DrDawkinstein Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 thats good money that coulda been spent on bombing them thar towel-heads!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Senator Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 My response was to the ridiculous claim that the price tag amounts to "$140,000 per student". That would only be true if it was only open for one year. Crazy attacks like that don't exactly help the discussion, as they are designed to simply cause outrage. Is it the price outrageous? Seems to be, but I don't know enough about the entire effort. Surely it didn't cost "$140,000 per student". The other ridiculous claim is that it's $578M on one school - it's actually a campus of seven schools, a 'sizable' urban park, and a memorial to RFK. I know the press has a way of slanting facts to sell news, but they seem to have gone 'over-the-top' on this one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted August 24, 2010 Share Posted August 24, 2010 how are we supposed to protect 'Merica and Freedom if we're wasting our money on edumacation?!? books dont kill terrorists, bombs do!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.Biscuit97 Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 thats good money that coulda been spent on bombing them thar towel-heads!! Sad part is there's a lot of the country that feels that way. Glad to see you got my point. Do you really think building a school that cost half a billion is going to improve the drop out rates? Since when is building a school of that cost spending money on education? I guess the hope is that people will start taking more pride in their communtiy. While there are scumbags everywhere, I generally believe the majority of people are good and want to better themselves. Didn't Magic help clean up a lot of South Central with some of his businesses (asking because I don't live in LA)? Obviously nothing is 100% but I think spending more money education will benefit this country a lot more than more spending on wars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Obviously nothing is 100% but I think spending more money education will benefit this country a lot more than more spending on wars. The problem with education in this country has nothing to do with the amount of money spent on it. We're spending nearly $600,000,000,000.00 a year on education and no one can tell me it's being done in anything close to a wise manner. This "project" is a prime example and it's indefensible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 The other ridiculous claim is that it's $578M on one school - it's actually a campus of seven schools, a 'sizable' urban park, and a memorial to RFK. I know the press has a way of slanting facts to sell news, but they seem to have gone 'over-the-top' on this one. I wonder how I ever got a HS diploma from West Seneca West. It was a old ugly building when I graduated[1974] and is still in use.But of course we didn't have a park and statues of RFK so no doubt my education suffered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dib Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 That would be true, and outrageous, if the school was only going to operate for one year. I'd like to see what it looks like at the end of a year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I'd like to see what it looks like at the end of a year. I'm going to go full Nostradamus here, and predict 10 years from now (and beyond) it looks FAR better than many of current schools and parks in the area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 I'm going to go full Nostradamus here, and predict 10 years from now (and beyond) it looks FAR better than many of current schools and parks in the area. Great, that's like saying the Bill have played FAR better than the Lions the past 10 years. Question though, what are you basing this great prediction on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Great, that's like saying the Bill have played FAR better than the Lions the past 10 years. Question though, what are you basing this great prediction on? Sometimes, when people who have lived in dire conditions, they can come to value something of worth, something to be proud of. I think that community may look at this as a great opportunity for improvement and treat it with the respect it deserves. It's tough to live in blight, to go to schools that have no supplies and is filled with teachers who dread going to work every day, etc. This is an opportunity to have a place that can be a refuge from their everyday despair, if implemented correctly. I believe there is a good chance the community will come together to protect this jewel in their midst. Time will tell, of course. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaska Darin Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Sometimes, when people who have lived in dire conditions, they can come to value something of worth, something to be proud of. I think that community may look at this as a great opportunity for improvement and treat it with the respect it deserves. It's tough to live in blight, to go to schools that have no supplies and is filled with teachers who dread going to work every day, etc. This is an opportunity to have a place that can be a refuge from their everyday despair, if implemented correctly. I believe there is a good chance the community will come together to protect this jewel in their midst. Time will tell, of course. Plus, the government is going to continue to throw piles of money at it to keep its status as a false idol. That's the best of both worlds: You get to pretend you're right and they'll use it as an example to waste even more money on similar things in the future. Of course, the downside is downright dark. But no one likes to lift the covers and see how poor the fundamentals of education in this country really are. We're building nice buildings so we have something to value and respect! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dean Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 Plus, the government is going to continue to throw piles of money at it to keep its status as a false idol. That's the best of both worlds: You get to pretend you're right and they'll use it as an example to waste even more money on similar things in the future. Of course, the downside is downright dark. But no one likes to lift the covers and see how poor the fundamentals of education in this country really are. We're building nice buildings so we have something to value and respect! No doubt the education system in this country needs to be revamped. But it costs some $$ (oh NO!) and we (as a country) will never be able to agree on what are the right changes, IMO. But just because the entire system isn't overhauled doesn't mean positive changes can't occur in pockets/individual situations. What better place to make some progress (if it is real) than in an area that breeds failure at an alarming rate? If a remarkable facility like this helps keep more kids safe, and in school; if it inspires more young minds to grow/create instead of joining gangs and selling drugs, how can you call it a "false idol"? I don't think of this as a hindrance to educational reform, but rather an attempt at such. An experiment, if you will. A facility like this could be a testing ground for different kinds of programs/curriculum/etc. Will it be? Well I can understand your skepticism, some of which I share. (To be truthful I think I'm a bit skeptical and you're more cynical, but let's not pick at nits.) Will there be used for political purposes? Of course. Will there be some money wasted? Without question. But if it actually brings improvement, I will consider that positive change. Virtually everything is politicized. Money is ill spent on almost every project, private and public. We can't stop trying because of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted August 25, 2010 Share Posted August 25, 2010 this could probably use it's own thread, but im not sure there is that much to discuss. plus it kinda pertains to the last bit of this thread... Headline: Scathing letter rips culture of city schools http://www.buffalonews.com/city/communities/buffalo/article171627.ece Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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