Scottsdale Schools to have early release every Wednesday

[PNWGuy]

Got it - it's the same old "if i don't get anything out of it, i'm not paying for it" mentality = right wing response, right? "I'm not paying taxes for anything i don't get a direct benefit from".

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by PNWGuy

Got it - it's the same old "if i don't get anything out of it, i'm not paying for it" mentality = right wing response, right? "I'm not paying taxes for anything i don't get a direct benefit from".

if you look at the history of Phoenix, the entire growth strategy is based on free-riding on the educational systems of other states. And I'm not sure why taxation "should" be tied to indirect "benefits" - certainly if the true costs of the Iraq war had been amortized & added to the cost of every gallon of gas, maybe more Americans would have expressed their concerns & shut things down there a bit quicker. Why is it a bad idea for those that have children to pay for their true costs (directly)?

[aiwei]

I have a hard time understanding the mentality of "pay per graduation." If that was done, I would never been able to go to school, because we did not have enough money to send all four of us to schools. Because of public funding, all four of us got proper education and works/worked and paid our share of taxes. Each of us have paid/will be paying tax for 30 some odd years. We benefited from the system and we pay forward.
If we did not go to schools (2 PHDs/inventors and 2 college grads), we would probably be working at lesser jobs. Not that there is any shame there. But considering our potentials would have been squandered, that would be a shame.
Education is about investing in potentials. Potentials of all the people we encounter daily. It is also about enrichment; enrichment of intertwining lives. When we make a point to educate everyone, we could elevate every standard of a society. Failure to do so, we only have ourselves to blame for regression and stagnation.

[sandy6879]

What I think people forget is that their home values are tied in pretty closely with good school districts. When you invest in schools, and they are performing well, property values increase. When you cut funding and school rankings go down, so do your property values. So, there is your "benefit" for those that don't think they get anything out of it.

Everyone should be happy to see a focus on good public education because it benefits everyone when it's there and no one when it's not. Consider this - the children of today will be making the laws when all of us are retired. How much is a good education background worth to you when those who are enrolled in it WILL affect your life someday?

I continue to be astounded at the lack of priority that AZ as a whole places on education. More people need to get vocal on this.

[Jukesgrrl]

Originally Posted by Valley Native

... Education should be privatized. In reality, I know that is likely never going to happen in my lifetime ... so the alternative is making only the parents with kids in school pay the taxes. If that won't happen, then expect even more frustrated voters at the polls voting down these overrides, increase in taxes, and extensions of existing taxes. It's not just old geezers and right wingers who are sick of all this money going to schools and seeing little or no positive output from it. The brunt of the financial burden needs to be put on the parents with kids in a public school (a.k.a. free daycare program).

Well, I certainly hope that when you go to the doctor the public-educated office staff that handles your medical records went to a school that was well-funded. And the cooks who prepare your food in restaurants know that there are three teaspoons in a tablespoon, not vice versa. And the people who service your car know how to read what's written on the boxes of the parts they install. I have a feeling that if we left education completely up to parents a lot of us would be dead before our time.

I consider public education to be a boon to the entire community. Even those of us who have no children benefit greatly from a decently educated citizenry. Then again, I'm one of those "bleeding heart liberals" who think it's sometime possible for government to do good.