Page created 27 Jun 2002 by pedro
URL: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/06/26/state1513EDT0109.DTL
Well, a court has declared "under God" to be unconstitutional. This is bound to have repercussions and appeals -- what are the ultimate results? Will "In God We Trust" be removed from our currency? How does this relate to the United States as a whole? How do you feel about "the separation of church and state?" What were the framers intentions versus how we have come to interpret their words and actions today? What do YOU think should happen?
I think an even more pertinent decision regarding the estalishment clause was the one the SCOTUS issued today.
i guess i tend to fall on the side that federal education money is to ensure that people get educated, not to insure that their education is necessarily secular, so, although I don't know if I like the idea of vouchers, I do feel like it's not an endorsement of religion that parents could choose to use vouchers for religious schools. After all, the same vouchers could be used to send students to some godless hippie private school, too.
I know most people use the establishment clause as an argument against vouchers.... But, I think there are a lot of other arguments against vouchers that are more substantial... I get so frustrated with America's love affair with competition- school funding should not be a game of monopoly.
It should be noted that I don't mean to support vouchers -- but just saying that if the federal government finds itself supporting vouchers, I think it would be inappropriate for it to deny those vouchers to religious institutions.
in theory. but like so many other good ideas, this one will get so caught up in red tape and beuracracy that little good will come of it. too many fall through the cracks...
in theory are a very good thing. However, private schools are not held to the same levels of scrutiny that public schools are. For example, I could get a job teaching creative writing at Maderia school with a simple bachelor's in creative writing. You must, in Fairfax County at least, have a master's in education or in your chosen field, plus an appropriate teacher's license. Private schools don't have the eye on them that public schools do, and I think the voucher system, while in theory it is an excellent thought (especially as someone who has a child who will be going to school in 4 years), would work only if private schools were held to the same standards that public schools are. At least in Washington DC Metro area (Fairfax County has one of the best public school systems in existence).Northwestern now... that's a different kettle of fish.
Private schools win quality by simply keeping class size low. THat's the only way to fix education in this country, but it would mean actually hiring teachers, so nobody does it.
No way. What's needed is sports. Lots of sports. And the kids who whine and try to get out of doing sports, they're the ones who need it the most.
I thought this was a fairly even handed article about the UNC/Koran controversy stewing right now:TIME: A Kinder, Gentler Koran.
Most of the articles I've read thus far were either like, "americans and christians everywhere must stop this!" or "those flag wavers and christians are at it again!" So it was nice to read a relatively unbiased article about it.