Governor Deval Patrick today unveiled an ambitious education plan that would pump more money into improving education for everyone from the smallest children to college students.
Asked how he would pay for the plan, which he estimated would eventually cost $1 billion a year, he raised the possibility that the state’s citizens would be asked to pay higher taxes. “We gotta stop being afraid of that conversation,” he said after a news conference unveiling the education proposal at a Boston school.
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Wow, two days in a row. Spend, spend, spend. Is this guy out of his mind?
This guy's giving drunken sailors a bad name!
While we're at it, why not raise the minimum wage to 25 bucks an hour. Then everyone could make at least 50 grand a year.
I am all for education, but money spent is not the problem. It is the fat, union backed benefits and administrations that are killing the cow
It's about time our governer stopped being afraid of the selfish anti-tax crusaders and campaigned for sensible investments in the things that make this state work. Education and transportation are the backbone of our economy. Smart investments in education and transportation today yield big dividends in prosperity tomorrow. I'm proud to live in a state with the collective foresight to acknowledge and act on that. Keep at it Governor!
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To cut down on the high costs of public education, change the inefficiienct and unfocused system we now have.
The following is a radical solution to the bloated and unnecessary bureaucracies of not only the Boston school system but of all public schools. We should focus on the tools of learning only. Leave subject matter for the colleges.What great educator said this a century ago? I forget who but the message I don't. This would mean that the public schools' only obligation would be to teach reading and basic math (higher math as an elected option) and save a bucket of money as a swell side-benefit. Leave it to the colleges to teach higher math and science and all other subjects and let let the students graduate from the public school when they have mastered these basic skills. Get rid of the lock-down system of K through 12. Their right to graduate would be based on their achievement not years spent in the school.
You object and say, "What, don't teach them history, geography and whatever?" Actually, under the reading program, schools could require the students to read a book on USA history, for one example. Radical me. I am so radical that I believe in the truth. But I digress. So subjects you think they should know could come from books read in their English program. What? This would be a major shift from our present, crustacean practice. Impossible.
The only financial obligation of the schools then would be to teach only the tools of learning and leave subject matter to the colleges. But what, you skillfully object,if the student cannot afford college? Answer: Colleges offer scholarsahips and the towns and cities , having saved money by my radical proposal, could also radically lend to the students at low or no interest the saved money. Just a suggestion or we could spend millions for a new high school we don't need. Sports? You don't need to fund sports' programs. Gym? Yes. Let them climb ropes, jog and the like. They can play baseball and other sports on their own sandlots or town fields like the Little League. Again, leave the responsibilty of sports' programs to the colleges.
I could go on but I want to spare you the grief of reading on.
Is Deval shooting for Secretary of Transportation or Education?
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Yes, by all means - let us continue to throw good money after bad. Just HOW MUCH MUST WE SPEND to force kids into doing what they should in the Boston Schools, which at one time were considered superior to most public schools in the nation?
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We already spend, by far, the most money per student on education than any country in the world. Also, if I recall correctly MA spends more per student than any state in the country. The problem isn't money, its lack of benchmarks and a true meritocracy in teaching and supervisory positions. If you're in charge of running, in theory, a student meritocracy those managing it should also be held to the same benchmarks. Reward the best, retain the competent, flush out the lowest 20% every year. Just like in the real (3 week vacation) world!
Hey, this is what the great "middle class" voted for and now (despite warnings by many), this is what you get and what you get is TAXES TAXES TAXES for literally everything under the sun. What does this clown governor got to lose?, he's not running for "elected" office anymore, he's rich, he's in line for a bigger job in his pal's regime, time to stamp his dreams on working people for a generation. YOU WANTED THIS, NOW YOU'RE GETTING IT! Keep voting straight "D" and this party will go on and on till the last taxpayer leaves town (or dies).
You fools from Massachusetts voted for him. So just shut up and pay up!!!
Economists have demonstrated that state investment in high quality early childhood education pays off many times over in the long term. So we have a choice in Massachusetts: invest relatively small money early in the lives of young children, or pay dearly when those kids are grown up. The prudent, fiscally conservative option would be to make the investment early.
Elizabeth Warren says "The Middle Class is getting HAMMERED".