First, every state in the union has different requirements and regulations for charter schools. Therefore, comparing charters from different states can be like comparing apples to oranges to peanuts. And if you are making sweeping generalizations about all charters, then you are 100% guaranteed to be stating falsehoods about some charters.

Let's take your points one at a time. While you are talking about all charters across the entire country, I'll limit myself to what I know: California. Nothing I say should be taken outside of that context. Fair enough?

1. "Charters are not held to the same standards as traditional public schools."

Public charters in California are held to the same standards as traditional public schools. In addition, traditional schools don't have their charters reviewed every few years with the possibility of being shut down if everything is not perfect.

2. "Charters have selective admission policies and often don't admit kids with disabilities."

Public charters in California (all the ones that I've heard of, at least) use a lottery system for admissions. The only preferences given are to students who already have siblings in attendance at the charter. They even have to admit students who live outside of the charter school's district, something that is illegal in traditional public schools. My wife's grade 4-5 classroom last year had 25 students. 10 of those were special needs; a dramatically higher percentage then in the trad public school across the street.

3. "Charters continue to receive funding for kids who are no longer enrolled while traditional public schools are funded based on daily attendance."

Maybe in your state, not in California. Funding is based on daily attendance. If the kid isn't in school, then the school receives no funding for the child for that day. Period.

4. "Charter schools can be religious schools."

Nope. Wrong. Not in California at least. 'Separation of Church and State'. These are public schools. You can't get around Federal law, and I wouldn't want them to be able to.

5. "Charter schools test scores are no higher than traditional public schools."

They vary. The school my wife teaches at has higher STAR test scores then does the trad school across the street. Exact same demographics, except for the higher percentage of special needs kids at the charter. Some charters have lower scores. As others in the thread have noted, charters often get the rejects and misfits that didn't fit into trad schools. So that really doesn't surprise me that some charters test lower. Some test higher. And besides, it's pretty silly to set up an alternative method of teaching, and then be surprised that these kids struggle with a standardized test. My wife talks about that in my journal post that I linked, if you'd bother to read it.

6. "Charters spend your tax dollars on marketing gimmicks that award kids with cash, computers and video game systems for enrolling."

You seem to be talking about these for-profit charters in other states that I keep hearing horror stories about. Those are for-profit corporations that are doing that, not school district run public non-profit charters. This is the whole reason that I keep specifying that I'm talking about public non-profit charters. The ones that do the kind of crap you are talking about is why I have to keep having these discussions.


I really, sincerely hope that this clears up some of the confusion that many DU members have about charter schools. They are not all the same, and it's a disservice to the teachers and parents out there who are doing a good job to tar all charters with the for-profit broad brush.

I'm Greyskye's wife - a charter school teacher. I have a classroom of 25 fourth and fifth grade students. 10 of the 25 students receive special ed services (that is a dramatically larger percentage than most traditional public school classrooms would have). I make $10,000 less per year than the teachers at the school next door. Our school receives no facilities funding from the state, unlike the school next door. Our ESL population is identical to the school next door.

Our charter school is run by a non-profit foundation. In view of the current economic situation, all teachers in the local school district with five years experience or less have been given "pink slips" for next year. Despite our lack of funding from the state (we survive on LOTS of fundraising) our principal and school board have kept a financial reserve that has enabled us to keep from laying off any teaching staff for the last two years and will not lay off any next year either.

The biggest advice I can give to any of you is not to compare charter schools from one state to another. The charter school laws are so different in each state that you are comparing apples to oranges to peanuts. We cannot do any "cherry picking" at charter schools in our state. We cannot even deny students admission based on geography like the school next door is able to do - we really must take ALL comers.

The concept of calling standardized test scores a valid comparison is flawed at the outset. The purpose of a charter school is to provide an ALTERNATIVE method of education. In order to truly know if it works or not, an alternative method of testing would need to exist as well. We try to teach one way, and then give the "standardized test" that everyone else gives with varying results. I'm giving the test this week, as a matter of fact. I wish I could convey the upheaval and emotional distress that this high stakes testing has on my students. If I could, perhaps you and the politicians involved would look at it differently.

As far as anyone who believes in charter schools not being a Democrat.....huh???????? There's no one who has ever met me who would describe me any other way.

As in standing there talking wearing a diaper under their suit. Showing the American people that they are willing to bring the Government to a halt because their belief in a particular political decision is so strong and absolute. That's a filibuster. Fix that, and these blue-blood corporate fat-cat professional politicians will fall over themselves to avoid actually putting themselves through some discomfort both physically and in the arena of public opinion.

But yeah, fix the vote thing while you're at it too, will you Nancy and Harry?

So many people keep saying that we need to be protected from government - these days I feel that we need to be protected from corporations. And the only agency powerful enough to do that is the government, flawed as it is.

But we the people can make the government better. We don't have a chance against big business.

DU has been a haven for me ever since 2001. Almost 8 years of watching our country be taken down a path that most of us disagree with with all of our hearts and souls. Almost 8 years of watching our pResident say and do things which made me bow my head in anger and in shame.

With hard work and hope, we've helped to bring our nation to this cusp, this tipping point in history.

I look forward to 8 years of holding my head high and proud, and to helping rebuild our beloved country.

Just imagine hand counted paper ballots. Instead of one long evening, you could milk the story for 3 days! Think of the ratings! Think of the drama as results trickled in!

Think of the democracy.

And all you have to do, is seriously cover the electronic voting fraud controversy. By the time the next Presidential election rolls around, if you do your jobs, there could be a nice fat monetary prize for you. Think about it.

Please.

While watching the Palin/McCain interview with Brian Williams just now, I realized that I used to work with Sarah Palin. In fact, I reported directly to her on a project once.

OK, maybe it wasn't actually Sarah Palin, and it was really a guy, but I swear to Barack (I kid, I kid!) that this dude and Palin share one of the most infuriating traits I have encountered in my 25 or so year career.

Let's call my Palin surrogate 'Mike'. My apologies to all of the Mike's of the world. I work in high-tech, in a design environment. Mike was hired in as a salaried individual in a combination technical/supervisory role. At the time, I was in a non-supervisory technical role, and worked 'under' Mike for about a year. It seemed much, much longer.

Mike liked to talk. He liked to talk a lot. Even when he really didn't have anything to contribute to the conversation. He'd just go charging enthusiastically along, repeating himself over and over again, driving home every single point about three different times. Usually getting sidetracked along the way, and ending up someplace really strange.

Tonight, watching McCain's face while Palin blathered on, I sympathized with him. I knew exactly how it feels to have a co-worker make an idiot out of themselves in front of outsiders, with you sitting there watching the train wreck unfold.

So I'll say it just this once, and never again. Never mind that you did it to yourself, just this once, I really feel sorry for you, Senator. I feel your pain.

ps. Mike was eventually demoted from his supervisory role. He was then dropped a grade level. Then he got fired.

Believe it or not, there are actually people posting on DU that aren't the amateur policy wonks that the rest of us think we all are. A low post count doesn't automatically make one a Freeper; it's actually more likely to be a political neophyte, who honestly hasn't thought about using www.snopes.com as a debunking resource.

You are preaching to a transitory audience, an audience which will always be there, yet always be new. And in that sense, it is a hopeless struggle. You can't keep an ever-new population from doing what comes naturally to such - asking for help.

As such, it is up to us as a community to give those asking for help the tools with which they can help themselves in the future. Give them the links to www.snopes.com and www.fightthesmears.com , and let them know the dangers of Viral campaigns.

Make that message go viral, and we all win in the end.

I called and got right through. I asked to leave a message with Senator McCarthy.

When she nervously repeated that it was Representative Bachmann's office, I said that I was sorry for the mistake, but could have sworn that I was listening to McCarthy during Bachmann's interview on Hardball.

I then asked her if Bachmann was serious about starting up another Committee on Un-American Activities. Her: "Ummm, how can I help you?"

I reiterated that what I had just heard on Hardball sounded as if Bachmann was trying to repeat one of the ugliest parts of American history, and although I didn't live in her district, Bachmann's anti-American statements had motivated me to donate to her opponent.

Before I hung up, I predicted that her boss had just committed political suicide, and suggested that she (the office staffer) brush up on her resume.


Damn, that felt good!

John McCain: Personal Facts

http://www.stopthinkvote.com/facts/persona...


*
Birthdate
John Sidney McCain III was born August 29, 1936, on a naval base in the Panama Canal Zone. On August 29 of this year, he will be be 72 years old. If elected, his term would run until he was 76 years old.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_mccain >

*
Military Family
His father and paternal grandfather both became four-star United States Navy admirals. His family (including his older sister Sandy and younger brother Joe) also held naval postings.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_mccain >

*
Temper Tantrums
As a child, McCain would become so furious that he'd hold his breath until he passed out, a condition which his parents treated by dunking him in ice water.
<http://ontheissues.org/Social/John_McCain_... >

*
High School Nicknames
McCain graduated in 1954 from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. His nicknames were "McNasty" and "Punk".
<http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/Vote200... >

*
Poor Student: Graduates Bottom Of His Class
This son and grandson of four-star admirals eventually graduated fifth from the bottom of his class in 1958 - 894 out of a class of 899.
<http://www.hometownannapolis.com/cgi-bin/r... >

*
Wild Youth
While at Annapolis, McCain frequented strip clubs and bars, dated a stripper nickname "Marie the Flame of Florida". When reminiscing about her, he commented, "She was pretty volatile." He was a repeat member of the Century Club which included cadets with over 100 demerits (marks for misconduct). In his book Faith of My Fathers, McCain writes of his "excessive drinking, nightclubbing and little or no sleep."
<http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2008/04/03/m... /...>

*
Lost 5 Military Aircraft
In 1958 McCain crashed his first plane into Corpus Christi Bay on a practice flight. He crashed his second plane flying too low over the Iberian Peninsula and clipping power lines. McCain's third crash occurred when he was returning from flying a Navy trainer solo to Philadelphia for an Army-Navy football game. McCain's fourth aircraft loss occurred July 29, 1967, soon after he was assigned to the USS Forrestal as an A-4 Skyhawk pilot. While seated in the cockpit of his aircraft waiting his turn for takeoff, an accidently fired rocket slammed into McCain's plane. He escaped from the burning aircraft, but the explosions that followed killed 134 sailors, destroyed at least 20 aircraft, and threatened to sink the ship. McCain's fifth loss happened during his 23rd mission over North Vietnam on Oct. 26, 1967, when McCain's A-4 Skyhawk was shot down by a surface-to-air missile. McCain ejected from the plane breaking both arms and a leg in the process and subsequently parachuted into Truc Bach Lake near Hanoi.
<http://www.vietnamveteransagainstjohnmccai... >

*
McCain's First Wife
Carol Shepp was a successful swimwear model in Philadelphia. She first met McCain while he was attending the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis from 1954 to 1958. Before marrying McCain in 1965, Carol was previously married to one of McCain's Annapolis classmates, with whom she had two children.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_McCain >

*
Carol McCain's Accident
While McCain was a prisoner of war in Hanoi, Carol Shepp McCain was involved in a horrific car accident suffering two smashed legs, a broken pelvis, broken arm, and ruptured spleen. She spent six months in the hospital, and over the course of the next two years had 23 operations as well as extensive physical therapy. She did not tell her husband about the accident in her letters to him, believing he already had enough to worry about. The McCains were reunited after his release from captivity on March 14, 1973. She was now four inches (ten centimeters) shorter, on crutches, and substantially heavier than when he had last seen her. In a 2008 interview, Carol McCain discussed the breakup of their marriage. "�My marriage ended because John McCain didn�t want to be 40, he wanted to be 25."
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carol_McCain > and <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-... >

*
McCain Leaves Carol for Cindy
After his return from Viet Nam, McCain met Cindy Helmsley, 18 years his junior, while attending a military reception in Hawaii in 1979. Each initially lied about their ages, prompting McCain to crack ""So our marriage is really based on a tissue of lies." Cindy is the daughter of James Hensley, who founded Hensley & Co. in 1955,and Marguerite Hensley. She grew up as an only child in affluent circumstances, and was a rodeo queen in 1968. In February 1980, less than a year after he met Cindy, McCain petitioned a Florida court to dissolve his marriage to Carol, calling the union "irretrievably broken." One month later, he and Cindy were married.
<http://www.azcentral.com/news/specials/mcc... >

*
Rolling In Money
McCain is routinely is ranked among the richest in Congress. In 2007 he earned over $405,409, but his individual tax filing does not account for his wife's money.Cindy McCain initially refused to release her tax returns, but after media pressure, she release a two page summary of her 2006 returns showing an income of $6 million, not net worth which is estimated at $27 - $45 million.
<http://citizensforethics.org/node/31822 >

*
Receives Yearly Disability
He has stated that he is strong enough to hike the Grand Canyon. Yet when McCain released his tax return for 2007, he separately disclosed that he received a pension of $58,358 that was not listed as income on his return. His campaign identified the tax-free income as a "disability pension" for injuries he sustained as a POW.
<http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na... >

*
Receives Social Security
McCain's 2007 tax return shows he received $23,157 in Social Security payments, approximately $1,929.75 per month.
<http://www.dailynews.com/ci_9915374 >

*
Secrecy Over Military Records
May 7, 2008: In response to the AP's Freedom of Information Act request, the Navy released 19 pages -- a two-page overview and 17 pages of McCain's military records, detailing Awards and Decorations. Each of these 17 pages is stamped with a number. These numbers range from 0069 to 0636. When arranged in ascending order, they precisely track the chronology of McCain's career. It seems reasonable to ask the Navy whether there are at least 636 pages in McCain's file, of which 617 weren't released to the Associated Press. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-klei... >

*
Cancer
Sen. John McCain's battle with the most deadly type of skin cancer began in 1993, when doctors discovered and surgically removed a melanoma on his left arm. A second occurrence, in the middle of the 2000 Republican convention, became big news shortly after his first bid for the Republican nomination for president. Doctors removed the two new melanomas--one on his temple, another on his left arm--and at least one of his lymph nodes as well, likely to ensure that the cancer had not spread. Melanoma is the least common form of skin cancer but the most lethal.
<http://www.newsweek.com/id/113705 >

*
Medical Records
In May of 2008, McCain released 1,173 pages of medical records spanning 2000 to 2008. Like many aging Americans, McCain takes medicine to keep his cholesterol in check. McCain's most recent exams show a range of health issues common in aging: He frequently has precancerous skin lesions removed, and in February had an early stage squamous cell carcinoma, an easily cured skin cancer, removed. He had benign colon growths called polyps taken out during a routine colonoscopy in March. The Vietnam veteran has degenerative arthritis from war injuries that might mean a future joint replacement. His blood pressure and weight were healthy, and his cholesterol good but not optimal – and he switched medication from the controversial Vytorin that made headlines this past winter to a proven standby, simvastatin.
<http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2... >

*
Keating Five
1989: The "Keating Five" were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. McCain and four other senators were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB). McCain received $112,000 by 1987 from Keating and Keating's relatives and employees to McCain's Senate campaign, more than any of the other Senators. In addition to campaign contributions, McCain's wife and her father had invested $359,100 in a Keating shopping center in April 1986, a year before McCain met with the regulators. It was also found that the McCains, sometimes accompanied by their daughter and baby-sitter, had made at least nine trips at Keating's expense, sometimes aboard the American Continental Corporation (parent of Lincoln) jet. Three of the trips were made during vacations to Keating's opulent Bahamas retreat at Cat Cay. McCain also did not pay Keating for some of the trips until years after they were taken, after he learned that Keating was in trouble over Lincoln. Lincoln Savings and Loan's collapse is said to have cost taxpayers $3.4 billion. After a lengthy investigation, the Senate Ethics Committee criticized McCain for "questionable conduct."
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keating_Five >

*
McCain's Son Resigns From 2 Bank Industry Boards Of Directors
July 27, 2008: Andrew K. McCain, son of Republican presidential candidate John McCain, has resigned from the boards of Silver State Bancorp and Silver State Bank of southern Nevada for "personal reasons." Shares of Silver State Bancorp, of which Andrew McCain owns 1,226, closed at $1.28 a share on Friday, July 25, 2008. The stock's 52-week high on Nasdaq (symbol SSBX) is $24.10. While Silver State Bancorp has not yet been seized by federal regulators, they may be near the top of the watch list. In mid-July 2008, the investment site The Motley Fool listed Silver State as three bank stocks not to buy right now. <http://rawstory.com/news/2008/McCains_son_... >

*
McCain's Claim Of Being Offered Admiral's Star Questioned
1981: Despite being a poor performing Naval Academy student (bottom 1% of his class), repeatedly cited for misconduct while at Annapolis, and losing military aircraft, McCain claims he was offered an admiralship after being a captain for less than 2 years. This has been questioned by many in the military as extremely unusual and highly unlikely. In McCain's own book Worth the Fighting For, he states, "Several months before my father died, I informed him that I was leaving the navy.... For when I left him that day, alone in his study, I took with me his hope that I might someday become the first son and grandson of four-star admirals to achieve the same distinction. That aspiration was well beyond my reach by the time I made my decision...."
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeffrey-klei... >

With apologies to Billy Joel.


There's a place in the world for the angry young old man
With his working class military ties and his radical neo-con plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl,
And He's always at home with his back to the wall.
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost,
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross-
And he likes to be known as the angry young old man.

Give a moment or two to the angry young old man,
With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand.
He's been stabbed in the back, he's been misunderstood,
It's a comfort to know his intentions are good.
And he sits in a room with a lock on the door,
With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor-
And he likes to be known as the angry young old man.

I believe I've passed the age
Of consciousness and righteous rage
I found that just surviving was a noble fight.
I once believed in causes too,
I had my pointless point of view,
And life went on no matter who was wrong or right. OHHHHHHHH

And there's always a place for the angry young old man,
With his fist in the air and his head in the sand.
And he's never been able to learn from mistakes,
So he can't understand why his heart always breaks.
And his honor's not pure or his courage as well,
And he's not fair or true and he's boring as hell-
And he'll go to the grave as an angry old man.

There's always a place for the angry young old man
With his military ties and his neo-con plans
He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl,
And He's always at home with his back to the wall.
And he's proud of his scars and the battles he's lost,
And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on his cross-
And he likes to be known as the angry young old man.


and REC!!!

And made comments in the Debate Threads.

For the most part, Independents are the only group that really matter in these situations. Except for those cases when the Democrats or Republicans crossed the line into positive territory while the opposing candidate was speaking.

And that happened.

For the most part, both the Dems and Repubs were predictably partisan. There were occasions on both sides where the audience had positive reactions to the opposing candidate, although it definitely happened more often with the Republican audience going positive for Obama. This almost invariably happened when Obama was making specific policy points, and it happened on multiple occasions.

Back to the Independents. They liked Obama showing his knowledge, and outlining policies. They hated McCain's condescending remarks towards Obama.

Overall, Independents instant reactions appeared to fairly obviously favor Obama.

I finished watching, and was surprised it was over so quickly - guess I was a bit engrossed. I felt that Obama was a clear winner - which was why I was so surprised when the first 3 or 4 pundits I saw were calling it for McCain.

I certainly hope that the masses don't let the talking heads sway their opinion.

An alternate subject line could read: The United States is Being Looted

And both are true. As we were warned:



No bid contracts both here and abroad. Billions of dollars unaccounted for in Iraq. Corporations looted from within and now being bought out by the United States Government in order to keep the world economy from collapsing under the weight of its' own hubris.

Wealth redistribution never seen before in the history of this country; going to the top fraction of a percent of people. It's fairly obvious where that money came from. "Follow the money" is the true cliche.

And Eisenhower was right.




Rant off. I need another beer.

At least in my case.

A parallel hybrid uses the IC (Internal Combustion) engine a lot. Sure, once the car has warmed up, you can run on only battery power up to around 35 mph. But, there are a few caveats. 1) You can't accelerate very hard, or the IC kicks in. 2) Don't go more than a mile or two. The batteries drain quickly, and the IC kicks in to charge 'em back up again. 3) Don't go up any hills and try to maintain your speed, because once again, the IC starts up and pulls you up the hill so smoothly that you probably didn't notice that the engine had turned on.

Let's assume for this discussion that "series hybrid" is the Volt with its' published specs. This vehicle can go approximately 40 miles on battery power alone, before a small IC engine turns on for the sole purpose of charging up the batteries. At that point, the mpg or gpm or however you want to measure its' cost per mile is open to debate.

I have about a 10 mile one-way commute. My home is higher in elevation than my work, and there are a number of hills of varying elevations in between. I can't average more than 45 mpg in the Prius on that commute, even using hypermiling techniques. If the Volt meets it's current specs, I would be able to commute from home to work and back again, and charge it up at night while at home. And not once during that 20 mile commute would the IC kick in.

For my situation, the choice between a series and a parallel hybrid is a no-brainer.

Here are a couple links to some really interesting alternative fueled vehicles that are going into production soon. And in the case of the electric motorcycle, is in production now. I don't want to buy any more IC vehicles. These are some options I'm considering.

Click on the picture to go to each of the manufacturers websites for information about these vehicles:

http://www.city-data.com/city/Wasilla-Alas...



My city has 11 registered sex offenders, for a ratio of 1638 to 1.


How does your city compare? This link will let you know: http://www.city-data.com /