What does the Tea Party want to do about education?

[Lurker]

Does it occur to you that he could also be a crook if he's in the party I most often vote for?

Don't be messing with the flow of my flowchart!

 

[MikeMangum]

Education is in a crisis in this country. Tens of thousands of teachers will be laid off this year and student to teacher ratios will more than double. On top of this entire departments, especially art, music and drama ones, will be eliminated. All for lack of money.

But we have the Tea Party movement that says our taxes are nothing short of "ridiculous."

So what do we do if raising taxes is out of the question? Do the Tea Party folks offer any suggestions or are they too busy claiming Obama is a Communist?

Actually, in general, the Tea Parties (there are multiple, independent groups) do not have a problem so much with taxes (at least not current taxes) as they do with spending, and the tea parties are primarily focused on Federal spending. If you look at some of the polls of tea party members, few of them want to eliminate social security or medicare/medicaid, but they do want to repeal health "reform". They do argue against bailouts. They do argue against cap-and-trade. They do argue against a VAT. They do argue (to a much lesser extent) against high public employee salaries, early retirement, and overly generous retirement packages.

The tea parties don't really address every issue; they focus on those issues (primarily fiscal) upon which there is widespread agreement in hopes of building a larger coalition to address those specific issues - which is why social issues are essentially verboten. If you really want to know what issues the various tea party groups agree on (and primarily focus on) you could actually look at what they say are the important policy items to them, based on a crowd sourced document.

I would imagine (in other words, this is my guess) that most members of the various tea parties would support some form of vouchers for school choice, and are not as concerned with the amount of those vouchers. In other words, I don't think they are so much concerned with cost as with efficiency when it comes to education.

 

[Dorian Gray]

Then why are Tea Partiers only standing outside Washington with their protests? Why aren't they standing outside corporations whose members ALSO get high salaries, early retirement and overly generous retirement packages?

 

[WildCat]

Privatize. Evil government indoctrination!

Privatized education! The Coca-Cola College of Carbonation.

Who knew James Meeks was a tea partier!

 

[thaiboxerken]

Then why are Tea Partiers only standing outside Washington with their protests? Why aren't they standing outside corporations whose members ALSO get high salaries, early retirement and overly generous retirement packages?

That's because big business is good, gubment is bad.

 

[Alt+F4]

Privatize. Evil government indoctrination!

When it comes to evolution, socialism and homosexuality the public school system is 100% effective at indoctrination. When it comes to the more traditional subjects of math, science and social studies, public school are just failures.

 

[MikeMangum]

Then why are Tea Partiers only standing outside Washington with their protests? Why aren't they standing outside corporations whose members ALSO get high salaries, early retirement and overly generous retirement packages?

They don't pay for the salaries and benefits of private employees.

 

[pgwenthold]

Actually, in general, the Tea Parties (there are multiple, independent groups) do not have a problem so much with taxes (at least not current taxes) as they do with spending, and the tea parties are primarily focused on Federal spending.

Then why do they call themselves "Tea Party" then? The name is obviously a reference to the original tea parties, which were about taxes, not government spending.

When the local groups get on the bridge and throw tea into the river, it's hard to interpret as a protest against waste.

 

[fuelair]

I need to amend my previous statement. Most States don't fund the schools, the cities (or school districts do). Mine isn't laying off teachers for example. The school district doesn't rely on income taxes except for capital improvements. Californian schools on the other hand do rely on income taxes. And they're boned.

Texas as a whole is doing pretty well. I think Colorado is as well, but I'd have to do research on it.

Florida is going to hell in a handcart as far as education is concerned (thank you kindly republicker fornicators with porcines here and ...). And the aforementioned are trying to make "improvements" (read tax savings for their constituents - the wealthy hotel and tourist functionals who benefit from instead of pay their rational fair share of taxes [if they own unused land, they plant a few trees and it gets an agricultural exemption as one example]) that will increase class sizes and lose teachers to other parts of the US not republicker run.

To help with that, they are trying to force teachers to retire ASAP by trying to rig/cut back badly the retirement benefits - this is not stated, but anyone who can retire now, if the changes had gone through (and they are still trying) would have no rational choice to do other than retire. Of course, if they dropped that agricultural thing......., but then, they are republickers as I have come to know them since the mid-late 60s when they were just the other party, but not loathed/hated (as a party - I have friends who are republickers. Given many of their circumstances, I have no idea how they possibly could be, but friends they remain).

 

[ponderingturtle]

Well, of course if your district is being represented by someone from the party you oppose then it is a given that s/he is a crook.

I think the point was more, sure he is a crook, but he brings in a lot of pork, so what can you do?

 

[ponderingturtle]

They don't pay for the salaries and benefits of private employees.

Sure they do. Just look at how bankers extort money from everyone.

"That is a nice economy you have here, be a shame if something were to happen to it..."

 

[Ausmerican]

What does the Tea Party want to do about education?

Avoid getting any! Avoid it like the plague!