ high parent / PTA engagement. Low local taxes are correlated w/ low parent / PTA engagement.

is there a good link for Oklahoma donations yet?

Public education from pre-K through graduate / professional schools is horrendously underfunded throughout the country. It’s stupid and immiserating and obvious to almost every single person in the country.

However, like maintenance spending on infrastructure, the political rewards for fully funding education are seen as minor (read: “not worth it”) and they take longer than most terms of office to be realized. So again, as with infrastructure, there are perverse incentives to do new things and potentially highly disruptive things, but not to do simple shit like pay the fucking teachers a living wage and buy them some goddamn books and pens.

Aargh that first paragraph is terrible I need to not multitask while writing

xpost

My question is still this: "High local taxes are correlated w/ high parent / PTA engagement. Low local taxes are correlated w/ low parent / PTA engagement" and why is this? It shouldn't fucking matter. Is this reflective of the voting base? I suppose partly it is; Berkeley, for instance, passes a supplemental funding bill that comes out of our property taxes all of which goes to fund schools (how they spend it is another matter that no one agrees on, but it does get passes, or has been passed, fairly regularly). Maybe I've answered my own question.

I also cannot type or make coherent sense this morning. Good thing I'm not on twitter like the presidetn.

One of the least known (by the public) and most catastrophic SCOTUS decisions:

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1972/71-1332

Absolutely. It shouldn't matter. But the same advantages that make a district high-income in the first place are the ones that encourage effective parental interaction w/ the providers of their childrens' education. These things include the quality and extent of the parents' own education, economic and geographic stability, common language, community health, privilege of hiring teachers appropriate to their community (i.e. not under-trained white do-gooders right out of college), etc., etc...

Jesus christ. Thanks for the link, Alfred but...jesus christ.

I don't recall that even being touched on in my college educational policy class.

seconding the ty for the link. i feel like a fool for not coming across oyez.org before! that is an incredible resource. *bookmarked*

One of the least known (by the public) and most catastrophic SCOTUS decisions:

https://www.oyez.org/cases/1972/71-1332

― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, March 4, 2018 10:52 AM (fourteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

*sees link, sees Alfred posted it*

this better fuckin be saisd v. rodriguez *clicks* fuck yeah

fun fact 1: i teach in the school district from which demetrio rodriguez filed the original suit in 68 which was spurred on by student walkouts. its 50 years later and our school is still 98% latinx (<1% white)

fun fact 2: saisd v rodriguez was the first case heard by all 4 of nixon's SCOTUS appointees (they all voted in the majority obv), initiating the reversal of decades of progressive jurisprudence

what did she tweet? I saw this: "Meanwhile, teachers in West Virginia are on strike for better pay and healthcare. If they start voting for politicians who actually support those things, look out GOP." which, I'm not seeing what's so terrible about this.

― akm, Sunday, March 4, 2018 11:40 AM

there are like 10 things that are terrible about this just like everything she ever says. she is an awful human being. misplaces blame for low pay/inadequate healthcare coverage on teachers for their bad voting decisions, or assumes that there were politicians available to them to vote for who would have given them those things. implies voting is more powerful than going on strike when obviously striking has done more than voting for hypothetical politicians has ever done for them.

also, plenty of WVa people have responded to remind her that many of the issues the teachers are currently facing originated with Dems like Manchin

exactly. i'm a government employee making way less $ than i should be and someone once told me it was important to vote for governor to get a raise but they forgot that most of our pay freeze issues started with the last shitty democrat governor.

yeeeep

fun fact 2: saisd v rodriguez was the first case heard by all 4 of nixon's SCOTUS appointees (they all voted in the majority obv), initiating the reversal of decades of progressive jurisprudence

― NBA YoungBoy named Rocky Raccoon (m bison),

yet Powell and Blackmun became "moderates" because Reagan's picks were even worse! It's insane.

I think teacher pay is also massively misunderstood and/or spun by districts, politicians, and pundits for the purpose of union-eroding. The semi-decent "average teacher salary" numbers that're busted out during each contract negotiation are essentially a mean total compensation package per full-time employee in each district. In other words, if a district announces their "average teacher salary" as $50k/year, what they are actually saying is that an average teacher paycheck in the district compensates the employee $50k/annum (less employees' mandatory health-care contribution, less mandatory 10-15% retirement/pension contribution, less insurance share, etc., less uncompensated classroom expenses, less taxes) and so an 'average' teacher might end up w/ $35k. However, the "average teacher salary" is far more than the majority of teachers in a system teachers make; it sure as heck ain't a median teacher salary. When you figure in longevity increases and incentives for additional degrees, it means that professionals at 15-20 years in their career are making (in total compensation) 1.5 x 2 as much as new employees on the top line of their pay check, and losing a much-smaller overall proportion to health, pension, insurance, etc.

However, the "average teacher salary" is far more than the majority of teachers in a system teachers make;

I don't know if this is still the case, but in our district schools that are less economically diverse, which is to say, relatively more affluent, are actually often at an academic disadvantage, because funding for kids who need more help reading or whatever does not kick in. So the more economically diverse school - again, relatively speaking - often might get 2 or 3 reading specialists, and our school, which is relatively less economically diverse, might just get one. Which is I suppose the way it should be, but just because a school is more or less economically diverse does not necessarily equate to a proportional number of kids who need extra help. For example, the better off school might have just as many kids who need extra help, they just don't get the funding for it because they are better off. And none of the schools, at least our district, is radically better than the other.