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Tax-Free PC's in Pennsylvania
tennisc writes "Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge proposes giving consumers two tax holidays on the purchase of new PC's. Wow! I hope all states take up the challenge!" Most of my friends in Philadelphia head down to Delaware to buy a computer, since there's no sales tax there, and it's only a 40-minute drive. This is still cool, though.
Now all those Amish can set up the Beowulf cluster of their dreams.
this sig limit is too small to put anything good h
I think that the article is a bit vague...
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This tax-free day brought to you by the number 2, the letter P, and the word POLITICS!
Politics (pa-li-ticks) adv. Taking advantage of voter support by helping yourself only, or helping yourself by helping others.
This is peace of mind that there _ARE_ politicians (just one?) in this world that care about people other than themselves! Somebody send him a thank you note for this proposal! ;) ... of course, there will be many politicians who will strike this proposal six-feet into the ground -- all in an attempt to gather support for their "cause" (whatever that may be, no matter how selfish)
Blah.. blah .blah..
?Dela-where jokes are nothing as bad as us Arkansas get.
But then, you don't get to give people strange looks when they say "Ar-keen-saw! Wharez that!?"
I think it is high time that American citizens (appologies to all non-Americans, please ignore this post) wake up and recognize the monopoly that is hiding under the name of "Government." The Government has repeatedly used heavy handed methods, and the "crafting of laws" favoring their monopoly on tax collection.
They make it impossible for honest, greedy businesses to levy taxes on the American Population. They have shrouded themselves under the "veil of law" in order to protect their draconian method of denying competition. These strong-arm tactics have hit me--being a small business owner--and stopped me from introducing a new alcohol tax. (Tell me that isn't fear of competition). I call for the American people to stand up and demand increased competition for the levying and collection of taxes.
This lifting tax for short periods of time amounts to a scheme to trick comsumers. Very soon that tax will come right back, along with the total lack of free competition.
We all know Slashdoters hate monopolies, right?
No Text
Have a Happy.
If Virginia wore Maryland's New Jersey , what did Della Wear?
I donno, Alaska? (I'll - ask - ya)
What do you mean, "state"? Delaware is one of those cough-drop sized countries in eastern Europe, right? Wasn't it the assassination of Arch-Duke Franz Ferdinand of Delaware that started World War I? Or maybe I'm thinking of Serbia? Or the War of 1812? Christ, I just don't know.
We're going down, in a spiral to the ground
you cant be my friend.
nyah.
As my lab science teacher said, "I should hit you with something ugly!@#$"
:)
Cause that's horrible
There's a HOWTO document we can really use - how to get our local knuckleheads to come to whatever senses they may have and impliment the same policy? My guess would be to point out to computer companies that their sales would probably double during that two week period, just because of the sale frenzy factor, not to mention that more people would have to have the new model when it comes out. Then they could exert some pressure... Or I suppose the honest way would be to point out that whoever implimented it would probably seal up about 99% of the computer diehard votes for the next round of elections, as well as coming off as being in favor of education. The possibilities are limitless! Of course, you can lead a horse to water...
When I was a little kid (first or second grade or so) I thought "Arkansas" was pronounced "Our Kansas." This had special meaning for me because I believed, for whatever reason, that the state of Kansas belonged to some other country and that Arkansas belonged to us (meaning the United States.) I also believed that "Utah" was a nation-state like Vietnam where wars were being continually fought (to this day, the word "Utah" brings visions of air-raid bunkers to mind for no apparent reason.) Seriously. Of course, this was in the middle of the Vietnam conflict, and it was before I had any real geography education.
:)
What makes a person remember weird shit like this?
Sorry all, I made a mistake with the moderator points and need to post in this thread to undo.
Well, this was a joke my US History teacher told the class .. I refuse to take credit for this ill-humored joke ;) .. I give credit to my US History teacher and disclaim all heart attacks due to yourself not having a sense of humor below-sea-level.
Heck, this is the teacher that told the class Eli Whitney's friends used to hide his licquor in his fields on his plantation. And he would come out and say "Hey, where's my cotton pickin gin?"
He's also the same guy that told us: Thomas Jefferson was ALL FOR THE FARMER .. yes, that's right, he felt they were outstanding in their fields (out standing in their fields) :)
blistering lips touched the empty bowl in search of temporary relief from the self imposed prejudices hung by outer hatred
When you can order all the parts online, assemble them yourself, not pay any sales tax and not get ripped off paying too much for crappy hardware anyway.
-W.W.
"Well it should be obvious to even the most dim-witted individual who holds an advanced degree in hyperbolic topology...
This promotes technology and the growth of the Net. I wish they did this in all states as well as other countries. What a way to encourage your people to go out and buy a computer. Politicians take note.
www.mumia2000.org
I would like to beg all legislators not to pass this bill I've got enough work as it is.
I live in West Chester, PA; south west of Philadelphia. I am about 20 minutes from Delaware so I usually head there for big equipment. This saves me the drive. /.ers forget that the Internet population is a VERY tiny percent of the US population, let alone the world. Heck, lots of people do not have cable, let alone Internet access. Technology shouldn't be for the haves and not the have nots; it should be for everyone. Isn't that what Open Source is all about?
I don't understand why he doesn't go all year. Granted, PA would lose a lot of money from the lost taxes. I think that it would gain more, though.
Getting people to buy their computers in PA rather then "down south" will help the economy in the Philadelphia area. You can't imagine how many Philadelphians head to little D for big ticket items.
Making it eaiser and less expensive for people to get computers is a good thing. Sometimes we
There is no reason that we do not have a $50 computer. I used to have a 386 that did everything I needed: games, programming, office apps, internet (such as it was at the time). These days, people might pay you $50 to haul a bunch of those systems as scrap. There are uses for these systems. Properly set up with good code, you can do a lot with these machines. So if a 386 can do that much, think about what $50.00 of computing power should be! And you thought that those $500 PCs where cheap...
-- soldack
Delaware, that's where Atlantic City is, right?
that way i can smear raisins on my chest and do the macarena without spending too much money
Republican Senator John McCain (R-AZ)is running for President. Republican Gov. Tom Ridge's (R-PA) name has been being bandied about as possible vice-presidential material for a while now.
John McCain makes his opposition of internet-commerce tax a major plank in his platform. Gov. Tom Ridge comes out with a "tax holiday" for buying PC's...
Hmmm....
These comments and opinions are mine and mine alone, although they shouldn't be.
Does anybody else notice that PA seems to be trying to actually gather more technologically-minded people in their area? Is there a reason? Are they not fulfilling their FBI/CIA quota now? Do they think that by drawing techies and hackers towards the city, they'll improve morale and also maybe up their FBI/CIA output levels? Does anybody think that this post is useless?
The nice thing about an across-the-board sales tax is that it doesn't distort the economy; it just applies a small uniform drag to everything. Now the Governor of Pennsylvania is going to artificially assist the retail PC industry (relative to everything else). As if computer-related industries hadn't got enough artificial assistance in the last few years.
--Seen
"I used to be a dilettante. Then I thought I'd try something else for a while."
I think this is probably an indicator that government is trying to get poor people on the net too. A study done recently indicates that the biggest determining factor of poor vs. middle-class in the US is the ownership of a PC. with tax incentives, this makes it a little bit easier for the less "fortunate" to purchase a box.
You're right though - i don't think they can allow mainboards and processors, etc. etc. to fall under the same category. Then you run the risk of having to make very subjective determinations. You think our elected officials even know what a mainboard is???
FluX
If it's a penny for your thoughts, and you have to throw in your two cents - who's getting that other penny?
"It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once." -David Hume
This is discriminatory! It only applies to Personal Computers. It does not cover RISC workstations such as SPARCs and to a lesser extent, macs. This should apply to all computers. Heck, might as well apply it to Playstations too. I shouldn't have to pay sales tax on my next UltraSparc if someone else doesn't have to on their next pc. AC, wishing he could afford a nice US 80. :)
i wonder what computer companies he and his buddies own. nope. probably own part of some telecom co. 8.3million in tax losses == 83,000 new internet subscribers * $50/month. there it is right there! more welfare for the rich, wrapped up as a benefit to the middle class. what a crock!
if a politician really wants to help computer users, how's about working on the abolition of software patents.
and yeah i am a part of the bougeuoise (sp? again) masses in this country. i just work for myself, or is it just the illusion of being self-employed? either way, don't start flaming up calling me no hypocrite. i ain't falling for the man's feeble attempt at the ole' jedi mind trick. =) not this time, anyway.
cat
Delaware, that's where Atlantic City is, right?
No, that's New Jersey. As in, "Atlantic City, New Jersey."
You are totally correct. Sales tax is kind of like someone making you pay for a service twice. In fact, that is exactly what it is. I don't understand why many businesses are able to provide similar services in some areas as the government without using all sorts of strange double payments. I just wish I had one tax (I really wish that I that didn't have any taxes...one can dream can't he? ;-) ) that I could figure out with pen and paper in about 2 minutes. What did I make? X. What do I owe? Y% * X. That's all. No loop holes, tax brackets, marriage penalties, limits or anything like that. Just one simple bill. I can handle that. Tax code? The tax code should be an Algebra 1 problem. That's all.
-- soldack
No, that's New Jersey. As in, "Atlantic City, New Jersey"
.. do you mean that New Jersey is real? It's a real place? I was under the impression that New Jersey was a fictional place for parents to frighten children with (kind of like hell.) "Eat your beans or we'll take you to New Jersey!" they would threaten. Are you telling me that New Jersey is real? It actually exists? Are you sure? Shit, what a mindjob!
Holy shit
Tom Ridge is very outspoken about technology in general. He really wants to keep people who are experienced with computers in Pennslyvania. Too many people who know about technology leave Pennsylvania for better places to live suchas California, and that is what he refers to as the "Brain Drain."
However, my question for him has always been, what is he really doing about it? For example, I am a student at Penn State and our computer science program accepts only 100 students per year. I think it is hypocritical to complain about a "brain drain" and then have an under-funded compsci program at the largest and most funded university in Pennsylvannia. Other universities that are near high-tech centers, generally have large computer science programs, ie. University of Maryland - College Park has a program with over 1000 students, which is only a gridlocked beltway drive away from Northern Virginia.
Oh well... he just wants to get re-elected... hypocrite.
Ben
This proposal, while mostly laudable, won't stop another type of flight to Delaware. I speak of laws of incorporation.
Look at Delaware. Look at how many corporations are incorporated in Delaware. Notice anything? There are lots. Why is Dupont incorporated in Delaware? It certainly isn't because Delaware is rich in petroleum.
The reason is Delaware, as a small state, can afford to have fewer or less restrictive laws on subjects like these, because what would have an insignificant economic effect on the economy of a larger state like Texas or even Pennsylvania would have a quite significant effect in Delaware. If one of the requirements for incorporating is to produce several hundred jobs in the local state, then that is actually a meaningful contribution to Delaware's economy.
States like Pennsylvania can't compete with states like Delaware (just as Massachusetts can't compete with New Hampshire) on the subject of taxes. Being a small state means requiring much less tax revenue, which means it can get away with fewer taxes (of course). Whereas Pennsylvania might temporarily boost revenues or boost economic activity by temporarily lowering or eliminating taxes on items like PCs, Delaware can do so on a permanent basis without many reprocussions. This is inevitable.
"If one is really a superior person, the fact is likely to leak out without too much assistance" -- John Andrew Holmes
It wouldn't really matter to me. I build my own computers, and I usually order the stuff from out of state so I don't have to pay tax anyways. Would definitely be nice if I ever did decide to buy a pre-made rig though...
"Most of my friends...it's only a 40-minute drive." Oh boy!! By the time you drive there, waste 3 hours or so of you life, fill the car full of gas, grab some white castles, and deal with your annoying friends...I bet saving the sales tax is worth it huh?
perhaps if gov. ridge offered this only saying, "we're losing money to delaware because everyone in eastern pennsylvania is buying their computers there," or, "if you mail-order a computer, there is no tax. this is to give local businesses a chance at that business," i wouldn't complain. but, the article clearly states, "The tax-free holidays will give families who cannot normally afford the $1,800 average cost of a computer and related equipment to purchase them without having to pay the state's 6 percent sales tax." there is no mention of the opportunity at buying lower cost machines because, of course, this isn't the market ridge is aiming to help. and, the 6% becomes more negligible at $300 ($18).
if ridge were really interested in helping to give families that couldn't afford the computer a chance, perhaps he would say for two weeks the tax collected on computer sales would be alloted to families that can't afford, but are interested in buying. or maybe, for two weeks, the tax collected on computer sales will go to putting new computers in inner-city (or under-privileged) schools.
*sigh*
matt from pittsburgh, pa
You're absolutely right. I go to school in the hometown of Gov. Tom Ridge and just completed a semester long course on his political career. We met with him in person, and one of his prime goals is to bring the "rustbelt" areas in Pittsburgh into more modern times by attracting high technology firms. A Technology scholarship was just introduced that gave grants to college students under the stipulation that they would remain in Pennsylvania to work when they graduate. The "brain drain is pretty significant, so much so that the Secretary of Education himself has 4 out of 5 children living/working outside of PA. Ridge pretty much said that he wanted Pittsburgh to be the next Silicon Valley.
Unless you live in a state with no sales tax, you must pay it. If you mail order or go to another no sales tax state to buy stuff, you must report to your local gov't and pay the use tax. If you don't, you are guilty of tax fraud and will go to jail.
you don't pay a microsoft tax. Nuff said.
Virginia is a goddamned whore.
Man, I don't know about you, but I could sure use a nice frothy glass of horse cum!
It's no secret that Ridge, that failed miserably to get his school voucher plan passed. Even though he tried every scheme in the book, the people of Pennsylvania refused to let him do it. Ridge is now looking for a way to sound like the candidate, George W Bush that promises to give huge budget breaking tax cuts, even though most Americans feel it is more important to pay off the debt and preserve social security/medicare.
There is a lot of talk about Ridge expecting to be
George W. Bush running mate. However, Ridge, like Bush has not accomplished anything except turn Pennsylvania into the King of Trash, yes Pessnylvania takes in more trash from other states such as New York than any other state in the union. Ridge believes this is the best thing for our economy, while it forces people to move out to get away from all the landfills.
Pennsylvania, like Texas are both doing well these days because the entire national economy is doing
better than it ever has. Neither has new or onovative ideas that will work, as posted earlier,
the 6% sales tax is NOT the reason people can't afford $2000 computers. However, it will get Ridge attention, and now he can say he is moving into the next millinium promoting technology...
and some people will actually believe it
>>>please remove "nospam" from email address
John Engler was just in DC predicting hellfire and damnation if this nation doesn't get a handle on tax scofflaws. Thought the IRS was just the agency to do it.
I was just at the AFT web page. The median pay for teachers in Michigan is $55,000, and thirty five brand new schools just went up in the area in the last five years. He cries poverty, but Michigan is doing reeeeally well.
We don't need more stinkin' taxes.
Does my employer's Sun Enterprise 10000 count as a PC? Would the Sun Ultra2 on my desktop count?
Or is a PC defined in the popular sense - as a computer running Windows?
About a year ago the government in Sweden decided that to increase PC-usage in sweden we had to reduce prices. The consept works like this. The employers lease PCs to their employees for three years. Instad of paying cash for this to the employers the ammount of mony is drawn from the salery befor tax. this gives a downcut by 20 to 60 % depending on the tax you pay. It also reduces the "arbetsgivaravgiften" that the employers pays becouse he doesn't have to pay as much salery. This gives another 20 % discount. The ammount that is drawn from your salery is quite small so that the diffrnce in the wallet is about 15 $ a mounth. This caused a lot of people to buy PCs and after this the PC-market has inflated becouse almost nobody needs to buy a pc.
I don't care, tom ridge is still an idiot.
Why is Dupont incorporated in Delaware? It certainly isn't because Delaware is rich in petroleum.
Well, DuPont made all of its money initially from gunpowder. Not oil. Sure, it had that whole Conoco thing going for a while, but that's the past. On a side note, DuPont has always been a leader in, say, nylons. That Carruthers guy was pretty useful. And DuPont makes Kevlar (bullet-proof vests), Teflon (Kevlar-piercing bullets), and myriad other useful synthetics. So remember, the next time you think of DuPont, think of that magic word that people here in Delaware associate with DuPont: Downsize!
...buys a computer from a brick and mortar store anymore?
it would hurt small dealers, who would not be able to afford to have the large stock on hand for the two special weeks of "no tax" purchases. Politics, gotta love it.
Why must you left wing types always polarize issues as the "rich" and the "poor". You fail to realize that there are a whole lot more shades in between. In any case, %6 is %6. The "rich" that you speak about are hardly going to get up in arms paying 240 dollars on a 4000 dollar machine, particularly when you consider that those individuals likely to buy a high end machine, and pay a premium for the latest and greatest are likely to have significantly more disposable income than the "poor". You might question the governor's thought process here, but it's unfair to banter about those kind of words.
Furthermore, I tire of all this crap about "computers in the classroom". When most of these inner city kids can't even read and write half decently, why are you worrying about whether or not they have computers? What about getting decent teachers first? Merely throwing money at the issue is not going to solve it. If anything, it distracts from the real problem.
Well... believe that this isn't an entirely altruistic move on Ridge's part... you've got to remember that Ridge is in favor of school vouchers, and is VERY anti-public schools at the University level. I don't really think he's the kind of person that would be all that supportive of Linux and Open Source software in general.
Now if only there was no tax on cheese steaks..........
and gnupc.com is based in PA too!
I still have my Chester County Interlink account. I have had it for over five years. It is a great freenet and has some great people associated with it. A great gift to Chester County from ESR. Thanks!
As for the drivers Mr. Anon E. Mus, they are going very well. You are now looked at a post from the co-creator of one of the fastest FibreChannel card/driver around!
-- soldack
I can't speak for the eastern portion of Pennsylvania, but ever since the steel industry fled western Pennsylvania the economy has been slow. Few have the extra money to "blow" on a PC. Very few in rural areas (which there are a lot of) have experience with computers making them rather intimidating. The idea of this plan isn't to give everyone a tax break on the machine of their dreams (Sparc, Alpha, etc.). The point of this is to make PC's just a little more affordable for the struggling folks. Giving young children the opportunity to become familier with and maybe develop an interest in computers they might not otherwise have. When people think of PA one of the first things that come to mind is the Amish population, who in our area don't use electricity of any sort. Gov. Ridge is trying to change the image popular image that PA is still stuck in the iron age by producing a "crop" of technically educated kids. PA has seen a large drop in population in the past few years partly because of educated people leaving due to the lack of high tech industry. Producing educated individuals is the first step to making an area appealing to an industry. Pittsburgh is trying to pick things up and are off to a slow but good start.
This is the same Gov. Ridge who made an all-encompassing deal with the devil, er... Microsoft. C.f. this old
Ridge is a moron who tries to appear as a technically adept person. Pennsylvania doesn't need tax free computers. Pennsylvania needs broadband access and more technical industries.
There are no decent high tech industries here at all and without high speed access PA will never attract startups.
Whoopie. A whole bunch of consumers with their tax-free computers and their ancient and slow dialup connections.
state.pa.us? Sorry, remote host is not responding...
All editorial writers ever do is come down from the hill after the battle is over and shoot the wounded.
Normally I do not like to make sweeping generalizations. However, when I hear people utter loaded phrases (e.g., "governor ridge once again tries to give a tax break to the rich while keeping up pretences...") like that, I will give them a little taste of their own medicine. In other words, when someone resorts to that kind of language they are classifying themselves. If he merely disagreed with the Ridge's actions I would not attack him.
So sue me, I use colloquial language on slashdot. *Gasp*. Speaking of black pots, "alot", eh?
Certainly you wouldn't try and argue the results of public education in urban settings (though not exclusively urban) isn't a problem at all. Would you? You might debate the cause of the problem, but not the existence of the problem itself.
As it happens to be, I know a few school administrators and teachers in a few large cities, namely, Seattle, Philadelphia, and LA. Most all would, and have, agreed with me. Furthermore, look at the damn statistics. The problem is self-evident to virtually anyone that knows what an education is, and is remotely familiar with the system. In addition, the teachers themselves have suprisingly mediocre test scores.
Do I believe in Free Teachers? No. But I ask you this: Why is it that Catholic schools do a better job, under just about any measure, with significantly less money per head, in the same neighboorhoods, with essentially the same group of students? They pay their teachers less. They don't have a zillion and one adminstrators and counselors running around eating up resources. They don't have these impossible unions to deal with--so they're free from having to mandate things like teaching degrees (not to be confused with a real college education).
To be perfectly honest, I spent most of my childhood in private school (though not all). I can tell you with absolute certainty that these teachers got paid far less than any public school teacher. This is true at all the private schools too, even the most "elite" (e.g., Andover, Exeter, Lakeside, Episcopal Academy, etc.). Yet these private schools generally attract and retain higher quality faculty. They don't require silly teaching degrees. Instead, they have teachers with mostly meaningful 4 year degrees at good schools. It's not about the money. In addition, it is a little known fact that most of these schools actually spend just (sometimes slightly more) as much per student than public schools.
At one particular private school that I attended, we had worse facilities than many public schools, and certainly fewer computers. In addition, we also had less money per head (it was a growing school, without these secondary sources of financing that many schools enjoy). Guess what? We did every bit as well as the "elite" schools when it came down to it--certainly far better than the public schools. Many alumni are also working in the high tech sector and software industries. Call me old fashion, but I believe that a student who is educated traditionally (without any emphasis on computers) is far better equipped for the "information age" than these students at schools that pay a great deal of attention to these latest technologies, while neglecting the fundamentals. One reason for this is that, as we all know well, technology changes every day. You'll never be able to teach students the exact system that they'll be using 10+ years later. Instead, you should try to equip them with the tools to learn, like the ability to read a manual, the ability to think critically, the ability to teach yourself, etc.
Over the years, I've come to the conclusion that money is not the answer for the public school system's ailments. You might try to argue that these private schools simply have more "professional" parents. It does not explain the success of the kids on scholarships at private schools. Nor does that explain the Catholic schools, even though their success isn't quite on par with the private (non-parochial) schools--it is still worlds better than public schools (to avert any flames, this does not include many of these wealthy suburban public schools). I've seen too much money wasted (In fact, I've already heard a few about wasted computer money from my friends at these schools). My concern is less my own wallet, than it is simply the fact that in worrying about computers excessively they inevitably get that much further from a solution.
okay, let's count: one . . . uh . . . come on, guys, there's got to be more than one of you here. somebody?! ANYBODY?!
jesus, it's like the day after the pod people took over. i'm all alone in here, just me and the hive-mind! helllloooooooo! [. . . ooo . . . ooo . . . [echoes, get it?]] . . . HGELP! HGHGHLELLELPPPP!
AARRTHGHTHRHGHTHRHGHGHAGHAGHAGHAGHAHGHGHGHGHAAAAA
<i>THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!</i><br>
<br>
<br>
THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND YOU!
The hive-mind joggled my elbow and shattered my composure. Therefore did I neglect to switch from my default "Extrans" to "HTML Formatted" (yeah, it's still my default -- I'm lazy) and so the tags came out, like, all literal and what-all. Terrible, terrible.
ummm, see subject
;)
he's probably not at the top of McCain's list
Spend a little less time listening to Rage Against the Machine and and a little more time reading about what really happened.
-uberfetus, philly native
Are you going to tell me that the entire public school system has to be mediocre on the aggregate, merely because they can't be selective? What about Europe (though I do realize they're less "forgiving" in many ways than American education, atleast if you want to follow a particular path)? Japan? You'd have to ignore their success. What about American public schools of yesterday? Why are our averages slipping? I don't buy that our children are just getting dumber. Nor do I believe Americans to be any dumber other nations.
In regards to private schools, most are not nearly as selective as is widely percieved. Granted, many private schools are somewhat selective, atleast when it comes to remedial students. To write it off their success to the natural intelligence of the students is a mistake. Furthermore, it would be difficult to claim that the private schools have a lock on "intelligent" students--or even most of them. Quite the contrary infact, when it comes to "natural intelligence", the best at private schools are no better than the best at public school. Also, there are selective public schools. The charter schools are selective, yet they've only had limited success.
On the other hand, I do think the fact that public schools have to find seats for all students is a contributing factor. But it is not a sufficient excuse. It is the way the public schools react to these children that compounds the problem. If a kid is acting up, you kick him out of the class. You do what you need to do, but it's not fair to allow a couple bad eggs to drag the entire class. I realize that the teachers and the adminstration have their hands tied to some degree, but that is part of the problem.
I personally feel that cause of the majority of the "bad" / "dumb" children is more the result of developmental problems (nuture, not nature) than it is genetic problems. Furthermore, I think that schools have a hell of a lot more say about this than they're given credit. If you allow students to fall hopelessly behind and graduate them perpetually, regardless of their learning the material or not, they're going to be hopelessly behind come 10th grade (I believe maybe even permanently). I believe most of these kids can be sufficiently educated before they reach that point though. Again, I'd refer you to most of Western Europe, Japan, and even those few good public schools in American suburbia (though you can argue their parents are "better" influences).
In any case, the public schools have many different problems to contend with. I do not believe more funding is a solution to these problems. Likewise, if these children can't handle even the most basic of an education, I don't see how anyone can reasonably expect them to be productive with computers. I'm not an "expert", for whatever that is worth, but I know this much to be true....
And just because someone duck walks and quotes the Mein Kampf doesn't mean they're necessarily Nazis either; that doesn't mean they deserve much better.
;)
Anyhow, in regards to education, I agree with you that standards are slipping across the board, and that it is unacceptable. However, the slippage that you see at private schools and good suburban schools is of a vastly different nature (and cause) than what is typified in most inner-city public schools. The source of the problem in private school is more a slow perversion from what an education is considered to be; instead of an outright loss of control (like many public schools). Most students graduating from private school have a decent shot at getting into a good college. They atleast conform to certain CURRENT social expectations (e.g., acceptable reading, writing, etc), that allow them to land professional jobs.
Having been to numerous private schools (I've made a few moves), and being very familiar with many more, I can tell you that you're overstating the problem at private schools. First off, most children at private school don't have that kind of money, not to where even 5% of the parents are making significant donations. While I have seen a few cases of private schools extending slack to students of particularly wealthy students who donate, there is normally some sob story (BS) to accompany it, and it's relatively rare. I would not say it is a systemic problem by any means.
In addition, i'd be the first to tell you that private school students are not exceptionally smart (on average, "genetically"). However, I will say that students' intelligence is essentially distributed the same way it is in the public schools. What sets these students apart from public school is not innate intelligence, it is their education system, and their approach to it. The approach i'm referring to is a certain desire to succeed, atleast within that particular framework (e.g., getting an A, for whatever that means). In other words, they're "upwardly mobile" or "professionally oriented".
Most inner city (yes, yes, I know) public schools have problems through and through. From teaching, to administration, to discipline, etc. Thus when I hear Clinton get up on a podium, and tell us that we need computers in the class room or the inner city (etc.) children are going to get "left behind", I get a little bit annoyed. These same kids already are being left behind, throwing computers at them isn't going to make them read and write any better. Unfortunately, until they acquire these basic skills, computers are entirely besides the point.
Anyhow, that caffeine is wearing off, pardon me if I'm somewhat incoherant/non-linear sounding at this hour. Good night
PS:
I live just outside Philly,
Where are these "closing" Catholic schools? In any case, their dollar/student ratio is much lower than public school. The Catholic schools can't merely raise tuition such that their dollar / head ratio could even approach that of public school.
What do you expect at a small private liberal arts school in suburbia? I'm partially kidding. Still, I hardly think they're particularly representative of the "average" or "better" private school student. Even if 90% of such schools are private school students. =)