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"Like it or not, there's no such thing as a school that couldn't do a better job educating kids with more money. It does take money to teach kids. The more the better."

That's absolutely farcical, and further, is demonstrably untrue. And the argument about public vs. private here doesn't wash, because the rankings for school spending and test scores don't even take private schools into account. The rankings for dollar per kid are for public schools only.

Washington D.C. spends more per pupil than any other major city, and far more money than most states. And yet they have arguably the worst school system in the nation. And if you look around the country, you'll see that in terms of dollars-per-child, most of the worst performing systems are those with the highest average spending. Money will not fix schools. Period. If you're spending enough for books, teachers, and keeping the lights on, then the success of your students depends overwhelmingly on factors completely unrelated to cash. While DC spends more for less results, Utah public schools spend less than anyone per pupil, and yet has test scores and graduation rates well above the national average. So D.C. spends money comparable to many fine private schools, and they still stink, while Utah public schools spend a pittance. Again, money is not the problem here.

And BTW, it's not like the US is skimping on education spending when compared to our competitors, either. The US is third globally in spending-per-pupil, far ahead of other countries that regularly beat us in math and science scores, like Germany and Japan. Only Austria and Switzerland spend more per child, so again, the notion that "more education money = always better" is just flat wrong.

"Anybody who parrots the right-wing talking point that the problem is teachers unions has never taught in both public and private schools."

Unions by themselves are not the only problem, but they are a big one. And I come from a family of teachers in both public and private schools. Go to a unionized public school and take a private survey. Ask how many teachers send their kids to non-unionized private schools. You're going to be surprised just how many do. Many teachers join the union because they basically have to do so to get a job at a public school. Further, every boneheaded "reform" of the last 50 years... new math, whole language instruction, bussing students, etc, were all firmly backed by the teachers unions. Any real reform... pay for performance, charter schools, making it easier to fire bad teachers, etc, have all been fought with a scorched earth campaign by the same unions.

" She went to public schools here in Chicago and got a first-rate education (she's in grad school now). "

What a shock. The daughter of a professional academic does well in school wherever she is. No one saw that one coming. I mean, it had nothing to do with parents that expected her to perform, right?

"The problems are many, but at the top are funding,"

Again, bull.

"shitty parenting"

We agree on something

"a growing socially and economically-impoverished underclass (thank you Ronald Reagan)"

We've always had an underclass. We always WILL have an underclass. That's humanity. That's never going to change. And yet we never had the systematic problems in school with that underclass that we have now until the 1960's. I look forward to your explanation of how Ronald Reagan is responsible for that, or how he caused black kids to decide that academic success is "acting white", or how despite the fact there is more opportunity to better yourself than in any time in history... more colleges, weaker entrance requirements, more pell grants available... some kids just don't give a ****.

"that is increasingly anti-educ

The PDF you linked looks like stimulus dollars from DOE given to states. I know nothing specifically about school funding in CO, but I'm guessing that Federal funding is a relatively small part of the big picture. They could still easily be 49th in per-student funding. Maybe that's why they got so much stimulus money.

... 1 hour later ...

I did a little research on the Internets, and turns out per-pupil spending is hotly contested. In my search, no less than 12 states proudly claimed to be in the bottom 3 in per-pupil spending based on whatever data they could find to support their case to get more money. Interestingly, Colorado didn't seem to be one of those. Utah, however, was consistently last so apparently they must hate education there. Either that, or they've figured out a way to do it cheaper. East coast schools are highest, probably because a box of chalk and a ream of paper cost $426.39 in Manhattan. I'd be interested to find a ranking of funding adjusted for cost of living. At any rate, according to this set of rankings from 2001-2002, Colorado is number 34.

While I agree that there is tremendous waste in Public School Administration, I strongly disagree with your statement, "Schools get a fuckton of money as it is."

If you take a look at:
http://www.epodunk.com/top10/per_pupil/index.html

You will see that most states spend less than $10000 per year per student, before the current economic downturn and budget cuts. One thing that is not accounted for in this information is that it assumes perfect attendance. For every day that a student is not on campus in class, the school loses money. A parent who pulls their kid from school to make a long weekend or to make Thanksgiving a week long vacation instead of the 4-5 day weekend that most schools take is taking money out of the hands of the school.

I also noticed that some of your are under the misconception that teachers are paid enough as it is. Yes, teachers are paid a living wage. However compared to their peers with similar education, job experience, and job responsibility, teachers of all levels are grossly underpaid. This remains true even when you factor in all of the "vacation" time that teachers get. Most teachers I know (and I am one too, former High School, now Adjunct Professor), work in one way or another during these so-called vacation times. During Thanksgiving and Xmas break, most catch up on grading, plan for the coming term, etc. Many during summer break, take classes to keep their certifications, or teach summer school to make ends meet.

Do not ever think that all teachers have it soft. Most teachers are very dedicated caring involved individuals, it's the few that make the news that give the rest a bad name.

Actually, Hicksville has only 5,003 people in it as of 2000 (http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/popInfo.php?locInd ex=274281).

I grew up in a neighboring city (Defiance).

Looks to me more like a list of rural states and states run by commie, leftist, reglation happy, business killing liberals from the population densities. You reap...

Weather: Hell

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/weatherInfo.php?loc Index=55275

I suppose some facts were overlooked in deciding the cause of his violence.
"Neher, whose mother has a mobile home parked on Gore's property, and Hunter Everette, 17, of Denham Springs, were booked with first-degree murder and armed robbery on Wednesday."

"The estimated population, in 2003, was 9,204."
"The number of violent crimes recorded by the FBI in 2003 was 174."
"The violent crime rate was 19 per 1,000 people."

Must be alot of gamers there!

Reference

As for DEC and DG, the sticks maybe, but Yahoo maps sez that beautiful downtown Maynard is all of 23.2 miles from I'm-sure-equally-beautiful downtown Boston -- a 45 minute drive, close enough that I'm sure many DEC employees lived in Boston.

I looked in EPodunk.com and found that in Maynard, the median value of a home seems to be $188,000, while in Bloomington you're looking at $119,000, a difference that would buy my admittedly-kind-of-ratty rowhouse in Baltimore (our median value is apparently $69,000, by the way.)

But again, my point was that the arrogance of blingToad's post wasn't justifiable -- tech companies have prospered away from high-profile universities.

As for DEC and DG, the sticks maybe, but Yahoo maps sez that beautiful downtown Maynard is all of 23.2 miles from I'm-sure-equally-beautiful downtown Boston -- a 45 minute drive, close enough that I'm sure many DEC employees lived in Boston.

I looked in EPodunk.com and found that in Maynard, the median value of a home seems to be $188,000, while in Bloomington you're looking at $119,000, a difference that would buy my admittedly-kind-of-ratty rowhouse in Baltimore (our median value is apparently $69,000, by the way.)

But again, my point was that the arrogance of blingToad's post wasn't justifiable -- tech companies have prospered away from high-profile universities.

As for DEC and DG, the sticks maybe, but Yahoo maps sez that beautiful downtown Maynard is all of 23.2 miles from I'm-sure-equally-beautiful downtown Boston -- a 45 minute drive, close enough that I'm sure many DEC employees lived in Boston.

I looked in EPodunk.com and found that in Maynard, the median value of a home seems to be $188,000, while in Bloomington you're looking at $119,000, a difference that would buy my admittedly-kind-of-ratty rowhouse in Baltimore (our median value is apparently $69,000, by the way.)

But again, my point was that the arrogance of blingToad's post wasn't justifiable -- tech companies have prospered away from high-profile universities.

Well, wadda y'know:
  http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/weatherInfo.php?loc Index=55275

You're right!

It is currently about 67F.
Here's the 5-day forecast.

Here's the current weather in Hell.

That's why towns like Lakota changed their name during WWI

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genealogyInfo.php?l ocIndex=7436

--probably the only /.er from Westmoreland KS (population 631).

Seems that Alviso is in the San Jose-Sunnyvale area of California.

As for the population of Alaska... well, Anchorage clocks in at 260,283. Not bad, really, but I live in a metro area population of 7,000,000... so those figures cited above can be what is expected.

I wonder if the parents of students in the inner city are laughing or crying when they read about this lawsuit. "Hah! Our kids have a tough time getting textbooks, and the parents in Oak Park are worried about wireless networks?!"

When I lived in that area I could recognize roughly 90% of the vehicles I met on the road. The driver (and passengers) of 90% of the vehicles on the road would wave back at you. I still can recognize most of them or at least the driver. I know I'm getting close to home when I can wave and someone waves back. My town had community ice cream socials and bean feeds every year and nearly everyone would show up. The town would all but shut down for a funeral because we all knew one another. If you were the victim's family, the other community families would bring you enough food for a week. If you were ill, you were inundated with get-well cards. The town triples in size when there is a Liebau, Miller, or Conklin family reunion. The Liebau family has a barn dance every year (although there isn't much dancing any more); everyone is invited; almost the entire town attends. My grandmother used to teach in a one-room school house about 4 miles from town. She taught the local preacher in that school house and his sons in the new school many years later. That preacher laid her to rest 2 years ago this week in our town cemetery. My grandfather was a "handi-man", combination electrician, plumber, carpenter, and mechanic. He worked in that town and the surrounding counties for years and made a good living. He didn't even need to be bonded or certified for people to hire him. Knowing him and his family personally was enough. Seeing a dozen horse trailers lining the side streets near the local cafe in the early morning is a common scene. Seeing someone wearing chaps, cowboy hat, cowboy boots, spurs is a as normal as seeing a mud-covered tractor driving down main street. I used to ride my horse, Jingles, up and down the streets of that town all day long and no one batted an eye. Trick-O-Treaters didn't have to be escorted by parents. Parents didn't have to worry if Pearl Stauffer, my old babysitter and the old woman on the corner, gave out homemade popcorn balls. They knew it was ok. On a summer night you can hear the crikets, coyotes, and the train going through Moline eight miles away.

Do you get the point I'm trying to make here?

The size of your town is relative only to your own perspective. Don't assume that we all share the same viewpoint as you.

PS==> This article isn't in the "mac" section. It's in the Apple section.