Taking Election Day OFF?

[California Girl]

They're afraid of riots. WTF!!!!!!

I know there are some extremely well informed high school students out there, but really, do they (the school) think that the majority of high school kids care enough about the election to riot? I'm with you, Deb. WTF??????

[cypressgirl]

Actually the kids in my daughters classes (not to brag, but she's in all AP classes, nothing like her average mom) are really into this election. Her school is 86% white. Her best friend is a black guy and I love him to death, so please don't call me racist (not you CG, just anyone in general) because I quoted a stat. I'm sure it's a district wide policy, but it sure seems stupid.

[flip-flop]

Our local schools are closed on the day prior to and on election day itself this year. At least in our county the schools serve as polling stations and that is why they close, not just in this election but in prior ones as well.

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[Terry]

Excuse me? Our underage voting population is losing a day of education when they cannot vote? Count how many days your child's teachers are already out of the classroom during the course of a school year.

I appreciate the kids being involved in politics during off school hours. But WE cannot afford for them to have more hours off of learning.

"One full year of every students K-12 education is taught by a substitute teacher"...Utah State University, Substitute Institute.

[flip-flop]

Excuse me? Our underage voting population is losing a day of education when they cannot vote? Count how many days your child's teachers are already out of the classroom during the course of a school year.

I appreciate the kids being involved in politics during off school hours. But WE cannot afford for them to have more hours off of learning.

"One full year of every students K-12 education is taught by a substitute teacher"...Utah State University, Substitute Institute.

I think teachers have one of the toughest jobs in the world and are vastly underpaid for their contribution to society. While students here are out Monday & Tuesday, perhaps I should have added that those days are teacher workdays.

Fairfax county is ranked as one of the top 5 school systems in the country, so I am not so worried about kids missing two pre-planned days of school that were scheduled to avoid a mess at public schools as people go to the polls. Most polls are in the cafeterias and gyms and I personally feel a lot better to not have 100s of people trapsing through my daughter's elementary school while she's there. I think it is more a matter of logistics and safety than anything.

[California Girl]

Now that totally makes sense. If the polling place is at the school, then students should not be present. But I'm still baffled by the riot thing.

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[soxfan22]

I am done.

This statement was made on page 3, this is page 5. What happened?

See CG, you have to continue to needle.

If you would've read my posts since I said I was out (BTW - if everybody on these threads were held to their word on not posting about politics anymore, well, we wouldn't be posting about politics anymore).

I responded to flip because she asked me a direct question.

Next time I will run it by you first for your blessing.

[flip-flop]

Fairfax county is ranked as one of the top 5 school systems in the country,

Flip - I would like to see your source of data for this statement.

I should have said Virginia -- but it still holds true for Fairfax county, probably more so.

One source is a January, 2008 Quality Counts report, a publication from the group that publishes Education Week.

See http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 01058.html for more.

Another source is US News & World Report. In its first-ever ranking of "America's Best High schools," the mag ranked Fairfax County's Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology as the top high school in the United States. Two other Fairfax County Public Schools, Langley High School in McLean and Oakton High School, are in the top 100 as ranked by the magazine. These are all public schools.

Time magazine called Fairfax County "one of the great economic success stories of our time." Business growth helps Fairfax County fund public services such as a top-ranked school system that improve the quality of life.

Specifically for Fairfax county from public statistics:

91.2% percent of high school graduates continue on to some form of postsecondary education.

The dropout rate for school year 2006-7 was 1.67%

FCPS students in the class of 2007 had an average combined SAT score of 1639.

In 2007-08, 63 percent of graduates earned advanced diplomas.

The number of FCPS students taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams rose from 10,313 in 2002 to 29,575 exams were administered in 2008.

Our schools are great. Fairfax county is a very wealthy area and I am pleased my property taxes are going for a good cause. Greater resources translate to better schools. I am not trying to demonstrate that other school districts are inferior, just that I am not personally concerned about my kids' education being impacted by a couple of teacher workdays.

[soxfan22]

Greater resources translate to better schools.

Not that this will come as any shock to you, but other than man induced global warming, this is the biggest farce propegated on the US public these days.

John Stossel did a great report on 20/20 about this a few years ago titled "Stupid in America".

A couple of excerpts:

Ben Chavis is a former public school principal who now runs an alternative charter school in Oakland, Calif., that spends thousands of dollars less per student than the surrounding public schools. He laughs at the public schools' complaints about money.

"That is the biggest lie in America. They waste money," he said.

To save money, Chavis asks the students to do things like keep the grounds picked up and set up for their own lunch. For gym class, his students often just run laps around the block. All of this means there's more money left over for teaching.

Even though he spends less money per student than the public schools do, Chavis pays his teachers more than what public school teachers earn. His school also thrives because the principal gets involved. Chavis shows up at every classroom and uses gimmicks like small cash payments for perfect attendance.

Since he took over four years ago, his school has gone from being among the worst in Oakland to being the best. His middle school has the highest test scores in the city.

"It's not about the money," he said.

He's confident that even kids who come from broken families and poor families will do well in his school. "Give me the poor kids, and I will outperform the wealthy kids who live in the hills. And we do it," he said.
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American schools don't teach as well as schools in other countries because they are government monopolies, and monopolies don't have much incentive to compete. In Belgium, by contrast, the money is attached to the kids -- it's a kind of voucher system. Government funds education -- at many different kinds of schools -- but if a school can't attract students, it goes out of business.

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This should come as no surprise if you remember that public education in the United States is a government monopoly. Don't like your public school? Tough. The school is terrible? Tough. Your taxes fund that school regardless of whether it's good or bad. That's why government monopolies routinely fail their customers. Union-dominated monopolies are even worse.
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Oh - and I can't wait til government run healthcare is implemented.

Link - http://abcnews.go.com/2020/stossel/story?id=1500338

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[California Girl]

See CG, you have to continue to needle.

I only asked a couple of questions. I'm sorry if you perceive that as "needling".

[Jan&MikeVa]

I WILL NOT ADD MY POLITICAL VIEWS. But I must mention that my "small business" has suffered a terrible downturn these last 5 weeks. NONE of my employees would appreciate a "day off" from work. They would give anything for a 40 hour week right now. They all know that I will give them plenty of time off to vote, and still do their job for a day. WHO in their right mind thinks that small businesses can afford to pay their employees for a day off????????????

My only opinion is that MOST of the people that get this time off are NOT in the business of MAKING money, just spending it. My business is a "service business" and most people right now are not spending. This is the worst we've had it in 25 years, even worse than after 9/11. Shows that "real" people are losing "real" money.

My employees are suffering right now, they would give anything to work!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm not happy that someone proclaiming to be the future leader of our country suggest that folks take the day off.......................seriously out of touch I'm afraid.

[JT]

In Montgomery County. MD virtually all of the polling places are in schools. I'm in my mid + 50's and they've been closed on election day since before I started going to school.