You are big on approval ratings. Most focus on results.
Violence in Virginia
- Thread starter benko's army
- Start date
Jebus but do you toss out a lot of straw men. I never wrote "only Republicans join the military". We could cut our military spending by over 80% and would STILL have the largest military budget in the world. Spending money on the military that could otherwise be spent on paying down our debt or on infrastructure or on education etc etc hurts the United States as well.
Dip,
I have tried on a number of occasions to ask Liberals to discuss the issues of just why they are against
President Trump's agenda. I got zero answers ! Nada !
No one mentions that President Trump with a great Marine General leading the battle against ISIS
In Iraq and Syria has just about wiped out their " Caliphate ". Obama's " JV team " that made Obama
Look like a laughing stock as ISIS murdered and beheaded thousands of unarmed Christians when the
Murderous SOB's rolled through Iraq at will.
The Liberal media never called Obama out on this ! It just did not fit their narratives!
They never ever mention the Great job that General Mattis is doing ?
Of course ISIS is still a Terrorist group as evident by Barcelona. I think it would be a good idea for
the Spanards ( and All Europe ) to go back and take lesson from their past history and start a new
" Reconquista " !
The " Manchurian Canditate " left President Trump a mess in Iran and the Middle East.
North Korea ( Thanks to B. Clinton, Bush, and then Obama ) really left President Trump a
terrible situation. Sooner or later, we must face up to it , putting our heads in the sand and talking about
" Peace in our time " never worked in the past and will not work now !
Getting back to our domestic situation: In the Democratic South they made a good argument
For " Seperate but Equal " schools. Now they are fighting Tooth and nail against School Choice.
Why are they against giving Black Families the right to go to any school of their choice ?
Is keeping Black kids stuck in their " neighborhood " schools " not what happened in the Democratic South ?
You are obviously not paying attention
http://www.military.com/daily-news/...rtage-grounds-most-marine-corps-aircraft.html
https://www.militarytimes.com/news/...-marines-to-raid-a-museum-for-aircraft-parts/
http://www.cnn.com/2016/07/13/politics/military-aircraft-boneyard/index.html
https://www.defensenews.com/naval/2...hirds-of-us-navys-strike-fighters-cant-fly/do you need more
As I stated the sequester cuts for defense has hurt
the military
https://www.defense.gov/News/Articl...est-threat-to-readiness-military-leaders-say/
Those Big Spenders President Bush and t President Obama didn't need to bankrupt the country, but they had to give .their hand out
Two of the worst fiscally minded presidents back to back was Double Trouble
Good Reference ! Shame how people always take away from the Military !
Semper Fi !
Ivan, where are you getting your facts? Yes, the US spends more than any other country on defense, but an 80% cut from our $611b defense budget would put us well below China's $215b budget. And, it's very difficult to know whether the China expenditure is understated.
Makes his point Tex----we need more education funding in Ivan's district. 
I don't think educational funding in any district is a priority issue with Trump. He issued a verbatim statement about how he loves the poorly educated and backed up that claim by tabbing Betsy DeVos as secretary of education.Makes his point Tex----we need more education funding in Ivan's district.
Yeah those inner city Educational Systems in Baltimore and Chicago are working out so well aren't they?
And that's something that the in the manor borne DeVos has shown precious little inclination to rectify. I can't speak much about Baltimore because I don't know the dynamics, but Chicago has been a mess because of billionaire Governor Bruce Rauner's business first policies eschewing raising any taxes for the most fundamental public needs, including education funding. Thank God some Republicans showed some cojones by overriding his veto of a desperately needed tax increase initiative (see link below). Crises in large cities are the responsibility of state as much as local governments.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...-tax-hike-budget-met-0705-20170704-story.html
Chicago inner-city schools have been in trouble way before this governor was there
though that veto was reasonable.
I have always said big businesses no better than big government.
What is the mayor of Chicago doing to help out the school system's there?
I know he wants to put children who can't read write or speak English properly in the same classes with the kids that can burdening the teachers
Islero,
I was a teacher in an inner City School 90+% Black during the Great Society ! LBJ was pouring
Billions of dollars into the inner cities and inner city schools. Didn't change a thing !
Crime and corruption and drug use was very high then and continues to be high today.
Inner city schools were the pits then and apparently still are ? Black kids who really wanted an education
Were trapped in schools with poorly motivated students and gangs. Teachers really did try to teach but
Without discipline and self motivation and parent support, education is next to impossible.
Remember the Democratic South with their " Seperate but Equal " school systems ?
The Schools were indeed Separate but certainly Never Equal !
By locking Black Sudents into Neighborhood schools is in fact keeping them Separated.
The schools are and never have been Equal regardless of the money spent !
If my kids were forced to attend an inner city school, I would pull them out ASAP, but, unfortunately ,
Most Black Families do not have the financial resources to send their children to Private or top
Flight public schools in more affluent neighborhoods .
In short, Minorities are still forced to attend " Seperate but Equal " schools !
School Choice is the Ticket for minorities to escape the Segregation and attend top Quality schools,
Private or otherwise !
Why are the Liberals against giving Minorities a chance to escape this Segregation ?
Yes, it's the inner city school system is rife with demographic problems that transcend partisan politics. It's ridiculous to think that simply because a mayor is associated with a political party that his performance in resolving a largely impoverished and uneducated population base should be a referendum on that party. Rahm's principle policies have been expanding charter schools, establishing principal and teacher pay toward class performance, lengthened school hours, and security for veteran teacher. The way you described Rahm's approach to troubled students is misleading, He's advocated having teachers with special skillsets focus on those students.
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Given Chicago's ethnic composition and the per capita income of its households (or housing projects if you must), it isn't feasible to provide anything approaching a quality educational opportunity for the masses. The problem is exacerbated by a tax system that disproportionately underfunds the city. Sprinkle in the influx of drugs and guns and you have a daunting challenge. A successful day at school in some areas is commuting back and forth without encountering violence. I don't see that as a liberal/conservative issue.
I live in a state where the inner city schools receive in most cases close to double the funding from the govt that the suburban districts receive per pupil.
Yet the test scores and dropout rates are still horrendous.
Dems fight Charter Schools and School Choice tooth and nail because they are beholding to the Unions for votes and money.
The complete and total failure of inner city education in this country falls in Dem laps.
It's not even debateable.
Yet the test scores and dropout rates are still horrendous.
Dems fight Charter Schools and School Choice tooth and nail because they are beholding to the Unions for votes and money.
The complete and total failure of inner city education in this country falls in Dem laps.
It's not even debateable.
I agree with most of what you said, but School Choice at least will give Minorities the chance to break out
of their school segregation !
I used to have to visit the home of one of the kids that I was Conseling once a week and then write up
A detailed report of each visit. I can tell you, it was not a very nice feeling driving through a completely
Black Community , parking my car , and walking up a few flights of stairs to visit a family. A strange white
Guy certainly stood out.
Especially since a riot destroyed a good part of the city the year before, but I did do the job to the best
Of my ability.
Teachers today have their hands full and at times probably seems like a thankless job especially in the inner cities. I know people like rgc, and Echo have a sense of accomplishment I tip my hat to them for that, but Democratic policies in the city have not helped the inner city public school systems from what I can tell
He is out there Broadcasting to immigrants that are not legally in this country to come to Chicago and flood the schools and social service programs.
His approach to gang violence is terrible when more people are dying in the inner cities due to gang violence than in war zones it's very telling.
I'm not sure, and maybe you are better judge about this, but it seems like it's going to take a generation to fix the problems there, and if that's the case then there will be a generation that will pay the price.
My wife's sister just retired after years in the city where she taught agricultural science at a special school on the Southside. Believe it or not there is a farm school in Chicago, which does offer an option in choice. The overall issue of school choice in Chicago is the most micro solution to a problem. Even at that, the students who get in might have to take a harrowing bus ride for ridiculously long hours.
I'm not going to go into a protracted discussion of the education issue in Chicago, but a major subtheme is the ubiquitous presence of guns and gangs. Rahm tried to get a local exception to concealed carry laws, but that was blocked. Apparently, little thought is given to distinguishing between duck hunting in sparsely populated downstate counties and overcrowded and poor urban districts.
Of cause, I am not very knowledgeable about the Chicago Area, but I did visit a few times to see friends who live in the suburbs about 20 miles or so out of Chicago in Aurora, so we were strickly tourists. Blago was the
mayor at that time, and seniors traveled free on the train in and out of Chicago.
My teaching experiences were in New Jersey, and about 20 miles from my inner city schools in any direction were a number of very affluent suburbs. I don't know how much those rich people will like to have inter racial schools, but having Minorities, strictly from an educational point of view, would certainly give The minorities
a chance at an outstanding education.
That was a joke. You had rich lawyers and doctors being eligible for the benefit while Joe Schlub rode for the regular price.
I think we need to throw more $ at the problem
. I had heard this stat before but forgot that 3/4 african american kids grow up in a single parent houselhold. I don't think things are going to change a great deal until this changes.
LOL, you mean it's too bad that anyone would think a distinction should be made between shooting at ducks in downstate Illinois or on the streets of Chicago? Trump said there was some officer he knew who had a plan that could resolve everything overnight, but for hidden reason has elected not to identify this bashful wouldbe saviour.
Freedom of speech is guaranteed by the Constitution. (With certain exceptions Even hateful speech. I do need t condone violence or what happened and when the rule of law is broken... the are consequences. But if you stop their speech... one da you speech will be infringed. It's strange how ani Semites use things Jews have crested, have Jewish lawyers defend them and Jewish doctors treat them..
Chicago education is clearly a hot button issue here.
I sent two kids through the CPS system. Both my kids turned out well.
But CPS definitely has its problems, among them is an appalling absenteeism for teachers (Close to 30% missing over 10 days in a (I think) 178 day academic year). I know from experience, that the routine absence of otherwise competent teachers was disruptive for my kids and affected how they viewed their own attendance.
I sent two kids through the CPS system. Both my kids turned out well.
But CPS definitely has its problems, among them is an appalling absenteeism for teachers (Close to 30% missing over 10 days in a (I think) 178 day academic year). I know from experience, that the routine absence of otherwise competent teachers was disruptive for my kids and affected how they viewed their own attendance.
Irish JD,
Before I left my fist suburban teaching job ( a good mix of about not quite 50 / 50 ) , I was very friendly
With a really top science teacher on our faculty. He left our school to go to the very inner city school that
I went to a few years later, that friend of mine was teaching at the middle school.
He was on the verge of a breakdown! The discipline problems in his class and throughout the
School were so bad that teaching was next to impossible.
He was a top teacher who loved to teach subject matter, but just was unable to do it !
Teaching is a very challenging job even under ideal teaching conditions, but a school without discipline is no longer A school. The teacher burn out rate is also quite high in those inner city schools.
Of course, one solution is expelling the " Bad Apples " , but society has no solution for the expelled
Students. Kids getting out of Reform schools, if they still exist, are ordered back to " School " by the
Social Workers and Judges.
Here they are Teachers ! You handle the problems, because , we ( social workers and judges )
Sure can't.
Before I left my fist suburban teaching job ( a good mix of about not quite 50 / 50 ) , I was very friendly
With a really top science teacher on our faculty. He left our school to go to the very inner city school that
I went to a few years later, that friend of mine was teaching at the middle school.
He was on the verge of a breakdown! The discipline problems in his class and throughout the
School were so bad that teaching was next to impossible.
He was a top teacher who loved to teach subject matter, but just was unable to do it !
Teaching is a very challenging job even under ideal teaching conditions, but a school without discipline is no longer A school. The teacher burn out rate is also quite high in those inner city schools.
Of course, one solution is expelling the " Bad Apples " , but society has no solution for the expelled
Students. Kids getting out of Reform schools, if they still exist, are ordered back to " School " by the
Social Workers and Judges.
Here they are Teachers ! You handle the problems, because , we ( social workers and judges )
Sure can't.
rgc,
In addition to sending my kids through CPS schools, I served for four years as the president/chairman/imperial wizard of a local school council for an "inner city" Chicago high school in a poor neighborhood (after a hotly contest public election). I understand teaching in the Chicago schools is not always an easy job. And maybe the administration should do a better job of teaching teachers how to manage stress. And yes, many of the obstacles to improving education really can't be fixed by the education system, and they probably can't be fixed by any other government agency either. But teacher absenteeism is something that should be fixable. The majority of missed days for CPS teachers are (not surprisingly) Fridays and Mondays. CPS teachers get paid vacation for Christmas break (two weeks) and Spring break (one week); and additional days off for Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving and the follow Friday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day (which is also Robert. E. Lee's Birthday), President's Day, and Memorial Day. Teachers are further relieved of the burden of having to face students in the classroom for three "school improvement days", where teachers work and the kids play at home. So in the 10 months between the start of school in September and its end in June, CPS teachers have 28 paid workweek days off, plus three school improvement days, totaling 31 work-week days where they don't have to deal with any bad apples or the stress they create.
School days, at the high school level, consist of eight 50 minute periods. Five of those are teaching periods, one is the teacher's lunch, and two are self-directed preparation periods. Teachers are expected to be at work when the first period starts, but not before. From start to finish, CPS teachers have a 7.25 hour work day. In total, CPS high school teachers spend a little over four hours a day actually engaging the bad apples. In return for their teaching burden, CPS teachers receive a $75,000 median salary, plus about $25,000 in benefits.
And I don't have any problem with that. None. It can be a very demanding job. I know teachers that have been seriously threatened (the students were tossed from the system) and sworn at (lots, but no one really cares). Both the city and teachers are represented by skilled and capable negotiators. The city has agreed to the contracts, and the teachers have bargained well. Good for them.
That said, having between 25% percent (at "nice" elementary schools) and 45% (at "rough" high schools) of CPS teachers missing more than two full weeks of work in what is already the shortest school year in the country is not acceptable. That's not the deal They negotiated the minutia of their work responsibilities, and, compared to other major cities, they struck a premium bargain without being required to deliver premium results. In return, the very, very least they can do is show up at the bargained for time on the bargain for days. That's the easiest part of the job.
I know there's a lot of things teachers can't control. I truly get that. But we shouldn't ignore the things they can. They need to show up for work just like everybody else does. In every industry - and in both the private and public sector - absenteeism lowers moral among working employees, increases management time, payroll cost, and administration costs, and it hurts productivity and services. And teaching, in particular, is significantly disrupted by a teacher's absence. It hurts student morale too.
Additionally, IMO the whole bad apple thing has it limits. One of Chicago's - and Illinois's - best performing high schools in math and science is located in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood. It otherwise fits the stereotype that frequently get tossed around. Its 80% black, 20% Hispanic, ZERO% white, and surrounded by nasty gang violence. Roseland isn't competing for the bad hood national championship, but Chicago-wise its safely in the AP top 15 and reloads when everyone else is rebuilding. The school's math and English scores are consistently higher than my daughter's former high school, which is located in Chicago's second wealthiest neighborhood (Lincoln Park - a "magnet" school with a "better" reputation). And the students at the Roseland school face a lot more community problems than those in Lincoln Park. They're still teachable.
Are troubled kids part of the problem? Sure. Their brains aren't fully developed and they have bad judgment. Two of the kids on my son's high school football team are currently in prison for murder, and it wasn't a shock. Another ran with a tough crowed and was murdered (post graduation)(his dad was at every practice and pulled him from practice when he was screwing up in school). Definitely some bad apples hanging around.
But in my experience, which I know isn't all encompassing, I found plenty of teachers that were more interested in trying to tell the principal how to run the school and tell everyone else how to change the system than rolling up their sleeves and doing the dirty work of teaching. Its like you said, teaching isn't for everyone. And if you've got education degrees and find out that the hard work of teaching isn't for you, what you do? You get a job in administration. It certainly wasn't the majority of CPS teachers. But its far easier and less costly to to expel a bad student from the system than it is a bad teacher. And I know because I've attended and been a witness in both types of hearings.
So IMO, there's plenty of well-educated adults in the education system making bad choices. They shouldn't get a pass because they have a tough job. Chicago cops have pretty stressful and thankless jobs. They deal with some pretty nasty discipline issues. They get threatened, sworn at, and much worse. I'm guessing that two months off in the summer plus another 28 days of vacation and a $20,000 raise would really boost the CPD's morale. (They get paid an average of $55,000/year).
22,000 CPS teachers, median salary of $75K/year, with two months off in the summer and 28 additional paid days off, serving the portion of the Chicago students that don't go to private schools. 11,000 CPD cops, median salary of $55k/year, with 20-25 days of vacation (depends on years of service), serving all of Chicago. I respect many of them, but its hard for me to feel bad for CPS teachers who miss work due to the stress of dealing with students.
With selective enrollment and open enrollment programs, charter schools, and private schools, less than 25% of Chicago students actually attend their neighborhood school. Thinking that school choice will somehow fix Chicago's education problems is a pipe dream.
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That was an interesting and well thought-out post to what is a complex issue, and it seems the children are caught in the middle.
I have a question. While I was in boot camp I became friends with a black young man (I would say person of color of then I'd have to go into which color).
We both went into the same MOS training in Great Lakes. He said he live not for from there, but couldn't take me, because I was white and it was very dangerous.
The name of the place was Cabrini Green.
Have you heard of this place? He was telling me the school he went to was dangerous, and the teachers were always fearful.
In an environment like that what are teachers to do?
A friend of his picked him up an I talked them into taking me to look at their neighborhood. They told me I was crazy but they took me. I had to lay down in the back when we got close so no one could see me. This was in January 1979. The apartment complex looked caged and many windows frames had no glass....in January!
After MOS I took him to my house in Alaska but warned him the only fear out here were the grizzly bears.
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Just on the topic of military spending, I would direct the Joint Chiefs and Dept of defense to present me a plan for operating at 100% of capacity in all branches, equipment and personnel; and to do so within the existing budget.
I know in the early nineties this figure was around 84%, and this simple fact had huge negative implications for the children in just about every metric, from living in poverty to poor healthcare to daily exposure to drugs and crime to school drop out, etc... The percentage of teenage pregnancies for all ethnic groups has dropped dramatically in recent years, and the long term implications of this are equally important as this will equate to fewer single parent households, etc... which has always been significantly higher for the black population. Even as a conservative and libertarian mix, I have always supported the funding of planned parenthood as prevention, not abstinence, is essential to addressing this issue at the early stages. I resent the fact that Planned Parenthood has obscured the value of their original mission with the unbridled support and facilitation of abortion. Rather than the annual exercise to defund Planned Parenthood, the conservatives who recognize the connection between single parent households, teenage pregnancy, continued poverty and the obscene percentage of eventual incarceration of children raised thusly, should come up with a better alternative for ensuring easy and free access to birth control, seperate and apart from abortion centers. Defunding Planned Parenthood is politically appealing to conservatives because of the abortion angle, but it is not a plan.I think we need to throw more $ at the problem
