Shocked, shocked I tell you. Russian meddling!!?? Who knew?

Lex is taking on the local fish wrap over the “bombshell” news that Russians meddled in the 2016 election.  The only bombshell in that scenario would be if it could be proven that they didn’t.

Re: JG Headline: Charges: Russians meddled

The Feb 17, 2018 JG headline shouted: Charges: Russians meddled.  What’s next: Sun rises in the east: JG staff baffled? 

Falling back my Marine Corps leadership training that taught me to try to start out a counseling session with a positive observation, let me congratulate the JG on the outstanding picture of Mrs. Clinton that accompanied the article.  Perhaps the only better photo would have been of her in a stylish extra-wide prison-orange pantsuit inside the cell of a federal penitentiary where she so desperately belongs.

Of course the Russians meddled in the 2016 election just as they have been meddling in every US election to varying degrees for the last 40 years.  

President Obama knew the Russians were meddling in 2014 and famously told his old buddy “Vlad” to “knock it off.”  For some reason the hardened former KGB colonel wouldn’t take the warnings of the feckless drawer and then ignorer of Syrian “redlines” seriously.

So the DOJ has indicted 13 Russians for interfering in the US election.  Hoopty doo.  They might as well have indicted old Vlad himself or the Man in the Moon for that matter for all the likelihood that any of them will ever stand in the dock inside a US courtroom.

Here’s some news that will have lefty libs worried about foreign interference in elections heading for their fainting couches. President Obama interfered in the Israeli election spending over 300,000 US taxpayer dollars to do so.  He also interfered in the Brexit vote by threatening the UK with trade sanctions if they withdrew from the EU.  He also endorsed German Chancellor Merkel ahead of the German vote.    

Of course all of that means less than zero to a leftist hypocrite.

 

Then there was a bit on vouchers for private schools in this morning’s rag.  So for, what, the 50^th time I tilted at that JG windmill.

Yeah, Idunno, couldn’t sleep and was up before 5am. The original halfwit letter is below my brilliant, unassailable, logic filled response which follows:

Here’s an easy word problem that even my publicly educated mind can solve.  Indiana has 10 students enrolled in public schools.  Indiana spends $100 for public education.  The cost for a public education in Indiana is $10 per pupil. If Indian paid 5 students between $5 and $9 to leave the public system for a private education, will the funds left over to educate the remaining 5 students increase or decrease the cost per pupil?

The figures for Indiana public education are, of course, much larger in actuality, but the principle is the same.  It cost Indiana a bit over $9,600 per pupil to educate a student in a public school.  Indiana allows between 50-90% of that cost per voucher (75% of which go to low income and disadvantaged students).  So for every student that leaves the system, the cost per pupil in the public system should actually increase.

On a larger note, traditional brick and mortar schools, like print newspapers, are dead.  They just don’t know it.  On every snowday we hear the radio guy announce schools are closed and today is an e-learning day. So why isn’t every day an e-learning day? 

Why in the world are we still crowding 25-30 disparate kids into a classroom to learn the same stuff at the same pace?  Why not make 4 of 5 days e-learning days for the fast learners, 3 of 5 for slower students and so on?  Kids who need the most help can be in school every day. Here’s an even crazier idea, if a kid needs extra help with math but is doing well in other areas, he comes in for that class alone.

Staggering classes based on ability would reduce class  sizes in public schools by more than half allowing the teachers more time with the students who need the most help.

In their free time, fast learners could move on to other things of interest, maybe even a college course.  Talented people could pursue their talent music, art etc. Vocationally minded people could get jobs and learn a skill.  

Here’s the undeniable truth that all the newsprint and ink in the world cannot cover up:  Fort Wayne secondary public schools are not very good. Why not try something different?

Private school students have other options

I am writing to respond to “Choice Scholarships give Hoosier kids a future” (Feb. 7). Reyna Rodriguez, a Bishop Luers graduate, supports the scholarship/voucher program. Rodriguez, who used voucher money to complete her private school education, wrote to object to an op-ed written by Phyllis Bush (Jan. 22).

Bush ended her piece (supporting public schools and objecting to vouchers) with a rhetorical question: “Whose choice is it, anyway?” Rodriguez insists choosing Luers was her personal decision but, in truth, the voucher school itself has the choice. If Rodriguez had had a disciplinary record or was a child with difficult learning or physical needs, Luers might not have accepted her. The private school has the choice. But every public high school in Allen County would, by law, accept this student and do its best to accommodate her needs.

In 2015-16, Bishop Luers used $1,626,778 in vouchers or choice scholarship awards. This money, taxpayer funds, was taken directly from the public school fund of the state budget.

In 2016-17, $146 million was spent on school vouchers across the state. This was money meant for public schools but moved, instead, to private schools.

In Allen County, 97 percent of schools receiving voucher funds are religious schools.

Students like Rodriguez have various paths available to fund their private education. Probably the best way would be through a state-sponsored program called the Scholarship Granting Organization, also referred to as the Tax Credit Scholarship. Enacted in 2009, this program awards a donor 50 percent of his donation as an Indiana State Tax Credit. And, there is no limit on the amount of the donor's gift. A graduate of Luers could donate to the organization and help give the gift of a private religious education to a prospective student.

Bush and I, along with educators, parents and grandparents across the state, support public schools that accept all students. We object to taxpayer money funding private and religious schools. We are concerned about the depletion of the public school fund, which continues to lose more money each year to vouchers. As retired public school educators, we are committed to saving public dollars for public schools.

Kathy Candioto

Fort Wayne