This should warm the hearts of GOP legislators.

[Guest TNReb]

Congrats to the GOP legislators who threw all of us 2nd amendment supporters under the bus this year. According to the Communist Appeal (Memphis), you "did the right thing." Doesn't it make you feel good to know that the most liberal paper in the most liberal city in the state supports you? Be thankful for their support. If this continues into the next session, you certainly won't have mine. I'm beginning to think it will be better to vote for someone I know is going to screw me over than to continue to suffer the disappointment of voting people in who tell me they won't, and then they do. In the meantime, congrats on this great honor. Excuse me now while I go get my jackhammer to get my tongue out of my cheek.

Editorial: Not so quick on the trigger » The Commercial Appeal

[1gewehr]

As usual, the Commie Appeal mis-states things a bit. Part of the problem was the NRA-sponsored one-size-fits-all 34-page parking lot bill. It was poorly written to mesh with existing TN laws. This caused a lot of confusion and led to it's not passing. The school-carry bill the CA refers to was a situation where the sponsor was promised plenty of votes to get it out of committee, and then back-stabbed by a RINO. It might have helped if gun owners had been more vocal in their support of these two issues. Other good bills were treated in similar fashion.

The 2012 session will be better and you should expect to see both parking lot and school carry bills pass. Our new leadership had a lot to learn about how the legislature works and got sandbagged a few times by sneaky RINOs. Still, if you have not contacted your state rep and senator about these issues, you need to show your support.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Ok. The GOP is supposed to be about less laws, and less intrusive government, right? The idea of being more "free," right? Citizens rights over the rights of government, right?

The "don't say gay law" violates the 1st A. Less "free." The "limit abortion" law is extremely intrusive. (Hands off government! Except women's vaginas!) The limiting of awards granted by the jury of your peers, smacks of the company is more important than the citizen. Haslam claiming he has no "conflict of interest," in pushing the passage of said law, is laughable at best.

(FYI: Law was needless and 10 years from now, will be looked as extreme punishment to the injured, as the monetary limit will not adjust for inflation.) The lawsuit is to punish wrong doing of the corporation, and try to do something for the victim of their action. This limiting of the law is stating the corporation can do what they want, with little recourse for those they harm. Think about this when one of your loved ones gets hurt/killed by a corporate entity.)

NO push for job creation. NO push for lowering of taxes. NO push for budget balancing. NO push for the rights of the citizen. NO push for limiting government.

So much for those promises they swore to during the election...

[Worriedman]

As usual, the Commie Appeal mis-states things a bit. Part of the problem was the NRA-sponsored one-size-fits-all 34-page parking lot bill. It was poorly written to mesh with existing TN laws. This caused a lot of confusion and led to it's not passing. The school-carry bill the CA refers to was a situation where the sponsor was promised plenty of votes to get it out of committee, and then back-stabbed by a RINO. It might have helped if gun owners had been more vocal in their support of these two issues. Other good bills were treated in similar fashion.

The 2012 session will be better and you should expect to see both parking lot and school carry bills pass. Our new leadership had a lot to learn about how the legislature works and got sandbagged a few times by sneaky RINOs. Still, if you have not contacted your state rep and senator about these issues, you need to show your support.

Matheny's NRA sponsored proposal (the one you reference HB 1668) never even got to committee. The simple Bill brought up by Evans (HB 2021) got killed by Dennis and the FED EX.

You may be correct that next year's session MIGHT be of more benefit, there IS an election in 2012, and the pols will be back to conservative groups with their hands out again, convinced that our collective recollections are short term enough that we will not remember their actions of '11, but you will not see campus carry. Haslam is opposed, and the Governing body of UT is as well, it simply will not happen. CTAS and MTAS (operatives of the UT system) will do everything in their power to preclude it's acceptance, and as they are the chief lending institution to Cities and Counties, they wield a huge stick in TN.

Edited May 22, 2011 by Worriedman

[Guest HvyMtl]

Worriedman, you forget one additional road block, the Speaker of the House, she is anti-2nd A, too...

[East_TN_Patriot]

The "don't say gay law" violates the 1st A. Less "free." The "limit abortion" law is extremely intrusive. (Hands off government! Except women's vaginas!)

What about protection of the unborn child? I kind of think the fetus feels that having its limbs ripped from its body and its brain sucked from the skull is pretty intrusive. Government has one primary and solemn obligation, and that is to protect innocent human life from arbitrary and unjust force. There is no more unjust force than that used against an unborn child. If innocent life is not protected, none of our other freedoms or liberties mean a damn thing.

[Worriedman]

Worriedman, you forget one additional road block, the Speaker of the House, she is anti-2nd A, too...

That is a "you understood" situation. But she is not the only leadership person who is, the Blue Blood Republicans starting with the "Elder Statesman", Alexander, are all anti-gun. They figure for Haslam to have a chance to run for President someday, they can not have any real pro-gun issues on his record, as they think the Liberal path is the only way to go.

There are some Freshman Republicans who are pro-firearms oriented, but they were chained and muzzled this term, all for the greater supposed good of the Party. Alexander, Dunn, Haslam and Harwell are all on the same page, and the interest of firearms owner's is not an issue they deem important.

[Guest HvyMtl]

True Worriedman, true. Though I think Haslam wants to replace Alexander, when he retires, not run for Pres.

On abortion: I do not agree with it as a use for birth control (oppose it, particularly since there are other, more responsible ways.) This said, you ignore the right of the mother, and / or the father. And a fetus is not a citizen, and does not garner the same rights until birth. When born it has most of the rights any other citizen does. Except in the near future, when "anchor babies" will not. The rights of the parents are superior to the right of the fetus, until birth. (The laws have been this way since before the Founding Fathers.)

Odd thing is this: Guess the #1 religious group that fights against abortion? Catholics. Guess who is #1 religious group in having abortions? Catholics. Live what you believe, and the number would drop dramatically.

The Don't say Gay law limits the 1st A right of teachers. Makes it impossible to teach, if there is a child of a gay person in the class...

The law banning the Nashville Ordinance on policy (in this case, no discrimination) is a direct slap to the citizens of Nashville, and oversteps the right of the state over the right of the city. Like the Feds overstep the rights of the state. It is an over expansion of the state's laws. Something they claimed they would limit was the expansion of the state...

NO push for jobs creation. NO push for lowering taxes. NO push for lowering spending. NO push for limiting state government. NO push for balancing the budget. NO push for the rights of the citizen.

But hey, they did get to stick it to their political opponents (teacher unions) at the expense of the teachers. True, the teacher union is responsible for blocking certain attempts at improving education. And absolutely true, the Teacher Unions want their members to vote Liberal. However, damaging the right to job security for the teacher, may not be the right step, and may come to harm the education system further.

But, in another way, it is an attack on the middle class, as teachers are paid middle class wages. Now, if that teacher nears "tenure," or gets expensive, he/she is far more easy to replace. So, instead of keeping a teacher for 10+ years, they will be replaced by new, less experienced teachers, who are cheaper. Which teacher do you want for your child? The experienced teacher of 10 years paid a salary of $60k, or a new teacher directly out of school, and paid $25-35k a year? Sometimes, you get what you pay for...

Edited May 23, 2011 by HvyMtl

[eapking]

[JayC]

How about we get the state out of the education business altogether? Frankly most teachers are way overpaid for what little they do.

Public School has turned into a children's day prison, and the results show we're not even doing that very well.

We did pretty well before the civil war educating children in this country with no state or federal involvement in schools, and it would be a lot better for this country and state to go back to that model...

Have schools funded and controlled at the local level with little or no input from the state, and none what so ever from the federal government.

True Worriedman, true. Though I think Haslam wants to replace Alexander, when he retires, not run for Pres.

On abortion: I do not agree with it as a use for birth control (oppose it, particularly since there are other, more responsible ways.) This said, you ignore the right of the mother, and / or the father. And a fetus is not a citizen, and does not garner the same rights until birth. When born it has most of the rights any other citizen does. Except in the near future, when "anchor babies" will not. The rights of the parents are superior to the right of the fetus, until birth. (The laws have been this way since before the Founding Fathers.)

Odd thing is this: Guess the #1 religious group that fights against abortion? Catholics. Guess who is #1 religious group in having abortions? Catholics. Live what you believe, and the number would drop dramatically.

The Don't say Gay law limits the 1st A right of teachers. Makes it impossible to teach, if there is a child of a gay person in the class...

The law banning the Nashville Ordinance on policy (in this case, no discrimination) is a direct slap to the citizens of Nashville, and oversteps the right of the state over the right of the city. Like the Feds overstep the rights of the state. It is an over expansion of the state's laws. Something they claimed they would limit was the expansion of the state...

NO push for jobs creation. NO push for lowering taxes. NO push for lowering spending. NO push for limiting state government. NO push for balancing the budget. NO push for the rights of the citizen.

But hey, they did get to stick it to their political opponents (teacher unions) at the expense of the teachers. True, the teacher union is responsible for blocking certain attempts at improving education. And absolutely true, the Teacher Unions want their members to vote Liberal. However, damaging the right to job security for the teacher, may not be the right step, and may come to harm the education system further.

But, in another way, it is an attack on the middle class, as teachers are paid middle class wages. Now, if that teacher nears "tenure," or gets expensive, he/she is far more easy to replace. So, instead of keeping a teacher for 10+ years, they will be replaced by new, less experienced teachers, who are cheaper. Which teacher do you want for your child? The experienced teacher of 10 years paid a salary of $60k, or a new teacher directly out of school, and paid $25-35k a year? Sometimes, you get what you pay for...

[Guest HvyMtl]

Were it not for the want of uniform education, that would happen. Sadly, I think the educational system is messed up. The teachers hands are tied. They cannot discipline at all. One disruptive student in class, and none learn. The teacher cannot do a thing about it. Sad.

[JayC]

Were it not for the want of uniform education, that would happen. Sadly, I think the educational system is messed up. The teachers hands are tied. They cannot discipline at all. One disruptive student in class, and none learn. The teacher cannot do a thing about it. Sad.

Yeah that is the ticket, it's because we don't allow teachers to discipline their students that we're doing such a poor job at educating them. Has nothing to do with teachers unions... or requiring both public and private schools to only higher 'certified' teachers.... or we can't treat teachers like evry other employee where their pay is based on job performance... or the fact we over pay teachers by a country mile in this state

Nahh, it's all the kids and their parents fault. How exactly do these charter schools succeed in some of the worse areas of the country, and they don't allow corporal punishment either? Hmm

Here is part of the problem... 10 years into their career, a tenured teacher works about 1400-1600 hours a year... You take any other highly skilled white collar profession that requires 4 to 6 years of education making about 65k a year... computer administrator, engineer, cpa, mba, etc and they are working 3100-3400 hours a year for the same salary and probably not nearly as good benefits... (and trust me, in many cases when you factor in having to be reachable 24/7 those folks are working a lot more than 3400 hours) All the while being evaluated on job performance...

Sure there are teachers out there that should earn 65k, or even 100k... But, they should be the top of their field, not somebody who just does enough to get by...

[Guest SUNTZU]

So my boss can tell me what product to sell and how to sell it but if I decide to call down fire and damnation on the client then I'm protected by my first amendment rights? Or does a teacher have a responsibility to follow the approved schedule from the school board and doesn't get to spout their own belief system to children?

[Guest nicemac]

What about protection of the unborn child? I kind of think the fetus feels that having its limbs ripped from its body and its brain sucked from the skull is pretty intrusive. Government has one primary and solemn obligation, and that is to protect innocent human life from arbitrary and unjust force. There is no more unjust force than that used against an unborn child. If innocent life is not protected, none of our other freedoms or liberties mean a damn thing.

Amen.

[Jonnin]

I am totally anti-tenure. Saw it as a student, as a kid all the way thru college. In college, one professor in my computer science department was still blathering on and on about 40 year old tech (punch cards?! in 1999?) in his classes. He got routine reviews from students about how horrible his classes were... and nothing was done, he had tenure. Same as a kid... the teachers with tenure have pets, grade based off how much they like the kid, teach their politics and opinions, fail to teach, they can get away with almost anything so long as they do not break the PC rules in class, and tenure protects them.

Sure, better teachers should be paid more (actually, most teachers should be paid more anyway.. thats another story). Not because they have been in a school for 60 years, but because they are better, regardless of service time, age, or the like. Like ANY OTHER JOB, teachers should get a salary increase if they are doing a good job and for service time (at least a COL increase yearly). But they should never be granted a "you cannot fire me" pass, for any reason. No one in any other field should have such a pass either.... the entire concept is flawed beyond words. As for firing someone to avoid paying them... at any place, school or not, that is a choice management has to make... keep the person who is doing great and pay them more, or risk a new person who may or may not be any good but costs less. Its an economical decision. When it comes to education, then, the person doing the firing has to understand this. If whoever is in charge is on a very limited budget and told to cut costs, guess what they will do? If the person is told instead to make sure the kids come out with the best eductation, guess what they will do instead? WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE OF THE MONEY is the one who is making the decision, whether thats voters or someone hired to do it or whatever. That is were any changes have to be made.. to the budget and the priorities.

[Guest HvyMtl]

Apparently JayC, you were attempting to be sarcastic. My college roommate lasted 3 months as a high school teacher. For exactly the reason I gave. He could not raise his voice, remove the student, or discipline in anyway. No kid learned, because of the disruptive kids. Risk management in the extreme...

"Nahh, it's all the kids and their parents fault."

Yes, the PARENTS fault. Fully. We allowed this to happen.

[JayC]

Some of it is sarcastic, some of it isn't... How come teachers in some of the worse areas of the country are able to get 95+% college acceptance rates (and virtually 100% high school graduation rates), while the public school 2 blocks down the road is barely able to graduate 50% of it's students, and almost none go to college?

And corporal punishment isn't the difference... because neither allow it.

I'm not saying that parents aren't involved as much as they should be... nor am I saying that the stupid PC culture we've created isn't creating 2 generations of monsters who think they deserve 100k jobs right out of college.

But, the education system (controlled at the state and federal levels) is fundamentally broken, it's not repairable... The only way to fix it, is to go back to a locally administered and funded model where parents have a much greater influence over the standards of the schools their children attend.

Apparently JayC, you were attempting to be sarcastic. My college roommate lasted 3 months as a high school teacher. For exactly the reason I gave. He could not raise his voice, remove the student, or discipline in anyway. No kid learned, because of the disruptive kids. Risk management in the extreme...

"Nahh, it's all the kids and their parents fault."

Yes, the PARENTS fault. Fully. We allowed this to happen.

[Guest peacexxl]

Some of it is sarcastic, some of it isn't... How come teachers in some of the worse areas of the country are able to get 95+% college acceptance rates (and virtually 100% high school graduation rates), while the public school 2 blocks down the road is barely able to graduate 50% of it's students, and almost none go to college?

And corporal punishment isn't the difference... because neither allow it.

I'm not saying that parents aren't involved as much as they should be... nor am I saying that the stupid PC culture we've created isn't creating 2 generations of monsters who think they deserve 100k jobs right out of college.

But, the education system (controlled at the state and federal levels) is fundamentally broken, it's not repairable... The only way to fix it, is to go back to a locally administered and funded model where parents have a much greater influence over the standards of the schools their children attend.

The teachers in the charter schools you are referring to are successful because those schools have the right to dismiss disruptive students. Corporal punishment isn't the only effective form of discipline. Charter schools are not warehouses like normal public schools which have to take anychild who lives in that district. They have admission requirements as well as requirements for continuing to attend. The admission requirements for the average public school is proof of address and age. So teachers are left to babysit children who have no "home training" and show no respect to the teachers. If parents don't teach kids to repect at least some authority and value an education, and also show some support to the teachers versus blindly supporting their children, there is only so much a teacher can do.

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Our society has allowed and created the monster, being this underclass of unruly kids who have less

values and the federal school system is to blame, along with the parents. So many people, nowadays,

expect something for nothing, and the kids are being taught less about how to behave in society, so

we are reaping what we sowed. We, collectively have allowed this experiment to fail by expecting the

government to fix all woes and not being involved except by paying for it, along with socialists running

the show.

The teachers are just as much at fault for sitting back and letting more guidelines get in the way of their

job. Unions are to blame forcing noncompetitive pay situations and work rules that further restrict the

teacher. The list can keep going on and on, but it goes back to our acceptance of the government being

the controller of our lives and the changing mores in society. We've dug a big hole.

Maybe it is about time to scrap the whole educational system and start over. I doubt many would agree.

[JayC]

Public Schools have the ability to dismiss disruptive students just like charter schools... Even if you can't completely get rid of the disruptive students you can warehouse them together with the cheapest baby sitters you can find.

Make 90% of your teaching different levels of charter schools, and leave the bottom to 10% for the disruptive students... Much better than the current game plan.

It doesn't change the fact that local control would solve a lot of these problems... If the parents who go to school A fund school A and control who gets hired and fired from school A, school A and it's staff will be much more responsive to the parents.

Our current model is to force teaching methods/processes down from the federal and state government, and leave the parents with little or no say in the education of their children.

I for one will not be sending my children to day prison when it comes time to get an education.

The teachers in the charter schools you are referring to are successful because those schools have the right to dismiss disruptive students. Corporal punishment isn't the only effective form of discipline. Charter schools are not warehouses like normal public schools which have to take anychild who lives in that district. They have admission requirements as well as requirements for continuing to attend. The admission requirements for the average public school is proof of address and age. So teachers are left to babysit children who have no "home training" and show no respect to the teachers. If parents don't teach kids to repect at least some authority and value an education, and also show some support to the teachers versus blindly supporting their children, there is only so much a teacher can do.

[bajabuc]

But hey, they did get to stick it to their political opponents (teacher unions) at the expense of the teachers. True, the teacher union is responsible for blocking certain attempts at improving education. And absolutely true, the Teacher Unions want their members to vote Liberal. However, damaging the right to job security for the teacher, may not be the right step, and may come to harm the education system further.

But, in another way, it is an attack on the middle class, as teachers are paid middle class wages. Now, if that teacher nears "tenure," or gets expensive, he/she is far more easy to replace. So, instead of keeping a teacher for 10+ years, they will be replaced by new, less experienced teachers, who are cheaper. Which teacher do you want for your child? The experienced teacher of 10 years paid a salary of $60k, or a new teacher directly out of school, and paid $25-35k a year? Sometimes, you get what you pay for...

I want a teacher who is current with reality...that said...+1

[1gewehr]

I find it interesting that private schools have no trouble recruiting and keeping good teachers while usually paying less than government schools. Perhaps tenure is less about keeping 'good' teachers than it is about protecting union members. Most private schools in TN are church or community schools with per-student expenses of between 1/3 and 1/2 that of government schools. Student performance and SAT scores are much higher on average as well. It seems that the concept of tenure for government school employees is not one that benefits students. And if it does not benefit the students, then it is an unnecessary expense.