Maggie's Farm

Given their family's well documented fear of the Chicago/Daly political system--how did the Kennedy clan decide which to choose? What criteria were they using?
1. Obama is not as bad as those who run the Daly City political machine.
Or,
2. Obama is the baddest of the bunch and therefore the clan will be again rewarded for supporting the bad guys.

What was the reason for their support of Obama?

Dear Meta:

With regard to your comments on the "education" page. You state a very important fact. And, we commend all teachers for that incredible effort to educate the masses. HOWEVER, clearly the system is broken. I believe that there was a "convergence" of events that led to the system we are in desperate need of repairing.

First. The decision to bus white kids into black neighborhoods in order to integrate. Schools are not about integration--they are about education. ALl of that money used for busing should have been put to work in those schools in the black communities!!! Teachers should have been rewarded for taking those "more difficult" posts.

African/American parents should be rewarded when their child shows up clean and ready to learn. Hell, we'll feed the kid as part of the deal--but, contempt for education on the part of the black parent cannot be tolerated anylonger.

The development of "non-meritocracy" as a legitimate outcome is really the design of an excuse to cover the problem!! It allowed/enabled the teacher with an ethical sense of responsibility to "pass through" the non-achiever without remorse...

We have many good hearted teachers in my family. All of whom have been told to pass a failing student through the system.. Sorry, that is an evil far more destructive than seperating groups and treating them according to THEIR situations in order to get the same result: an 18 year old who can read, write, and do mid level math. Such is not always the case with students coming in to university here.

Forgot to mention that a philosophy of "passing through" evolved to protect the employment status of the teacher--a union goal.

I do believe that experienced teachers' salaries should be on a par--let's say with your local state legislator. However, we have come to a place of "fair wages" by travelling down the wrong avenue.

I followed the trail you provided Leag. Interestingly enough it came to this place:

http://www.csgv.org/site/c.muLYJ7MMKrH/b.2607897/k.C29E/Donate.htm

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page, you will note they maintain to "entities", it looks like a wonderful set up for "blending" funds -- where the money for a non-profit gets used to lobby for political agendas. Gun rights advocates should be investigating these two "entities" quickly. I would imagine a quick search on Guidestar might produce some interesting leads!
What's good for the goose . . .

Sorry Meta, did not mean to disturb you. When I was a young mother I worked tirelessly to get bussing into our system. It was a mistaken solution. We should have gone into the problem of educating poor people. That is to say if our focus was on finding ways to make certain they got the help, the money, the buildings, etc. to ASSURE a quality education in their communities, we would have been addressing the right question.

I realize that coming off of the email page, it might sound racist--but, that is not my intention. My intention is to put the important assets where they are needed.

In MS, for example, the school system has been so degraded that for years white parents have been using private schools. These are not racists--these are people who work tirelessly in blackcommunities, they volunteer time, money, etc. But, the problem is getting the African/American parents (like Bill Cosby says) to come to the door of the school house with kid in tow. That is to say the parents must support the effort to educate, or everyone looses. If these children are hungry, or poorly clothed, then we should take care of these problems--IF they are actively engaged in education! That is the trade off! I ahve seen far too many poor communities in this world where the children live in conditions much worse than MS, or elsewhere in this country. But, the moment they have a chance at education those poor, illiterate parents make every effort to make it happen for their children.

In WA state a brand new elementary school was built--all the bells and whistles. It was touted as a truly "international school". This school was built in a university community. The expectation, the hope if you will was tthat the Asian students would pull the African/American students along with them; much like in the old fashioned one room school house model. Then reality hit: the Asian parents realized their kids were not moving along as rapidly as they needed to, and that their children were having to spend too much time on "team work" with fellow students, who did not have the same study environmnet at home. Consequence: the Asian families have moved out of the school, either by enrolling in private schools, or moving to other neighborhoods. Sorry, Meta--the time has come to realize that our best intentions have not always provided the best solutions.

If by "Special Ed" you are speaking of children with physical, or mental handicaps(medical issues) yes, of course it is nice to see the regular kids helping them, and we should encourage that behavior in all . However, living in a poor community is not a medical issue--in my mind it is not "special ed". Perhaps, we need a category titled "poverty ed" then we could focus on the true and unique parameters of THIS particular problem.

Best,