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In reply to the letter below, I wanted to say that teacher's unions fight for
the children and the poor in the community. Teachers are paid less than
almost any other profession. They often times work in dilapidated buildings
without the resources some of us take for granted, computers, phones and
sometimes pencils and paper, when the budget runs out.
The attacks on teachers and teacher unions are attacks to hurt children and
the poor. I have no problem with home schooling, but money earmarked for
public education (basically education for the poor) should not be taken away.
A flat tax rate only helps the rich.
Sincerely, Neil Brick
Here are excerpts from an article I wrote:
Charter Schools are a Mistake
In many charter schools across the country, teachers are denied the right to
bargain, due process and tenure. This often means that schools can fire
teachers without just cause. Some charter schools pay teachers as low as $9
an hour, with no benefits or overtime. One study has shown that in 10 of 11
of its schools, special education students constituted only 3 percent of the
student population as opposed to 10 to 13 percent in the public schools and
the 3 percent received only minimal services. (NEA Today Vol. 17, No. 7) As
an article says, "for-profits in Massachusetts tend to treat disabled
students as liabilities, and to serve "a lower percentage of students in the
moderate disability categories than do local districts." In many
cases...(they) actively discourage disabled students from attending..."
Teacher unions are one of the few voices left in this country fighting
policies that hurt children and the poor. Teaching jobs cannot be
downsized, or shipped overseas. Charter schools can effectively, (by helping
to weaken teacher unions,) at least in part, help eliminate these voices.
Teachers are already one of the lowest paid professions in the country and
most teachers are not paid for vacations or holidays
It sounds very strange that the way "to reintroduce the arts into the
public schools" and the way to "cure...ailing public schools" would be to
fund charter schools and in essence take money away from the public schools.
Many public schools in the poorer districts are severely under funded. Many
school buildings are in horrible condition and special education programs are
stretched to the limit, in part due to the increase in numbers of special
education students due to cuts in social services (which can cause poor
prenatal care, homelessness, etc.). The real solution is to pay teachers a
living wage, not one where many teachers need to work a second or third job
to survive, and to fund public schools properly, so that we can actually
afford to have our own rooms and teachers for the arts.
I am strongly for innovation in education. But teachers in the public
schools are often so overworked and underpaid that it is almost impossible to
do more than to teach the standards required by the state. Better pay and
improved teacher-student ratio numbers would allow teachers to implement
innovations. Better funding would allow us to do what the charter schools are
doing, without offering the low teacher wages that many charter schools do.
By funding charter schools, we may not be allowing those that need the money
the most, the poor and developmentally disabled students, from receiving the
services they need. We are in actuality taking more away from them.
I strongly urge everyone reading this article to write your elected
officials as many times as necessary to not only vote against the proposed
increase in charter schools, but to demand that charter schools are either
eliminated or are required to be part of the public school district in the
towns they are in. That way all students, regardless of economic income or
ability level, will receive equal and fair services.
Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1999 00:59:25 -0700
From: Bard <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Bauer: Home Schoolers on 'Cutting Edge' of Education
U.S. Newswire
24 Sep 15:30
Bauer Says Home Schoolers on 'Cutting Edge' of American Education
To: National Desk, Political and Education reporters
Contact: Tim Goeglein of Bauer for President 2000, 703-933-2000;
Web site: http://www.bauer2k.com
WASHINGTON, Sept. 24 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Republican presidential
candidate Gary Bauer, in an address to the Home School Legal Defense
Association at Constitution Hall here today, said that home school
families are on the cutting edge of American education, and that all
families need and deserve a major tax cut.
Bauer said it is unfair for families to continue to pay taxes,
while corporations pay none.
"Parents are children's foremost authority, and their first and
best teachers," said Bauer. "They should decide how and where their
children will be educated. Washington-based one-size-fits-all federal
education programs cannot substitute for the love and care of
parents.
"The home schooling movement gains legitimacy every day because it
is truly on the cutting edge of American education. These good and
decent people are educating their children in such a way that, when
tested, the kids often go two, three, and sometimes four grade levels
ahead of other students at the same age.
"American families are doing great things, and they need even more
freedom from government. Families deserve to keep more of their
hard-earned tax dollars, and they need that tax relief immediately.
American families deserve a 16 percent flat tax and an immediate 20
percent cut in the payroll tax.
"At least one of my GOP rivals says that families should continue
to pay taxes while corporations pay none. I say that reasoning is
backward. It is time to level the playing field: if families pay
taxes, so should corporations. That is basic fairness," said Bauer.
Bauer served as undersecretary of education and later chief
domestic policy advisor to President Reagan.
"When I served as undersecretary of education with Bill Bennett in
the Reagan Administration, I saw first hand how destructive the
federal bureaucracy is to our education system. I believe that the
most important thing we can do to improve education in America is to
take power away from the government and give it back to parents.
Home schooling is just one avenue where that happens.
"For too long, government bureaucrats and teachers' unions have
dictated education policy from Washington, often omitting children's
most important advocates, their parents. As a result, our children's
learning has taken a back seat to increasing bureaucratic control.
If elected President, I will begin to reform America's education
system and back programs and methods, like home schooling, that work
overwhelmingly," said Bauer.
Unlike the Republican and Democratic Party front-runners, Bauer has
committed to eliminating the U.S. Department of Education. Bauer is
also committed to giving parents a choice in how their children are
education by backing tuition tax credits; ensuring that taxpayer
dollars get to the classroom not the bureaucracy; ending federal
testing and national standards as one more way for Washington to
dictate education policies to local school districts; and standing up
to teacher unions.
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