Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1 6/24/83; site decwrl.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!floyd!harpo!decvax!decwrl!rhea!vaxuum!dyer From: dyer@vaxuum.DEC (Where's the falafel?) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Abolishing Public Schools - Additional Views Message-ID: <6310@decwrl.UUCP> Date: Mon, 19-Mar-84 12:48:31 EST Article-I.D.: decwrl.6310 Posted: Mon Mar 19 12:48:31 1984 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Mar-84 02:04:06 EST Organization: DEC Engineering Network Lines: 82 ~~~ Just to throw some more thoughts into this topic, here's a discussion that's happening on the E-Net here at DEC. <_Jym_> | Jym Dyer | Nashua, New Hampshire | ...decvax!decwrl!rhea!vaxuum!dyer | -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 18-MAR-1984 22:34 BABEL::BISHOP_2 So what if private schools divided kids? What's so wrong about that? And so what if the poor don't get good schooling? Why does their poverty constitute a claim on me? I'm not even sure they'd get poor schooling anyway, as we have good evidence (past history) that good schools can be cheap. -John Bishop -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 18-MAR-1984 23:04 PYGMY::BOEBINGER "what if the poor don't get good schooling?" I assume you are speaking with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Either that, or Ronald Reagan got in this file. If the poor get poor schooling, they tend to stay poor. Then they either turn to crime or revolution. Try to think of the bucks you pay for someone else's education as fire insurance, if you can't see beyond that to what a well educated society does for everyone. john -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 18-MAR-1984 23:17 PYGMY::BOEBINGER Actually, this deserves a bit more than that. According to a rather exhaustive study done by Dr. James Colemen called "Equality of Educational Opportunity," the major factor contributing to quality education was a proper mix of students from varying socioeconomic backgrounds. The second factor was how much was spent per pupil for education (after factoring out varying costs of living). If you have a school that is made up of predominently socioeconomically disadvantaged students (75%+), then it doesn't matter how much you spend. Their education will suffer. If you get a proper mix, then you don't have to spend as much. The rationale for this (the study was performed empirically, and the results surprised everyone, so the rationale has nothing to do with the results) is that the students who came from advantaged backgrounds stood as role models for others, and because they got exposed to a wider range of the population, they learned to appreciate their own experience. That is the danger of private schools (and the Trojan horse the right wing has introduced - the voucher system). It tend to It tends to stratify society even more than it is now. By continuing the isolation of societal elements, and even enhancing that isolation, we are in danger of becoming a nation of castes. Is it truly our wish for the future that our children learn that the way to live is to live and learn apart? john -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 19-MAR-1984 01:14 ALIEN::TODD Hear, hear! Take this NOTES file as an educational system in a microcosm: it's educational for me to find out that even within the DEC 'caste' there is a WIDE divergence of belief on some fairly basic social issues - and it seems implicit that anyone contributing to this file must believe that the airing of such widely divergent ideas serves some purpose. - Bill -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- 19-MAR-1984 10:44 PIXEL::DICKSON Where does divergent beliefs and social backgrounds influence the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic? -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Mon 19-Mar-1984 12:54 Zen (not EST!) Time