Saw this article today.
One of my huge complaints with modern American state governement is the near-universal reliance on lotteries to fund some niche of state operatoins. In some states state lottery profits are used to fund (ironically) senior citizen services, in others, (ironically again) education. Legislators love this because it is reliably profitable and 'painless' since people opt into it. What they fail to remember is the increase in crime and indirect costs by bankruptcies caused by broader gambling. The biggest problem is the official state endorsement of destructive behavior. Several years ago when I lived in Nebraska, the state's most conservative and the state's most liberal senators joined forces to oppose a bill which would have created a state lottery in Nebraska, stating that whatever one might think about gambling in general, the state should never be "the house," recognizing that the lottery disporportoinately 'taxes' those who can least afford it. (Sadly, since this stand a decade ago, Nebraska has succumbed to the siren song of a state lottery.)
Highlight from the article: "In California, a study found that 40 percent of those who played the lottery were unemployed; in Maryland the poorest one-third of its population buys 60 percent of all lottery tickets; and in Michigan, people without a high school diploma spent five times more on the lottery than those with a college education. Finally, in numerous states, when the lottery was introduced, the number of adults who gambled increased 40 percent."
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Moved to Willis Tower
Yesterday was the first day at the Willis Tower. Thankfully, I have already been tracking the train for a couple years for meetings downtown, so I didn't have any worries on that part. The day went quickly, with training sessions on how to use the phone and printers as well as general building orientation. My desk is much more public and all the cubes are rather open--it's going to take some getting used to.
I felt strangely more tired when I got home, even though it wasn't really that busy of a day.
I felt strangely more tired when I got home, even though it wasn't really that busy of a day.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Don't Get Me Started: Oppose Illinois SB136!
A state Senator in Illinois has introduced a bill to register homeschoolers in Illinois. This is a bad bill for so many reasons, my summary is below.
My letter to each undecided member of the Education Committee (with a CC to Sen. Maloney, the sponsor of this bill).
I am writing to you to express my grave opposition to SB136 and to urge you to use common sense and to vote against further consideration of this bill.
I am deeply concerned about the recently submitted bill, SB0136 which states as its synopsis, “Requires the parents or legal guardians of children attending non-public schools, a defined term, or private or parochial schools to annually register their children with the State Board of Education, in conformance with procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education.” Senator Maloney, the introducer of this bill, later clarified that his specific intent is to register homeschoolers.
As a tax-paying, home-educating parent I cannot see any purpose to this bill except to be the first step in a process of the state government to attempt to first register and ultimately to regulate home schooling in the State of Illinois.
While I am sure Sen. Maloney is well-intentioned and genuinely desires the best for every Illinoisan, he clearly fails to understand that home-educated students routinely outperform state-educated students in virtually every academic area. I share his concern for the advancement of all Illinoisans to their highest potential—and that is exactly why I home-educate the children for which I am personally responsible. While there are certainly some irresponsible parents who claim to homeschool, but fail to do an adequate job, these cases are certainly in the slimmest of minorities.
What would cause a parent claim to home-educate a child and then do an inadequate job of it? I cannot understand why a parent or family would make the sacrifice of a second income (since home-educating requires the equivalent of a full-time job, even if done poorly) and then NOT make the adequate effort to actually educate their children. If the goal of the bill is to identify those families which may be at risk, why does Sen. Maloney expect that these ‘at-risk’ parents would actually register? Would not those families with the most to hide, do just that and avoid registration altogether? The only ones who would register are precisely those who are NOT ‘at-risk.”
There is an overwhelming body of research (which has not been challenged in specific or in general by Sen. Maloney) that demonstrates that Home Educated students perform at or above the level of their public school peers in any area. Does he genuinely believe that Home Educated children are receiving a sub-standard education or that somehow their parents are not more interested in the well-being and success of their children than a public school teacher with an overwhelming number of pupils?
Secondly, with the state’s current budget woes,--described by some as the most dire of any state in the nation, including the well-publicized challenges in California—why would a prudent legislator introduce a bill that requires the expenditure of scarce public resources for the purposes of registering these students? I have already established that this bill does not even clarify its value, and yet it will have a definite cost. Who will receive these registrations? Who will ensure they are complete? Who will follow-up on the unknown and unknowable number of non-registered families? Who will expend what resources to track down and ensure compliance of any violators? None of these activities, even if completed perfectly, does one bit to advance the goal of ensuring students are not truant.
Thirdly, when you think about it, home-educating families should be one of the most valued constituencies in the state of Illinois since they pay their full share of taxes (less a nominal tax credit taken by some, but certainly not all home-educating families) and do not ask for any education resources to be spent on them—even though they have children who are entitled to pull on the full resources of their school district. Why should this group be singled out by Sen. Maloney, who says, "We're not going for the private school students, we're going to change that [in the proposal]. What we want to know is where the homeschoolers are. It's as simple as that"?
Fourthly, this bill clearly begs the question about what is the ultimate goal of this registration. Clearly, any intelligent person can see that registration alone does nothing to further the stated goal of the state to develop “all persons to the limits of their capacities.” Either registration is a pretext for a subsequent intrusion by the state (to ‘certify’ or otherwise monitor/regulate home educators) or it is an empty gesture which will only cost the state money and yield nothing in return. Senator Maloney’s bill is its own enemy—either it is useless, or it is a clear attempt to get the nose of the camel under the tent for future interference and/or regulation. The lack of transparency of the ultimate purpose of this bill is reason alone to vote against it.
So here we have a bill that:
a) Offers no benefit or even a link to a benefit to the taxpayers of the state. Nor is it even in response to an actual problem demonstrated by data or evidence;
b) Costs our cash-strapped state money it does not have to execute the mandate;
c) Puts an additional bureaucratic burden specifically on the very taxpayers that the state should be most grateful for (those who pay far more in taxes than they cost) to complete an annual state registration process;
d) Is fatally vague in its intent and is either impotent or disingenuous in its purpose. As written, the bill will either do nothing to address the perceived (emphasis on the word ‘perceived’) problem or downplays its true purpose as the first step towards an ultimate goal of regulation (which would simply exacerbate the first three points of attempting to ‘solve’ a ‘problem’ which doesn’t exist, waste precious tax dollars, and further alienate a key constituency.)
It defies all logic to introduce, support, or pass such a bill—now or ever.
The issue of the continued freedom to home educate my children without meddling on the part of a state legislature is of paramount importance to me as a parent. I urge you on behalf of all taxpayers and all intelligent people in the Great State of Illinois to vote against this bill and send a clear message that it is not needed nor wanted. I will be watching your vote very carefully.
Sincerely,
Gordon Paisley
My letter to each undecided member of the Education Committee (with a CC to Sen. Maloney, the sponsor of this bill).
I am writing to you to express my grave opposition to SB136 and to urge you to use common sense and to vote against further consideration of this bill.
I am deeply concerned about the recently submitted bill, SB0136 which states as its synopsis, “Requires the parents or legal guardians of children attending non-public schools, a defined term, or private or parochial schools to annually register their children with the State Board of Education, in conformance with procedures prescribed by the State Board of Education.” Senator Maloney, the introducer of this bill, later clarified that his specific intent is to register homeschoolers.
As a tax-paying, home-educating parent I cannot see any purpose to this bill except to be the first step in a process of the state government to attempt to first register and ultimately to regulate home schooling in the State of Illinois.
While I am sure Sen. Maloney is well-intentioned and genuinely desires the best for every Illinoisan, he clearly fails to understand that home-educated students routinely outperform state-educated students in virtually every academic area. I share his concern for the advancement of all Illinoisans to their highest potential—and that is exactly why I home-educate the children for which I am personally responsible. While there are certainly some irresponsible parents who claim to homeschool, but fail to do an adequate job, these cases are certainly in the slimmest of minorities.
What would cause a parent claim to home-educate a child and then do an inadequate job of it? I cannot understand why a parent or family would make the sacrifice of a second income (since home-educating requires the equivalent of a full-time job, even if done poorly) and then NOT make the adequate effort to actually educate their children. If the goal of the bill is to identify those families which may be at risk, why does Sen. Maloney expect that these ‘at-risk’ parents would actually register? Would not those families with the most to hide, do just that and avoid registration altogether? The only ones who would register are precisely those who are NOT ‘at-risk.”
There is an overwhelming body of research (which has not been challenged in specific or in general by Sen. Maloney) that demonstrates that Home Educated students perform at or above the level of their public school peers in any area. Does he genuinely believe that Home Educated children are receiving a sub-standard education or that somehow their parents are not more interested in the well-being and success of their children than a public school teacher with an overwhelming number of pupils?
Secondly, with the state’s current budget woes,--described by some as the most dire of any state in the nation, including the well-publicized challenges in California—why would a prudent legislator introduce a bill that requires the expenditure of scarce public resources for the purposes of registering these students? I have already established that this bill does not even clarify its value, and yet it will have a definite cost. Who will receive these registrations? Who will ensure they are complete? Who will follow-up on the unknown and unknowable number of non-registered families? Who will expend what resources to track down and ensure compliance of any violators? None of these activities, even if completed perfectly, does one bit to advance the goal of ensuring students are not truant.
Thirdly, when you think about it, home-educating families should be one of the most valued constituencies in the state of Illinois since they pay their full share of taxes (less a nominal tax credit taken by some, but certainly not all home-educating families) and do not ask for any education resources to be spent on them—even though they have children who are entitled to pull on the full resources of their school district. Why should this group be singled out by Sen. Maloney, who says, "We're not going for the private school students, we're going to change that [in the proposal]. What we want to know is where the homeschoolers are. It's as simple as that"?
Fourthly, this bill clearly begs the question about what is the ultimate goal of this registration. Clearly, any intelligent person can see that registration alone does nothing to further the stated goal of the state to develop “all persons to the limits of their capacities.” Either registration is a pretext for a subsequent intrusion by the state (to ‘certify’ or otherwise monitor/regulate home educators) or it is an empty gesture which will only cost the state money and yield nothing in return. Senator Maloney’s bill is its own enemy—either it is useless, or it is a clear attempt to get the nose of the camel under the tent for future interference and/or regulation. The lack of transparency of the ultimate purpose of this bill is reason alone to vote against it.
So here we have a bill that:
a) Offers no benefit or even a link to a benefit to the taxpayers of the state. Nor is it even in response to an actual problem demonstrated by data or evidence;
b) Costs our cash-strapped state money it does not have to execute the mandate;
c) Puts an additional bureaucratic burden specifically on the very taxpayers that the state should be most grateful for (those who pay far more in taxes than they cost) to complete an annual state registration process;
d) Is fatally vague in its intent and is either impotent or disingenuous in its purpose. As written, the bill will either do nothing to address the perceived (emphasis on the word ‘perceived’) problem or downplays its true purpose as the first step towards an ultimate goal of regulation (which would simply exacerbate the first three points of attempting to ‘solve’ a ‘problem’ which doesn’t exist, waste precious tax dollars, and further alienate a key constituency.)
It defies all logic to introduce, support, or pass such a bill—now or ever.
The issue of the continued freedom to home educate my children without meddling on the part of a state legislature is of paramount importance to me as a parent. I urge you on behalf of all taxpayers and all intelligent people in the Great State of Illinois to vote against this bill and send a clear message that it is not needed nor wanted. I will be watching your vote very carefully.
Sincerely,
Gordon Paisley
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