Solving the education problem.

*

It's nice to see that public education is getting so much attention in A-merry-ca these days. We can thank my man from Facebook and his one hundred million dollar gift for that. Lord knows that it needs to. I think folks are starting to realize that it's everybody's problem. Even those of us who don't have children. Maybe we can start tackling the causes of the problem and not the symptoms for once. (Thanks Dan) BTW, let me just leave this link for you haters out there who think that black children are somehow genetically inferior to those kids from the majority population. Thank you.

Anyway, I think I have a simple solution to the education problem in poor inner city and rural neighborhoods here in the land of the [some are] free. Now please believe that I did not come to this lightly. It took years of working in urban A-merry-ca with some of these children as a volunteer, a court administrator, and as a professional in private practice.

So here goes: Tie performance and attendance in school to tax breaks and more public assistance benefits-if they are receiving it- to the families of these children. That's it. It's that simple. If, for instance, the little rugrat is making all A's and is attending at least 95% of his or her classes for most of the school year. His mother or father (whoever is working at least 25 hours per week in the home) would not pay state (Keeping in mind, of course, that there is no national curriculum in A-merry-ca, and the feds are not responsible for education. Still, the feds could be involved as well, if the federal government gave money to the states which were armarked for this program.) income taxes on their salary for that year. They would send proof of the rugrats performance with their state tax returns. If the family receives food stamps or cash assistance they would get an additional food stamp voucher or cash benefits when they bring proof of their little rugrats performance to the local welfare office.

Let's face it, folks, all the great teaching in the world will not change how some of these children perform if they do not get motivated at home and learn to value education. These children are starting behind the eight ball because of the environment that they are coming from. Many of them have zero college graduates in their families or their neighborhoods. So the educational value system that some of us talk so freely about and take for granted is a foreign concept to them. Chris Crisco can keep beating up on the teacher's unions in Jersey to show off to his GOP friends, it won't do any good. It might get him political Brownie points, but ten years from now schools in places like Camden and Jersey City will still be f*&^%d up.

Maybe, just maybe, with some kind of financial incentive, the person in the home charged with making decisions that affects their child's life will do the right thing.

Arne, that was free.

BTW, what is wrong with the *picture above?