Cave-in
I HAVE ONE WORD FOR THE BALLOT INITIATIVE THAT PUTS ONLY A “SOFT CAP” ON STATE spending, championed by the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Business Roundtable and endorsed by Gov. Arnold last week:
Worthless.
I have two words to describe the Democratic Party, public employee unions and others who have opposed any attempts to bring fiscal discipline to the state budget:
The winners.
I have two words to describe the chamber, the roundtable and the governor:
Girlie men.
Errant Shot
BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU CRITICIZE. In the OC Weekly’s coverage of a recent protest at a Schwarzenegger appearance in Santa Ana, I was intrigued to read this quote by a “mother” who was complaining about the governor’s spending plan for public schools:
“Arnold spends more than $20,000 a year per child for his children to go to private school.”
I don’t agree with the woman’s inference,which is that the millions of dollars those privileged Santa Monicans shower on their kids’ educations should be diverted into the public schools,but she does raise an interesting issue.
Super-rich people like Arnold, or well-heeled persons like many executives and professionals here in Orange County, frequently put their kids in private schools.
But it doesn’t stop there. Surveys show that public school teachers send their own kids to private schools in far higher ratios than parents in general.
Which always raises this question in my mind: If those who can, and those who know, opt for education alternatives, why shouldn’t every parent have a fair shot at doing likewise?
And that line of reasoning always leads me to make a case for school vouchers or some other form of parental choice. I’m not against public schools. I’m for competition. I think America’s higher education system,which offers students an array of public and private education alternatives,should be the model for reforming K through 12.
Clearly, that’s not where this “mother” was headed with her verbal slap at Arnold. Given she was at the OC event with other “parents, teachers and firefolk,” including at least one Los Angeles firefighter, I can safely assume that she was part of the teachers union’s organized effort to shield their prerogatives from the state’s budget crisis.
But thanks anyway, Mom, for your observation. Let’s open a dialogue.
Only, instead of concluding that we should stop the rich (or in the case of public school teachers, the well-informed) from enjoying private schools, why not open things up to everybody?
Coming Up
CAN’T WAIT FOR OCT. 1,SEE CHRIS NORBY’S LETTER ON THIS PAGE. That’s when we’re supposed to learn details about the sheriff deputies’ medical fund.
“Administrative expenses” should make for particularly interesting reading.
,Rick Reiff
