College Admissions scandal

I am known to be critical of the American collegiate system. I have frequently referred to the process as a buy-in model for the most desirable jobs. Our colleges have been effective in ensuring that rich families stay rich and poor families struggle to improve their situations.

Charter Schools

Some people might wonder why I made a fuss about the legalization of marijuana when we are also voting on charter schools. Let me explain my views regarding charter schools.

Listen to the critics of charter schools. They insist that we must stick with our highly destructive traditional schooling model because charter schools might be worse. They act as though we must maintain what we have throughout the rest of human existence because it is unfair to children to try unproven ideas on them. Of course, you can’t progress if you are unwilling to ever try anything different. I have to say that the opposition is providing the best argument to vote in favor of charter schools.

Unfortunately, charter schools would be crippled. They would be subjected to the same standards built for traditional schools. To maintain charters, schools would have to be modeled after the same approach. There might be a little more flexibility for them, but they would still rely on the same mentally destructive foundation that is causing so much trouble today.

Combine this with our traditional-by-default approach, and charter schools are at a serious disadvantage. Most charter school students will likely attend those schools only because the traditional schools were already proven harmful to them. With the same foundation, these students would likely encounter the same problems in a charter school. As a result, typical charter school students will probably perform worse than the students in more traditional schools.

Even if a charter school could find room to add a second acceptable learning style to this state (or country), that would still be insufficient for individual needs. No student today properly fits our single rigid schooling environment because there is so much variability in learning styles. If we had two socially acceptable approaches, we would still have no students who properly fit.

Charter schools won’t fix anything. The overall impact that they would have would be insignificant. Regardless of whether or not we vote for charter schools, we will not see any meaningful change. I have no reason to take a hard stance one way or the other because there really isn’t much of a difference between these two viewpoints.

Legalize Education First

The legal status of education here in Washington is in limbo. There are technically no laws against it, but we are threatening the survival of everyone who pursues a healthy education. Meanwhile, we are trying to legalize marijuana with Initiative 502.

Our schooling system is mentally destructive and built around blatantly anti-educational values. It is impossible to receive a healthy education in this environment.

Although I hate to admit it, I am a certified mindless drone (high school graduate). I had to make serious mental sacrifices to reach that status. Why did I do it? To avoid unfair discriminatory policies. Without a stupid piece of paper, I would not be able to earn money, and I would have no hope of receiving any respect from anyone.

While the schools can manipulate what we think, nobody can possibly receive a proper education from them. If we truly want to learn, we have to learn elsewhere. Unfortunately, real learning can get in the way of schoolwork. This means that anyone who pursues a healthy education will fall down that moneyless path full of disrespect. In a money-driven world, these people will struggle to survive.

People who want to learn outside of school should be allowed to do just that. Our schooling system effectively discourages, punishes, and labels such people as rejects. Instead, we should be moving towards legalization of true education. This means the elimination of our anti-educational schools. Even if we are not willing to go that far, we should still look at becoming more tolerant of those who learn outside the confines of a schooling system that has clearly proven itself to be detrimental to society.

I try to be open-minded, but I don’t even want to discuss the merits of Initiative 502 until after we finally legalize education. We need to get our priorities straight. Legalizing education should be more important to us than legalizing yet another form of drug abuse. If the initiative passes, it’s like saying that we value drugs more than education.

One more thing. Initiative 502 includes funding for a program to prevent students from dropping out. Far too many people these days are mindless products of the schools. The graduation rate is in fact too high. Further fighting against those who learn outside of school would be a mistake. Easing the war against drugs appears certain to further fund the war against education, and a vote for drugs is a vote against education.

Building a Grad Nation Report

What is the ideal graduation rate? Hint: It’s not 100%.

America’s Promise Alliance has just posted an update on their goal to ensure that at least 90% of the American population consists of brain-dead zombies, or high school graduates as they are more widely known. Unfortunately, they have made progress. Their estimates now show a graduation rate of over 75%.

We just keep going up and up. Meanwhile, quality of life keeps going down. Perhaps this organization is focusing on the wrong things. Perhaps one single rigid schooling system is not ideal for 100% (or even 90%) of the population. Maybe that’s just a piece of common sense that loyal schooling supporters seem to lack.

The bottom line is that this group is siding with the schools in their war against education. Education should be viewed as a need. I will not join this war with them. I will not support their cause.

Part of the problem here is that it is impossible for the schooling process to meet the educational needs of individuals. As a result, the process will never be as efficient or healthy as self-education. If we push the schools too hard, we are preventing children from receiving a healthy education. Regardless of what anyone says about the dropouts, all high-school graduate have been robbed of their educational rights. A 100% graduation rate would guarantee that 0% of the population would have received a healthy education.

I have read comments regarding this report on multiple websites. Comments vary from an understanding of the educational harm that is being pushed to people actually believing that dropping out should be a crime.

Most comments talk about the problems with such a high dropout rate and how it’s because of the deterioration of society. Considering that these people support the schools, you have to wonder why they are bringing this up on a report of increased graduation rates. Perhaps the schools aren’t part of the solution. Perhaps they are part of the problem.

As I said earlier, a number of people think that there should be laws requiring people to graduate high school. I’m sure the schools would love this because they could ensure that all dropouts are criminals. As we have seen numerous times over the years, converting dropouts into criminals generates skewed data (although I can’t be certain since I have never seen any numbers) that can convince people that schooling is useful as a crime-prevention tool.

For years, I have questioned the legal status of true education. I have even stated that I would love to help legalize education. If these blind and loyal schooling backers can pass a law requiring graduation, there would no longer be any doubt. True education would be illegal in America. I have wanted clarification, but that goes the wrong way.

Even if you don’t view education as a need, it should still be viewed as a fundamental human right. This organization is fighting that right and inspiring others to join them. I have no choice but to state the obvious. America’s Promise Alliance is dangerous.

No responsibility

During the teachers strike in Tacoma, the Tacoma “Education” Association argued that defying a court was their way of standing up to bullies. While this was a complete 180 from the “tell a trusted adult” approach that teachers push on children, I honestly thought that it was just a way to justify what they knew was wrong. The bottom line is that the judge ordered them back to work and they refused to take responsibility for their actions. That is definitely NOT a good lesson for children.

The Tacoma School District previously stated that they could not pay teachers for time that they did not work. The TEA immediately fired back, insisting that the district was only holding back pay in order to retaliate against the striking teachers. The district contacted the Auditor’s Office to get some clarification on whether or not they could legally pay their teachers in full. There were a few conditions that they met, so these teachers will now get paid on their normal schedules.

At least the judge who ordered everybody back to work can still punish teachers who were in contempt, right? Supposedly, that judge has dismissed court actions against the lawbreakers. Apparently, teaching is a special job. You don’t have to obey any of the rules, you will get whatever you want, and you never have to take responsibility for you wrongdoings. Not only that, but you can show impressionable children how that throwing tantrums has no repercussions.

When you thought the buffoonery was over…

With the Tacoma “Education” Association finally ending its strike, I expected things to immediately go back to normal. Teachers would return to their classrooms where they would destroy the natural desire to learn and cause significant irreversible mental and emotional harm. Apparently, Andy Coons has still kept out his clown shoes so that we may (or is that must?) laugh at him.

What’s happening is that Andy Coons has whined to the media that the district isn’t paying them for not working. Part of the money that was originally supposed to be paid for their next pay period will be delayed until the teachers actually earn it. He even goes as far as insisting that paying only for time that teachers actually worked is a form of retaliation against the teachers for striking.

What if this strike would have continued? Would the teachers have demanded that their pay continued regardless of whether or not they ever returned to their classrooms? What about the possibility of teachers becoming fed up and quitting? If the district paid them, was there any way to get the money back? Who do these teachers even think that they are? Why should they be treated so differently than everybody else? Why should they be the only people to get paid without actually having to do anything?

In all fairness, doing nothing is much more desirable than the actions that these lawbreakers usually engage in. Even so, they will be just as destructive as they would have been without the strike. After all, the district has to make up the days when the teachers were on strike. In other words, these teachers are not going to take any kind of financial hit for their selfish actions. They just want their money before they earn it.

On top of this complaint, the district is dealing with extra unexpected expenses. Some teachers actually did show up for work during the strike. The district isn’t going to refuse their pay due to the actions of others. This means that the district is actually increasing their payroll expenses as a result of the refusal to work. If the union really wants the normal pay schedule regardless of whether or not teachers were working, perhaps Mr. Coons should insist that the district does not pay the people who actually earned it.

As I have said before, the issues between the district and the TEA should not be about my personal amusement. It’s time for Andy Coons to put away his clown shoes. Even though mental harm is more depressing than hilarious, it’s time to move away from Andy Coons making a fool out of all of the teachers in Tacoma so that the teachers can go back to making fools out of themselves.

The Strike Is Over

The Tacoma School District and the Tacoma “Education” Association have finally ended their labor dispute. In all honesty, I got a kick out of the TEA’s ridiculous antics. The last week or so has been almost non-stop hilarity. While I will miss the unintentional comedy, I shouldn’t think only about myself. My personal amusement should not get in the way of what’s right.

The bottom line right now is that both sides should be doing their job rather than parading around the media. This agreement allows that to happen. I don’t agree with their line of work, but the teachers striking only delayed the inevitable and wasted taxpayer money (keeping in mind that the district is funded by taxes and the union is paid by union dues from a profession funded by taxes).

These disputes are always silly. The district and teachers union are active and allies in the war against education. It really doesn’t make sense that they bicker amongst themselves when both of them only care about ensuring that no student ever receives a healthy education. While the teachers were far worse overall, both sides can be considered to be the bad guys.

When you thought that they couldn’t get any dumber…

The Tacoma “Education” Association has continued its corrupt tactics today by attempting to manipulate a Pierce County judge. The TEA resorted to its argument that orders to halt a strike do not apply to those who are striking. When informed of the obvious mistake, the union started looking for loopholes. They talked about how the union can’t be held responsible for the actions of their members, only the union itself, executives, and officers. This comes after the union held a vote at the Tacoma Dome regarding whether or not to continue the illegal strike. How could they have had that vote without the union itself and executives and/or officers going against court orders (the temporary restraining order does not allow them to lend “support or assistance of any nature to strike, work stoppage, or slowdown against the district)? Even if you can squint your eyes to the point that the union members are technically correct, this strike has definitely relied on illegal activities.

School has already been cancelled for Monday. Unfortunately, the union has been shockingly quiet. I have struggled to find their side of the story. According to the district (relayed by the media), the teachers have decided to continue their defiance. With the judge specifically stating that the union was wrong and that the court order DOES apply to union members, this is even more obvious that they are breaking the law.

Like I said, I have really only heard from the district. That isn’t entirely fair to the teachers, so I visited the TEA’s website (weteachtacoma.org). I can honestly say that I feel dirty right now. Getting to the point, they did not mention anything about continuing (or ending) the strike. What they did say is that the district is negotiating in bad faith because there is still time to get a contract by the end of the weekend. This seems to imply that teachers would be at work only if the contract dispute had been settled.

The website also talked about how they were trying to negotiate in good faith and that the district was not. They used the existence of a counter-proposal as proof of their good faith negotiating. What did they try to address? The issues of teacher pay. Good faith is more than just offering a counter-proposal. There were some reports that they were actually asking for more money (on a day when the state announced another big budget shortfall with more teacher cutbacks likely). The TEA conveniently left any details of their proposal off of their website.

I just double-checked their site to make sure that I didn’t miss it. They added some new text where they insist that they did not ask for more money like the district claims. I’m not a legal expert, but I’m still suspicious. The teacher’s position all along was that the district was supposed to eat into their reserves to partially offset a legislative cut (regaining 1% of 1.9% cut). The offer on the 16th states “Keep Current Contract pay scale, District makes up legislative cut of 1.9% out of the 14% reserve fund balance.” Even more interesting is that the base salary that the district is reporting for the TEA proposal is less than on the TEA’s website. (Proposals on TEA’s site appears to be more recent). It sounds to me like the latest deal wants the district to pay off the legislative cut completely.

It sounds to me like they ARE asking for more money than they did before the court order to bargain in good faith. How do they get away with the deception? Technicalities. They are actually saying that they are not asking for a pay raise. When added to the legislative cut, this amounts to no change in salary overall. The problem is, the district’s accusations were in comparison to their previous proposals rather than last year’s salaries.

Regardless, the TEA’s website seems to be lacking in facts but filled with opinion. This website is not meant to provide facts to union members. It is meant to provide them with opinions. The only reason that they added the most recent deceptive facts are because they were receiving criticism. Apparently, that criticism is deserved. Like always, the TEA is providing the best arguments against the TEA.

Defying a Court Order

Tacoma brainwashers - I mean teachers - have decided to defy their court order to return to work. The Tacoma School District told parents that school would resume, but also decided to start at a two-hour delay because they didn’t fully trust them to fulfill their legal obligations. Can you think of a better way to negotiate than to validate the other side’s distrust? Perhaps simultaneously parading around the media about how nobody should trust the district.

The union has defended their actions by insisting that they were not all specifically mentioned in the court order. They even criticized the district for misleading families into believing that the teachers would do what was right. Who was mentioned in the court order? For starters, the Tacoma “Education” Association was among them. Also listed was “all other persons in active concert or participation with any of the above-named defendants.” How do members of the union not count in this court order?

I have visited the News Tribune’s website. As the local newspaper, they are among the best sources for reasonably objective information right now (I say “reasonably” because neutrality is impossible thanks to human nature). That is unless you are among the loyal supporters for the teachers that thinks that objectivity requires portraying the teachers’ side only (there are a lot of people like that).

Reading comments (I haven’t responded to any), there are two people that are really showing the problems with teachers. One has spent the last couple of days copying and posting as many comments as possible. The other is admittedly arrogant and a big believer of entitlement regardless of performance or ability. That’s not enough to win me over. In fact, that’s not enough to win over anyone who hasn’t been completely brainwashed by this corrupt teaching profession.

Buffoonery in Tacoma

Art Jarvis is an egotistical buffoon. He has proven this every single time that he has written or said something in an obvious attempt to sway the public in his favor. He is the Tacoma School District’s equivalent of Andy Coons.

Andy Coons has tried just as hard if not harder to use the media to influence readers. He is also more (inadvertently) transparent in his love for himself and his buffoonery. The problem is that the same actions are unethical and inexcusable for Jarvis, but honorable for Coons. While most people seem to disagree with the teachers (primarily due to the timing), Art Jarvis is portrayed as the villain while Andy Coons is portrayed as the good (but misguided) guy.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Andy Coons wanted to strike. After a previous vote that fell short of their requirements to go on strike, Coons blasted the district (fueling hatred towards the district), hastily scheduled another vote, and made sure that as many people voted as he could possibly get. He got his wish and addressed the media by saying how difficult it was for him to get exactly what he wanted.

The district accused the union of breaking off negotiations in an attempt to push for a strike. How did Andy Coons respond? When the district contacted them, they were too tired. What was even more interesting is what he didn’t say. He never mentioned any attempts to contact the district before they were “tired” or between that time and the decision to strike. Why were they too tired to talk to the other side? Because they spent all day bargaining. It’s amazing that none of this bargaining led to any ideas to be shared with the other party involved in bargaining. Perhaps the district is right. It seems to me that preparations for a strike would have better explained the refusal to talk than actual work on the contract.

On two separate occasions, I have heard about the district changing their proposals in attempts to work something out. Rather than deny these reports, the union has criticized the proposals. While it might be nice if we had heard about more attempts to please the teachers, it’s what I’m not hearing from the union that matters. I have yet to hear of any attempts on their side to provide any alternatives to district proposals. One of the big arguments has been over how they should transfer teachers. The district doesn’t want to base things entirely off of seniority. The district has proposed multiple ideas on how to address this issue. The teachers have complained about the subjectivity, but they haven’t even hinted at what they would accept (besides keeping things the same as before).

With the union insisting that the district is responsible for improving the contract, initiating contact, and all the work involved in the negotiating process, I will accept the arguments from the district that the union is not bargaining in good faith. Since Art Jarvis has clearly tried to manipulate the media, they keep pointing to him as proof that it’s the district that isn’t willing to negotiate. Coons has managed to spin things by insisting that spinning the story to the media is unethical. If it is (I personally agree), then he really needs to take a good hard look at himself.

Since tone doesn’t always come off very well in writing, I want to make sure that you know that I’m not writing because I’m mad. With the state of comedy right now, it’s hard to find anything to laugh at these days. I haven’t stopped laughing at Andy Coons today. His antics are downright comical. All day, I have been waiting for a judge to order teachers back to work so that I could hear Coons make a fool out of himself. Unfortunately, I never saw a direct quote regarding the ruling. The only thing that I have read about his response is him hinting that it’s acceptable for teachers to defy a court order (while officially stating that they should go back to work).

It’s not just Coons. Like I have already said, Jarvis tries to spin things at times and comes off as a joke himself. Of course, he is nothing compared to the teachers union’s lackeys. They continue to insist the Art Jarvis is spinning reality while they remain oblivious to the fact that Andy Coons is pretty much the same. They have proven a blind obedience to him by repeatedly saying what the union wants them to say including frequent copying and pasting (spamming) in public forums. When Andy Coons goes on a power trip and manipulates teachers for his own personal gain, the teachers continuously prove that they are too mindless to realize what is actually going on. They act like the union represents the teachers, but anyone with an ounce of common sense can see that the teachers are representing the union.

Not Surprising

Teachers in Tacoma just voted to strike. In a previous post, I wrote about their last vote. I wanted to discuss that particular vote instead of predicting this latest vote. I always expected the teachers to vote to strike.

Why did I expect them to strike? Simply put, the head of the union made it clear that he wanted to strike by blaming the district for the outcome of the last vote and hastily put together another opportunity for the teachers to strike. Teachers are mindless just like everyone else. In fact, teachers are even worse. If the union head marches the teachers off of a cliff, they will gladly obey orders.

Tacoma teachers avoid a strike–barely

Tacoma teachers today had enough apathetic union members to avoid a strike in a weak economy after the district essentially caved in to their demands. In many ways this will let teachers off of the hook when it comes to their disconnect with the real world. In other words, they got lucky.

From what I have read, 90% of the teachers voted to strike. When absent teachers are taken into account, the total was just 77%. This put them short of the 80% requirement for breaking the law (It has been well established that it is illegal for teachers to strike, but the law has not been properly enforced). In all fairness, I have not heard the arguments from the teachers union for striking with the latest contract offer. I really don’t know their arguments for demanding more.

What the vote says to me is that teachers let their unions think for them. That makes sense. After all, teachers train students to let teachers think for them. Among these students are those who become teachers. Teachers have accepted mindlessness as part of their daily lives, invested in further mind-numbing schooling required to enter the profession, and work in an environment that promotes mindlessness. If they don’t believe in thought, someone has to think for them.

Regardless, teachers should thank apathy for bailing out their reputations among the mindless masses who only look at overly simplified facts. Although the teachers wanted to strike, they didn’t. That’s all that most people will ever read about this dispute. That is unless they strike when they vote again on September 12.