For the Love of Texas, Don't Say the "A" Word!

Well, on behalf of all women, let me personally thank you, Mr. Perry! It makes so much sense that a man would truly understand the needs of a woman and her body. Right? Hardly! I have to wonder if Governor Perry even stopped once to wonder what would be considered a win for Texas women.

Perhaps, access to basic available health care? The Planned Parenthood program reaches far and wide across Texas and enables women to make educated and supported decisions about their bodies and health. Continuing to provide women with options and access would in my opinion be the winning plan.

Planned Parenthood does not offer abortion services. This is a fact. Please give me a break that the mere mention of abortion is equivalent to promoting it. If this is really something that people are going to follow, what else could it apply to?

Good for Planned Parenthood for suing. I hope this case stands as an example of  how the government can go too far. Free speech was implemented for a reason: to protect citizens rights from unfair legislature control such this.

I find it interesting that the appeals court begrudgingly released the injunction. I would like to know more about their rationale for why they believe these actions do not violate the Constitution. It seems very hypocritical that free speech can be allowed for disfavoring abortion and the activities that promote abortion, but criticized and banned when the word abortion is said or an organization has an affiliation with the word.

So, Mr. Perry, I ask you this. How do the Texas women win when their rights are reduced and they lose access to their basic health care facilities?  Maybe you need to explain what game you are playing so that we can understand why you decided there was anyone who won here.

Cookies and Ice Cream for Education

Finally, an analogy that is meaningful and makes sense! I believe Cohen’s model should be shared and mass distributed throughout the nation, so that the general public could perhaps have a better basic understanding of how the legislator’s budget distributes its money. By visualizing a pile of cookies, it is very simple to see the imbalance that is occurring in our government spending.

An immediate image of Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster came to mind, perhaps representing the Texas legislators. Its seems more than appropriate that a big, blue, crazy puppet could represent the legislature since the proportions being handed out are extremely unbalanced. I agree that education is indeed getting the pieces of cookies that are left in the bottom of the cookie jar.
Perhaps Cohen’s example could be used to really emphasize to the public how far a few extra cookies could go. And likewise, how other areas would not starve from having some of their cookies redistributed. If the $6 billion dollar figure given by Lynn Moak is an accurate estimate of the amount needed to help schools, it wouldn’t even take one whole cookie to help make some much needed improvements.

The only thing I would be cautious about adding into this mix, is a property tax increase. I think it sends a mixed message to the public because we are trying to show them that the true villain is the legislature. I think it might make people feel as though we are turning the issue towards them to solve or fix it before we look closer at the root of the problem. We need to put focus on who stole the cookies from the cookie jar to begin with.

Cohen’s model is genius. It really does seem that the power of a cookie has the potential to educate and simplify some very complicated problems!

A lot of my posts thus far have been about education, so I thank Katy for finding this and giving me a chance to speak even further on something true to my beliefs!

Can you be more specific?

If we just had more money, we could solve the achievement gap! I wish I had a nickel for every time I heard this. I know for sure I would be a lot richer and certainly by now, if it were true, it certainly seems there would be some type of increase in the standards achievement by now.

After reading Kate Alexander’s article: Expert: Schools Need Additional $6 Billion a Year to Meet Higher Standards, I believe that districts need to have a clear focused plan in place before anyone can state a specific dollar amount that would be needed to assist in meeting the higher standards. I worry that without such details, dollars will be wasted and it won’t be long before we will be reading another story claiming that we just need a new additional amount of money to solve our crisis.

It really seems like smarter choices need to be put in place. Something is obviously not working. I don’t claim to be an expert in the area of education, however, I know from watching the news and talking with my teacher friends, there are many factors that need to be addressed. Parental involvement, effective teaching, quality of programs and materials, looking at places to actually cut costs and equality among schools are just a few that come to mind.

Can Ms. Moak provide the details about how she reached this estimated amount and can she explain how this money will directly impact the performance gap? I know there is evidence that shows low-income students do not perform as high on the new assessments, but is anyone stopping to look at what other personal struggles these kids are facing and what social programs will need to be in place to assist in this area as well? 

I agree we need to put more money into our schools, but this issue has multiple layers. Isn’t it about time we stop wasting valuable tax dollars and truly try to target a plan that utilizes every dollar the best way possible?