Education

I realize that there are bigger fish to fry then worrying about the education of Texas' children.  With illegal aliens crossing our borders, same-sex marriages and the evils of Planned Parenthood who has time to worry about the $4 billion dollars being cut from education this year. Academic programs and transportation are being cut down to the bone.  Many teachers and support staff have been laid-off.  In Leander there are two new schools that were built due to overcrowding, sit empty because the district does not have the money to staff them.  Not only is this issue heartbreaking for the students it also affects the lives of all the dedicated teachers and support staff who have lost their jobs.  Many districts have tried to compensate for the cuts by having parents pay for transportation, sports, and uniforms.  In my opinion, this is fine as long as they can afford it.  The problem is many people can’t afford it and the children, our future are the ones who suffer.  The most affected districts are the low-income districts according to an article on NPR, lower-income districts are getting $800.00 less per student than wealthy districts.  

Why are we not using some of the $5 billion dollar rainy day fund?  Is giving Texas children a subpar education not an emergency?  How our educators expected to make sure students are grasping the curriculum when their classrooms our overcrowded and they do not have the support staff to help them.  My concerns are not for the self-motivated and bright students, but for the students who needs the extra help.  What will happen to them with overcrowded classrooms, due to the budget cuts in education?  These are questions not only should parents be concerned with, but everyone who lives in Texas.  I am certain we can all agree that children are our future.  We need to make sure our future is filled with educated adults.

What was Rush Thinking? He Wasn't!

If Sex is Outlawed, Then Only Georgetown Law Student Will Have Sex   written by, Eileen Smith, the editor of "in the Pink" political blog, is a funny and sarcastic look at contraceptives in the political arena.  Ms. Smith’s uses satire in her depiction of the most recent rant of Rush Limbaugh, radio host, which is clearly geared for an anti-Limbaugh audience.  The blog article also highlighted a ridiculous comment made by Cardinal Timothy Dolan regarding the holy war on contraceptives and she ended her piece with her opinion on Rick Santorum,  candidate for the 2012 Republican party presidential nomination.

Ms. Smith’s postings are meant for a like-mined audience.  There is no doubt when reading her various postings she is leaning to the left when it comes to politics.  The author uses her wit and sarcasm to engage her target audience.   She uses direct quotes by the parties in which she pokes fun at and to prove her argument, which is how utterly ridiculous their clams really are.  Ms. Smith’s posting do not provide hard evidence in defense of her argument, but what they do, do is engage the reader into finding out more about the issues at hand.  I know that for me after reading her posting I went an read other articles that were regarding the issues she had written about.  I believe the intent in her postings is to educate her readers on political issues in a light-hearted matter.  Her article is an easy read that gives a brief interpretation on, in this case, staunch conservatives views on birth control and other issues that are geared towards women’s reproductive health.