There is only one way to improve public education in the US: get rid of the both the Dept of (bad)Education and the teacher's unions.
On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 5:09 PM, Ohio mark <[email protected]>wrote: > > Last month, Toyota made a decision that didn't get a lot of press, > but > sent ripples of concern through state houses across the South. > > The Japanese auto giant announced that it was going to bypass offers > of > hundreds of millions of dollars in "recruitment > incentives" (corporate > subsidies) from several Southern states, and would instead set up > shop > in Ontario, Canada, which was offering much fewer give-away's. > > The decision to head north was an embarrassment for Southern states > eagerly competing to lure Toyota, on several levels. Not only did > they > lose a trophy job-creator for their state.. But the reason Toyota > gave > for the move was especially damning: > > "The level of the workforce in general is so high that the training > program you need for people, even for people who have not worked in a > Toyota plant before, is "minimal" compared to what you have to go > through in the southeastern United States," said Gerry Fedchun, > president of > the&nb sp; Automotive Parts Manufacturers' Association, whose members > will see increased business with the new plant [...] > > Several U.S. states were reportedly prepared to offer more than > double > [the] subsidy [Southern states were offering]. But Fedchun said much > of > that extra money would have been eaten away by higher training costs > than are necessary for the Woodstock project. > > He said Nissan and Honda have encountered difficulties getting new > plants up to full production in recent years in Mississippi and > Alabama > due to an untrained - and often illiterate - workforce. > > In Alabama, trainers had to use "pictorials" to teach some > illiterate workers how to use high-tech plant equipment. > > Starting with Alabama's successful bid to lure a Mercedes plant in > 1992 > with an incentive package that eventually cost over $300 million in > tax > breaks and other give-away's - while the state's education system was > under court order for lack of funding - Southern states have shoveled > billions of dollars to huge foreign automakers, turning the South > into > the "new Detroit." > > But now companies are waking up to the limitations of locating in a > state that cares more about handing out tax breaks than investing in > its people. > > Unfortunately, state leaders haven't caught on - > indeed, states like North Carolina expanded their corporate give-away > programs in the last legislative session. > > > > > > -- *~@):~{> --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
