G27

What year is your Taco?

Sick. You have your own shop or hire this work out?

School spending per pupil in Tennessee Information & News from The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN)

Yep, MCS already spends approximately 20% more per student than SCS (~$5,500 vs ~$4,500/student/annum)...

Haha, fair enough. Bingo. But we need positives that don't require hurting other kids' education. The solutions exist, but they aren't simple, and they (honestly) won't come from the government... Ahh, it's a great idea, but we both know that would be 'racist'...

Touché...

What on earth does this even mean? I'm not scared of anything, though I am weary of politicians and their sheep acting as if any action is a good thing. Of course my objections are valid - be specific - which ones are not? Give me any proof, any thoughts as to HOW merging the systems will improve MCS. Not just 'it's for the kids', but some concrete ideas as to HOW it will improve, when you have the same voters voting for the school board? Just one, please. If you can. And if you are implying this is a racial or class issue, then you could not be more wrong. End the current school board and have another election. If you assume it would result in similar circumstances, why do you think adding a small additional voting base will change anything from the city's perspective? It will only extend these Memphis City School-board buffoons' power. You keep acting as if those of us who are against merging are somehow against those kids getting an education - nowhere have I said anything like that. In fact, I've pointed out that my wife and I dedicate our time to go to these folks and help the kids learn - do you even do that? Easy for you to say you have their best interests in mind, but I'm betting you've done nothing about it other than post on this thread. I'd be thrilled if you proved me wrong, but won't hold my breath... Fact is, change for the sake of change isn't the answer - there are a variety of things that can go catastrophically wrong with a merger, and a few that can go right. Facts we know: - a majority of Memphis residents / parents don't care enough to vote for school board members who have their children's best interests in mind. The evidence is everywhere. - no school system can be successful without parental involvement - parents who rely solely on the schools to educate and motivate their kids fail every time. Again, the evidence is everywhere. - merging them systems does nothing to address either of the above - it simply adds more children to the risk. You think merging the systems will magically make parents who aren't responsible responsible, or those that don't care, care? You think the Memphis voters will suddenly change decades of voting and start voting for board members who actually have the children's best interests in mind? If you believe this, please explain why... Again, I care for the inner city, undereducated kids of Memphis as much as anyone - I think it's terrible that due to the fact they were born to who they were and where they were, their chances are so limited / nonexistent. But offering up the county schools as a sacrifice does nothing to address the actual issues as to why the MCS system performs so poorly - unless / until you can give some logical reason as to why it will benefit those kids and not harm the education of the current county students, well, frankly, you're just blowing a lot of hot air...

Yah, no one is driving a car down that, no matter how good they are.

Oh, I'm not worked up at all, just seems odd you would cast aspersions toward those posting valid reasons they are against while offering no reasons to be for except for some unrealistic ideal you can't even tell why you support. You sound like a member of the Brady bunch - talk about humorous!

Yah, this. I added a FB blocking extension to Safari so those little tabs don't even load...

Really? All you have is a straw man? How about adding something of substance? Explain why your position is anything but burdening folks with Memphis' problems...

Truth. City residents outnumber county residents handily, so in the resulting elections will be very tough to keep the good members on the board. I mean, how much proof do you need that the residents of Memphis CANNOT elect decent leadership? In the 15 years I've lived here virtually every election has been a joke - elect the worst candidate, as long as he's the right color... The answer would be to allow the systems to stay separate but utilize the county board, but that won't ever happen, the city people would freak out about 'not having a say' in the officials running things, despite the fact that they've shot themselves in the foot so many times there's nothing left below the knee. We already home school, no it's not going to affect us directly, but I GUARANTEE the testing scores will drop in the county within five years of this happening. It's the worst answer to a good question.

Who said give up on them? I've outlined exactly what I believe will happen and why. Tell me exactly what the benefit is to this merger and I'll listen, I'm all ears... And for the record, I'm not going to toot my own horn here, but I am actively involved in helping these kids via the Greenlaw CC - so instead of essentially dooming the entire system by merging them, why not promote people actually getting involved and teaching these kids to read, being a good role model, helping them better themselves - instead of expecting the government to fix a societal problem that WILL NOT get fixed by changing merely for the sake of changing. We tried that (collectively) in the 2008 presidential election - that's really worked out, hasn't it?

Yep, I've seen guys take CARS down trails I thought a lifted truck was necessary for - a good driver who picks the right lines can do incredible things without a lift, tires, etc...

Hrmm, looks like it's time to upgrade the old PC...

So, change for the sake of change? Brilliant. Explain how merging the two will do ANYTHING other than hurt the county schools, please - I'm all ears.

Yah, agree 1005 (hence my comment...)...

And again! Hahaha

THIS! Hahaha, nicely done, TGODavid.

Bingo. State, maybe, but unless you can show me somewhere in the US Constitution where the federal gov't has the right to take over a school system, I'll pass on that idea...

Pure, unadulterated silence - ahhhh... Listening to music all day for work means I value NOT listening to music sometimes, and when I'm the only one up in the AM, it's nice.

I suspect the kid has already learned that if he tries to 'man up' to uncle, he really gets it...

Welcome, and thanks for your service!

Weird but not unique - I'm right there with you.