Some things never get old, and other rumors

I was glancing back over some of the archived posts today. We've written a lot in the last year and a half. Impressive. Anyways, I couldn't resist linking to this at least one more time from Dusty's name.

he he he.

Is this really my voice?


From "All Things Considered": June 20, 2006
According to a study published in Education Week, no more than 70% of current 9th graders will graduate from high school. Only 75% of white students, who have the highest rate of graduation, will receive a diplomma; black students graduate from high school at a rate closer to 50%, and latino/a students do slightly better than their African American peers. Graduation rates are lower for boys than for girls, and (of course) they are significanly lower for children from lower economic classes.

This is huge. We're not talking about "higher education" here; this is high school diplommas. What kind of work can a person get in the States without a high school diplomma? Not much. You can't even enlist in the army without a high school diplomma or GED. And they definitely won't have jobs that provide healthcare benefits, childcare, retirement. That means an increase in the problems we currently have with healthcare, education, and social security. Not to mention the increased difficulty of civic responsibility (voting etc) for a person without a basic educataion. Quoting the constitution of the State of Texas (1866): "A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, it shall be the duty of the Legislature of this State to make suitable provisions for the support and maintenance of public schools. " The State of Texas, along with its 49 peers, is currently failing this task that is essential to the preservation of its citizens' rights and liberties.

Why isn't education a "moral issue" or a "family value"? Why are our legistatures spending their time debating same-sex marriage and flag burning? It's absurd. It's immoral. It's ineffective. If you want to protect families, educate their children. If you want to protect a country, educate its citizens.