Klarinet Archive - Posting 000338.txt from 2004/05

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: RE: [kl] Re: re: no one left behind
Date: Sun, 16 May 2004 17:48:55 -0400

At 11:51 AM 5/16/2004 -0400, Karl Krelove wrote:

> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Eric Bell [mailto:bell@-----.net]
> >
> > My belief is that EVERY child is entitled to an appropriate education and
> > that every child can learn. It isn't easy- and ultimately won't be cheap
> > to achieve this.............
> > Take Care,
> > Anne
> >
>I doubt if anyone really disagrees with you in a general way. But it's the
>expense that sends most people into their respective camps. This can't be
>done on the income from local property taxes (the predominant way of funding
>public education in the U.S.), which sets up a competitive situation that
>shouldn't exist between parents and advocates of "normal" kids and those of
>"special needs" kids, whatever the needs may be. We can all knock our own
>and each others' heads against the wall until the system is simply too
>paralyzed by lawsuits to function meaningfully, but until the problem of how
>to finance our ideals has been grappled with and solved, we will continue to
>waste time, money, breath, internet bandwidth and every other resource
>arguing about who deserves, who is guaranteed, who needs, and who ultimately
>gets the best education possible.

Believe me, the combination of gambling revenues and sales taxes (as in
Michigan) doesn't work, either! The one advantage property tax has is that
the tax base is relatively stable. When the economy turns downward, the
sales tax revenue drops right away, and causes havoc in the school funding
system. The "promised" per-pupil state grants can't be funded, and the
schools are simply told to make do with less! I'm no fan of property tax,
either, but education is crucial. It really must have a high enough
priority that its funding is secure, one way or another.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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