John McCain: School Choice to "Open up the white school. We want to get in the white school. We want to go where the books are or computers are,"

Illinois Rev./Senator James Meeks wants to "Open up the white school. We want to get in the white school. We want to go where the books are or computers are,"

Click my post title for Rev./Senator Meeks redistribution of wealth scam scheduled for the start of school. For those interested, Meeks and his Media parrots at Chicago Sun Times call for CPS students to ditch school on the opening day and join him for a field trip to Winnetka to protest Illinois Education Funding inequities.

Illinois pays a percentage of the cost of educating a child and property taxes pay out the balance. Thus, if you pay higher property taxes based upon the cost of your home, chances are that your local public school will spend more per pupil.

I drive a Chevy, because my income, mortgage, Catholic school tuition payments, and personal debt precludes my driving a Bentley. My wardrobe reflects that economic snap-shot as well. I can not see me parking myself in front of a Barrington Jaguar dealership bemoaning such a lifestyle inequity - not yet anyway.

Now, if someone were to lavish me and mine with six zeroes behind a set of Arabic numerals into my bank accounts . . . I'd probably still opt for the Chevy. I am a cheap, stingy bastard.
Well, Rev. Senator, School Choice will do just that! However, you and other Public School Industry shills will need to get religion on School Choice.

Taking a thousand or so truant Chicago Public School children on an expensive rhetorical event will get you some press coverage, but tax-payers see through the rhetoric to the heart of this redistribution of wealth dodge.

Using the legislature as a pry bar to other peoples wealth is a radical tactic, but one that is proving little more than a stick-up device on gutless politicians and 40 Watt intellects in the Media. Ask a pipefitter, an electrician, a masonry contractor, carpenter, or nurse how they feel about paying more taxes for failed public schools. No one in the media bothers to ask them.

You'll have press conferences aplenty. No change though.

If you are serious about change - I do not believe for a nano-second that you are though( but that's just me) - you will advocate School Choice, Vouchers, for all Illinois families. There will be no 'white this' and 'black that,' only Choice for all.

Catholic schools, the largest system of alternative education options, do the job that public schools wish that they could do for half the cost of educating a child in an Illinois Public School. More competition from Muslim, Dutch Reformed, Lutheran, Jewish and Independant Schools will force public school sinkholes to operate within their means.

New Trier spends $17,000 per student

CPS throws $ 10,500 + at failure

Catholic Schools spend between $5,000 and $8,000 to move kids to success and also save Illinois tax-payers millions of dollars.

If it is all about Race, then that is pretty sad - understandable and easily performed to be sure but sad.

It is about Change, then you are barking up the wrong tree.

John McCain is for School Choice and against Abortion.

John McCain: School Choice v. Redistribution of Wealth Scam of School Funding Inequities

' I got it. I insist!' - words that warm the hearts of people everywhere following a great meal, an evening of music where the tickets are $ 75 a pop, or the price of an item in the checkout line when you find that you are on the shorts and a nice person waiting behind you springs for the difference. People are generous to a fault - for the most part.

People also tend to pay their own way in life - for the most part. If we can not afford something, we tend to save for it. However, Progressives tend to believe that taking money away from people who work and save and give that money to other people through Progressive initiatives is justice. Not really.

The people who live in wealthy suburbs worked and saved to live there and send their kids to schools there.

Some people live in a cycle of poverty and spiritless entitlement that is created by Progressive Programs that suck the soul out of people.

Some people get very, very wealthy by perpetuating this cycle of poverty and misery.

Allowing someone else to pay for something is a learned grace, for most us. It is part of the social gradus that our baby steps treat us to becoming full human beings. Often it is much more difficult to act graceful in allowing another to pay for something. Our pride often gets in the way.

There is no such grace, expected, or learned, in what passes for the Progressive entitlement industry. Government, to the Progressive, must generate as much capital to be wasted through bureaucracy and sinecure through 'social programs' as possible.

The Public Education Industry, which combines Teachers Unions, lawyers, lobbyists, academics, community activists, tin-horn politicians, school service industries ( food, busing, supplies, storage, security & etc.) and the monstrously obese school management system devours taxes like a celebrity off of Jenny Craig.

Rev./Senator James Meeks plans to bus 'thousands' of truant Chicago Public School children to wealthy north suburban Winneta and Northfield, IL in order to enroll students from Chicago and possibly the south suburbs to highlight what People for the American Way and other Progressive deep thinkers perceive to be a social justice issue - inequity in school funding. Meeks 'wants the world to compare New Trier's average 27.1 ACT score and 95 percent graduation rate with 70 percent graduating from college with a bachelor's degree with his Chicago district: a high school dropout rate averaging 63 percent and only six of 100 of those who go on to college graduating with a bachelor's degree.

"I am sure there are a lot of factors, but the main difference is funding," Meeks said. "New Trier received $17,000 per student, and a high school in my district received $10,000 per student. I believe that the state has an obligation in property-poor schools to make up the gap."

From this effort, Meeks said he hopes to team up with the North Shore communities to find solutions to the inequality problem in education.

"I think they would have want to help out us figure this out. Because I think people who live in Winnetka and Evanston, I think they would understand this issue. We want to team up and take a stand, to write letters, to call on the government, to fix the problems," Meeks said."

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/wilmette/news/1082032,wi-meeks-073108-s1.article

According to People for the American WayHowever, Illinois only pays about 36 percent of all school expenses, far below the national average of 50 percent. The state relies heavily on local property taxes, and on average, local property taxpayers fund about 53 percent of school expenses. The remaining 10 percent or so comes from federal aid.


In 1990, seventy of Illinois’ school districts sued the state, challenging the constitutionality of the school funding formula. The plaintiffs argued that the average tax base in the wealthiest 10 percent of elementary schools was more than 13 times the average of that in the 10 percent of the poorest schools. Such disparities severely impacted a school’s educational quality including teacher quality and academics.9 The case was heard by the state supreme court, which—while acknowledging that the present school funding scheme was unwise—felt that the issue should be handled by the state legislature and not the courts.10


http://www.pfaw.org/pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=15549

Meeks two biggest contributors to his political life are layers and lobbyist followed closely by Public Sector Unions ( Teachers & SEIU). Taxes mean income to these folks.

http://www.followthemoney.org/database/StateGlance/candidate.phtml?si=200614&c=417339


New Trier: Taxpayers spend $17,000 per student to launch kids toward great achievements

CPS - Spends $10,000 + per student to do very little for them.

Now here's the payoff - for the difference between the two, which is much, much less than either by the way - Catholic schools spend a little less than $ 7,000 per student to do even better for much less:

Compared with their public-school counterparts, more than twice as many minority Catholic-school graduates from urban areas finish college: 27 percent of the Catholic-school graduates finish college, while only 11 percent of minority public-school graduates receive their degrees. And while 62 percent of minority students at urban public high schools graduate, 88 percent of students from the same background complete high school when enrolled in Catholic schools, according to the study.

The opportunity to attend Catholic schools could play an important role in overcoming poverty among urban minorities, Neal said. "In today's labor market, young adults who finish high school -- even if they do not finish college -- earn at least 15 percent more than high school dropouts. Those who finish college earn even more." Higher college completion rates suggest that urban Catholic-school students actually learn more than similar public-school students who complete the same amount of formal schooling, Neal said. "Urban minorities receive significant benefits from Catholic schooling because their public-school alternatives are substantially worse than those of whites or other minorities who live in non-urban areas."

White students also benefit from attending Catholic schools, but the difference in completion rates between white Catholic-school students and those of their public-school counterparts are less dramatic. While 87 percent of white students in urban areas graduate when enrolled in Catholic schools, 75 percent of the white public-school students receive their diplomas. Among white Catholic-school graduates, 42 percent of those who enter college receive a degree, while 31 percent of the white public-school graduates who enter college finish their studies.

Scholars at the University have studied Catholic schools for many years. The late James Coleman, Professor in Sociology, identified strong school communities as one reason for higher achievement in Catholic schools. Anthony Bryk, Professor in Education and the College, has found that a strong core curriculum gives Catholic schools an advantage.

Neal's study is among the first to look at college completion as a measure of the

http://chronicle.uchicago.edu/970306/catholic.shtml

Lord Have Mercy!!! The University of Chicago said that?

School Choice and School Vouchers are the only way to fix public schools - tax dollars just feed its gluttonous appetite for more.

Let's save 'I 'll get this one!' for our friends and family and let's have government do the right the thing. Cut the Bull$hit! Back School Choice!

John McCain: Meeks Shall Inherit the Earth - Education as a Redistribution of Wealth Scam

Rev. Senator Meeks of Illinois plans to bus thousands of truant CPS students* to Winnetka's New Trier School District and enroll them in the affluent northern suburb.

Given the cost of gassing up the buses need to take his expected 'thousands of children,' Rev./Senator Meeks is going on the hip in a huge way to bring focus on what he believes to be a two-tiered funding inequity in how education dollars are spent.**

New Trier spends $ 17,000 per student and CPS spends $ 10,000 per student, according to a piece in Salon.

Meeks said he expects several thousand Chicago students to travel in a caravan of buses to New Trier Township High School in the leafy, North Shore suburb of Winnetka, where they will attempt to enroll.

State statistics indicate that the New Trier district spends around $17,000 annually on each of its students compared to the roughly $10,000 a year spent for each student in Chicago public schools.

"We, as a civilized people, can't do it this way," Meeks said. "We're doing irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of kids."

A civilized solution, Rev./Senator Meeks, is school choice. You oppose School Choice.

School Choice would give your constituents and all Illinois families the choice of where to send their children.

It will save you thousands of needed dollars wasted gassing buses, feeding the children, providing chaperons, security to protect the children up there in Winnetka.

Keep it real, Rev./Senator! Get behind School Choice. End this social justice issue.

John McCain is all about School Choice.

Rev./Senator Meeks will not get behind School Choice. He and Senator Obama are behind a redistribution of wealth strategy for education - noted in the Salon article. The Annenberg Challenge's Billy Ayers is the true craftsman of this 'education reform' dodge. Senator Obama, Rev. Senator Meeks Senate colleague, was the first Chairman of the Chicago Challenge. Redistribution of wealth is at the core of this scam and itr has nothing to do with the safety of children or reforming education.

Overhauling how public schools are funded in Illinois has been hotly debated for years — but to little avail. Critics want the state to move away from a system where money for local schools derives largely from local property taxes, saying the status quo results in vastly better funding of schools in property-rich neighborhoods.

That is socialism, Rev./Senator, not social justice. Keeping it Real.

* Rev./Senator Meeks is calling on CPS students to skip school and go on his field trip.

** Who is springing for the trump to take the kids to Winnetka? Will they be ticketed as truant?

John McCain: Irony 101 - Public School Legislator Seeks a Choice for Students: Rev. Meeks v.Reality

Reverend,Illinois Legislator and firebrand activist James Meeks is barking up the wrong tree.

One of the most strident defenders of public schools, that sinkhole for tax dollars, Meeks announced taking his flock of unhappy souls on a field trip to New Trier School District:

State Sen. James Meeks is urging parents to keep their children out of Chicago Public Schools the first day of class and instead board buses to the New Trier school district.

The plan is an attempt to bring attention to the "ever growing school funding inequalities between rich, white and poor, minority school districts in the state," said Meeks, pastor of Salem Baptist Church, on Sunday.

Well Rev/Senator, the answer to your problem -unless you like tossing alot of dough to fill up the tanks of the school buses for the trip up to the North suburbs, where none of your constituents pay taxes, own homes or live in the school District - is School Choice.

However, Rev/Senator Meeks is a dyed in the wool Public School advocate and lusty voiced howl in the wilderness decrying any and every atom in universe perceived as an affront.

School Choice would bring real competition to public education forcing public schools to raise standards of behavior and performance in staff and expectations for students.

Instead, Meeks and others will cry havoc and let slip the dogs of victim hood - that remains at the core of public school funding.

Obama is for public school funding, as is the DNC.

John McCain is for school choice.“We must continue our efforts to set standards and hold schools accountable for their performance,” the likely GOP presidential nominee says in a 90-second video . “Our schools can and should compete to be the most innovative, flexible, and student-centered, not safe havens for the uninspired and unaccountable.”

“Let them compete for the most effective and character-building teachers, hire them, and reward them,” he adds in the statement. The text accompanying the video doesn’t include any specific proposals of what Sen. McCain would do as president to achieve those goals. On the stump and in debates, the candidate hasn’t said anything to explain how he would transform... &, &, & - Reality check Rev/Senator!



If Rev./Senator Meeks wants justice in American education, it is time that he dropped the public school cash cows and embraced School Choice.

Of course, he just might really like long bus rides.

John McCain: School Choice Fights Nonsense About 'More Money for Failing Public Schools

As sure as the dog days of summer, announce sweaty arm pits and double-session football for high school kids, a Private Study harbingers a cry for tossing more tax dollars to the Public School Sinkhole. Illinois ranks 43rd in America for lousy graduation rates with a reported 37% of black male students graduating. The Schott Foundation's John Jackson report that 'In the city that year, only 37 percent of the 102,185 black male students graduated, compared with 62 percent of their white male counterparts, a 24 percent gap, according to the report released at a news conference at the UNITY '08 Convention for Journalists of Color at McCormick Place.'

Overall the State of Illinois flounders like an alewife on Rainbow Beach. Them alewives are getting fewer and fewer.

Chicago Public Schools are a train wreck. Senator Obama, while a young activist, was the first Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge that turned CPS into a Balkan State of Local School Councils, Two-tiered leadership ( Arne Duncan CEO & Rufus Williams President), a Rube Goldberg Chicago Teachers Union dedicated to looting the rank and file, a catalogue of CPS homicides with weekly updates and a strategy of poisoning the well for funding opportunities to Catholic Schools that continue to do the job for tax-payers, parents and most of all students.

School Choice is Bad JuJu to Public Schools and the Machinery of Failure that leeches off of the tax-payers.

Until Competition - real competition with Jewish, Lutheran, Muslim, Dutch Reformed, Independent, Home School families and demographically important Catholic School through Real School Choice - Public Schools will continue to flop on the beach and baked to a very smelly but golden brown.

Get this nonsense from Schott Foundation and Arne the Shout Out Spender!

Using 2005-06 figures, the report said Illinois' and Chicago's graduation rate for black male students was below the national average of 47 percent. Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana and four other states had among the largest differences in graduation rates for black and white male students.

Jackson said the report signifies the need not only for increased leadership on all levels but on philanthropic communities to help fund programs he and others believe would improve graduation rates. Officials said there should be more funding for early childhood programs, increased teacher and educational funding and more single-sex schools, among other possibilities. ( Emphasis my own)

North Dakota, Arizona and New Jersey, which have more equitable funding for black and white students, have higher than average black male graduation rates, Jackson said.

"These males represent the future fathers and husbands in a community where 70 percent of children are born out of wedlock. They also represent the future teachers, pastors, professors and even presidents," Jackson said.

Let me do that again!

report signifies the need not only for increased leadership on all levels but on philanthropic communities to help fund programs he and others believe would improve graduation rates. Officials said there should be more funding for early childhood programs, increased teacher and educational funding and more single-sex schools, among other possibilities. ( Emphasis my own)

This is the strategic well-poisoning of the competitive ( Catholic et al. schools). Not only are tax-dollars wasted on principals having a nooner with the help, mega-mad lunches by School Leaders, boxes of unopened textbooks, computers, software, and supplies, landscaping scams, as well as not teaching kids, Public Schools are pushing more private foundations to 're-think giving priorities' and cut-out private school support in favor 'systemic' approaches to reform - read waste more money.

John McCain is for School Choice. The Full Monty! States make education dollars available to the taxpayers and allow them to choose the schools that are doing the job of educating American kids. Too simple by half-'We must fight for the ability of all students to have access to any school of demonstrated excellence. We must place parents and children at the center of the education process, empowering parents by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for their children.' (McCain: "Bold Solutions for Economic Prosperity" Feb 3, 2008)


http://www.ontheissues.org/2008/John_McCain_Education.htm

Obama stands as strongly for the continued failure of American Education as he does for Abortion. (Protecting a Women's Right to Choose: Obama will make safeguarding women's rights under Roe v. Wade a priority. He opposes any constitutional amendment to overturn that decision.
He has said so repeatedly.)

Senator Obama can no more disown Failure in Education than he can a woman's choice to kill her unborn child - though it makes him shudder.His campaign quickly issued a statement that said, "Senator Obama has always been a critic of vouchers," and Mr. Obama echoed that sentiment yesterday, saying that while he supports charter schools, he opposes private school vouchers.

"We need to focus on fixing and improving our public schools; not throwing our hands up and walking away from them," he said.

http://www.nysun.com/new-york/obama-tells-teachers-union-he-opposes-vouchers/81801/

Senator Obama says that Surge in Iraq did not work, but went to Baghdad without Kevlar. He also says that School Choice is surrender.

The Choice is real clear.

John McCain: Vouchers and School Choice Getting Aborted by DNC and Obama: Chicago Media Obama Combine

Here in Chicago, both Chicago daily newspapers are solidly in the tank for Barack Obama. Chicago Daily Observer the only balanced news and opinion reporting in our city, noted that new Chicago Tribune subscribers get a FREE Obama T-Shirt with each purchase. Progressives soil their Victoria's Secrets if a Regular Democratic politician were to pop for a round of beers during an election cycle.

Here in Chicago, Alderman Paddy Bauler ( 'Chicago Ain't Ready for Reform') has been usurped by Billy Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn; Barack Obama; 501 (c) 3 radical University Think Tanks and lap-dog journalists. National Review's Jim Gereghty gave Chicago Media a an overdue kick in the slats today:

In fact, when Obama’s connection to Ayers received real scrutiny from the national press, local columnists offered “so what?” reactions, insisting the relationship was “no big deal.” The Chicago Tribune’s editorial board insisted that Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn (his wife and fellow former Weatherman) “have done good work in Chicago.”

Former Tribune reporter David Mendell offers an interesting overview of Obama’s career-long relationship with the press in Obama: From Promise To Power. There are prickly moments, occasional stories that aren’t flattering to the senator, and (once in a great while) mountainous controversies made out of molehill-level misdeeds on Obama’s part. But for the most part the Chicago media were charmed by Obama’s considerable charisma, and acted more like Obama Girl than like Woodward and Bernstein

.

John Kass and Brenda Killanski, a Chicago Tribune Researcher, alone have been independent in their coverage of Obama.

Chicago's media is solidly a part of the Obama Combine - to use John Kass' term: a confederation of redistribution of wealth radicals ( Ayers/Dohrn/Peoples Law Office/Cease Fire/Acorn); media corporations ( Chicago Tribune Company/Sun Times News Group); political opportunists ( Schakowsky/Moore/Preckwinkle/Solis/Daley); convicted felon(s) (Rezko & those whom Rezko happens to be Trading up).

School Choice/Vouchers is a breakout issue. Real school Reform begins and ends with Choice.

Obama is as chained to the Public School Lobby as he is to Planned Parenthood.

The Obama Combine agrees completely - School Choice must ne Aborted!

Click my post title for the DNC's strangling in the cradle of School Choice in Washington D.D. - John McCain is against Abortion and John McCain is solidly for School Choice.

Voters are not locked into the Obama Combine.

John McCain: The Only Pro Choice President for 2008 - Choice in Schools

Choice begins in Education -choosing a favorite toy, book, song, subject, and friends. Choices get more confusing. People calling themselves educated adults are a big cause of that confusion. One guy training teachers in Chicago, Bill Ayers, chose to be an enemy of America, during his college years and chose to be a domestic terrorist bomber. Choices are tough - or should be. Barack Obama chose to be friends with Bill Ayers, as well as indicted political fixer Tony Rezko - whose friends with am Iraqi arms dealer. Some choices, those.

Choice in PC America has become a euphemism for the right to kill an unborn child. Pro Abortion candidates Senators Clinton and Obama cling to a woman's right to decide to unburden herself of a life that she he helped create. Fair enough.

I believe in Choice, but not in any one's right to kill an unborn child. I believe that tax-payers have a right to choose a school that performs as it should, is safe, offers solid values that produce competitive and dedicated American citizens.

Only one candidate running for President of the United States offers real Choice in Education. I can say Choice. I do not believe that Planned Parenthood has an exclusive lock on the use of the word. Choice needs to be an option.

John McCain is the only Pro Choice candidate. He has my vote. Here's what John McCain has to say about Choice:

John McCain believes our schools can and should compete to be the most innovative, flexible and student-centered - not safe havens for the uninspired and unaccountable. He believes we should let them compete for the most effective, character-building teachers, hire them, and reward them.


If a school will not change, the students should be able to change schools. John McCain believes parents should be empowered with school choice to send their children to the school that can best educate them just as many members of Congress do with their own children. He finds it beyond hypocritical that many of those who would refuse to allow public school parents to choose their child's school would never agree to force their own children into a school that did not work or was unsafe. They can make another choice. John McCain believes that is a fundamental and essential right we should honor for all parents.

As president, John McCain will pursue reforms that address the underlying cultural problems in our education system - a system that still seeks to avoid genuine accountability and responsibility for producing well-educated children.

John McCain will place parents and children at the center of the education process, empowering parents by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for their children. He believes all federal financial support must be predicated on providing parents the ability to move their children, and the dollars associated with them, from failing schools.

Click my post title for more on John McCain - The Pro Choice Candidate.

BTW - John McCain is dead set against Abortion.

Dan Kelley's Review of Every Heart and Hand: A Leo High School Story

Chicago writer and Chicago Daily Observer correspondent Dan Kelley sent me this review of Every Heart and Hand: A Leo High School Story the book and the review is a small tribute to the great courage and commitment of the Leo Alumni! God Bless You Guys!

Here's Dan Kelley's review:

This is an interesting book that is both a nostalgic exercise and an informal history of St. Leo High School. It is also a testimonial to faith and endurance.

Pat Hickey details the growth of the Auburn Gresham neighborhood and the plan to promote a Catholic boys high school to serve the community. Established in 1926, St. Leo High School developed a reputation for sponsoring terrific athletic teams and graduating classes that brought great credit to the alma mater. It was a working district filled with bungalows and families that followed the Chicago Cardinals and White Sox.

Racial tensions and changing demographics should have spelled the demise of this venerable institution. The Chicago Archidiocese canceled its subsidy to the school and shuttered numerous Catholic parishes that formerly served to provide entering freshmen students to the high school; the Irish Christian Brothers who had operated the school severed their ties to the institution and lay administrators took over a school that had shaky finances and an aging physical plant; the student population was increasingly African American and non-Catholic; the surrounding neighborhood was in decline and viewed as unsafe, gang dominated turf. The future looked bleak and closing the high school seemed to be the obvious and imminent solution.

As Hickey relates, Leo Men would not support a losing cause, but they would accept a challenge when there was a prospect of winning. The alumni rallied to save the high school. Although St. Leo is no longer serving the same Irish Catholic population as it did in former decades, its alumni donors have maintained the school to educate the impoverished African Americans residing in the immediate community. To quote the author, this may be "the greatest story never told." Oprah can support a school in South Africa and reap unlimited publicity from this worthy endeavor, but when the same thing occurs in the Chicago based television celebrity's own backyard the story is not newsworthy. Don't you know how bigoted the Southsiders are?

This unjust stereotype is unwarranted at St. Leo. These same 'bigots' are providing a high quality education to young men who are exceeding expectations and breaking out of the vicious circle of gangs, drugs, poverty and despair and succeeding at many of the preeminent colleges and universities in the USA. Why would the alumni support a school that no longer serves their children and grandchildren? One of the mottos of the St. Leo Lions is inscribed on the cornerstone: "Pro Deo et Patria" (for God and Country). What else is there to say? Another guiding principle at the school is "Facta Non Verba" (Deeds Not Words). Case closed.

My only complaint with the book is a simple one: I wish that there were more pages and more stories recounted in the book. Nonetheless, this slim volume is recommended for those with an interest in Chicago's South Side.

Click my Post Title for the book.

John McCain: Gov. Blagojevich School Choice Could Be Good For You

Every day that the Walking Pharmaceutical in Armani Suits* jabbers away to Paddy Fitz, the collar around Governor Rod Blagojevich** must feel like Ed Schultz's busting at the stain of fleshy waves like Cuchulain in Yeats' poem battling the sea -

'Stared on the horses of the sea, and heard
The cars of battle and his own name cried;
And fought with the invulnerable tide.'

Pressure. Grace under fire as calamity washes with greater fury, requires the weapon to check insurmountable foe -Fate.

I mean, Jeez, even Pat Quinn is coming on like an uncaged pit-bull from Vick's Doggie Day Care.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-quinn-recallapr07,1,3433388.story

Hey, Milorod,here's a Boss Idea! It's Keen! It's Hip and Happenin'!

Do the Maverick! It is the Dance craze sweeping the Nation and John McCain is the Maverick Mambo King!

Break with the public school lobby on School Choice. Give the taxpayers something. Anything.

You have nothing to lose on this one. No need to worry about tossing Jan Schakowsky Obama's seat ( She would be a Lousy Choice and Illinois has had enough Losers in the National Spotlight); no need to worry about Lisa Madigan's, Alexi Giannoulias', orDanny Hynes' growing popularity and good sense; no more worry about Tony Rezko - well maybe a little bit.

You'd be the good guy for a change. Get to dancing, Guv! Do the Maverick Mambo! Be Like McCain!

Take a look at the fine Heritage Foundation Study of Illinois School Choice Initiatives linked above with my post title. Look at all the boondoggles that allows Arne Duncan to cry-out that 190 Million Dollars is not enough for his Tax-Dollar Dry Vac - 'CPS students are now being murdered with bats; only last week they were gunned down! Think of the Children!'

School Choice - Vouchers is the only real change that will improve our miserable public schools and Vouchers will relieve Illinois Tax-payers of an ever-mounting burden.

Do the Maverick Mambo, Guv! Get all John McCain on us in Illinois. Hey, it can't hurt you. You may even lose some of that tightness around the collar.

* Stuart Levine - the professional Board Appointee in the Tony Rezko Trial who has testified to ingesting - Coke- Meth -Uppers & Downers and just about everything but Testor's Glue - well, the trial just started. Hey Jan Schakowsky love Stuart and She want to be our U.S. Senator, well, after all her hubby is an ex-Con:
From Today's Tribune Jan on Stu: "Mazel Tov to you, Stuart, on this special occasion," wrote Democratic U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky in another letter included in the program. "Your strong philanthropic efforts and outstanding leadership have contributed greatly to the Chicago area and beyond."

** Got that great Rod Frown that was originally posted at Steve Rhodes Great ( even though he thinks I'm a cave-dwelling troglodyte) Beachwood Reporter . Read it at this link:

http://www.beachwoodreporter.com/
Thanks Steve.

John McCain: "Heroes" Ad Leads off with Teachers

The Choice is ours. John McCain is a public servant who lives what he believes and believes what is best about America.


John McCain's video ad "Heroes' Leads off with Teachers and his most inspirational teacher, Mr. Ravenel: English Teacher and Football Coach . Click my Post Title and learn something.

John McCain is the only candidate running for President of the United States with a clear position on School Choice. Given the very sad state of America's public schools, School Choice is the best and only means of saving public education.

John McCain: Arne Duncan, Phd. Piled High and Deep! School Choice Arne, Is the Only Way to Help Yourself and the Chicago Public Schools

Leading Cancer Specialist Dr. Krop E. PayCheque informed the disappointed children of the 101st Airborne Division's Precision Bicycle Marching Team that raccoons often have their way with tired carburetors and there is absolutely nothing that serious members of the League of Baseball Hotties could do - or improve upon - at this time.

And for more clarity on the crisis facing tax-payers and the deplorable state of Chicago Public Schools we have CPS CEO Arne Duncan:

From Today's Tribune

Clarke's slaying, like every other student killing this year, left Chicago Public Schools chief Arne Duncan speaking about the need to get rid of guns and hold manufacturers accountable. Last year in CPS a record 34 students were killed during the school year.

Tuesday's rally will put more heat on lawmakers, Duncan said.

"This is a public health epidemic. We are struggling to find the cure for AIDS, we are struggling to find the cure for cancer; we know the cure for this public health epidemic -- getting rid of guns," said Duncan. "We need political courage."

You need a much looser collar size. You need air to the brain-pan, Arne!

We all need School Choice.That's Arne up there in the photo of his classmates who did not attend Chicago Public Schools either - see how he pays attention!


Photo: Arne Duncan Top Row Extreme Right - His Left - Tall Guy.

John McCain: School Choice and Not Marches, or More Studies, or More Homicides Will Improve American Education

Over the weekend, another Chicago Public School student was murdered and the Chicago Public School's respond with a March on Thompson Center for stricter gun laws - Chicago has the strictest Gun Laws in America - but 'now we really mean it!'

Hundreds of Chicago Public School students are expected to converge on the James R. Thompson Center Tuesday morning, urging state legislators to enact stiffer gun laws after a student was killed in the parking lot of the Simeon Career Academy on Saturday.

More than 400 Simeon students will be bused by the district to attend the protest outside the Thompson Center, which houses Illinois state offices. Students from other schools such as Jones College Prepatory (sic) High School are also expected, officials said.
The protest comes in the wake of Saturday's slaying of Chavez Clarke, 18. On Monday two Dunbar Vocational Career Academy students who also had been taking Saturday classes at Simeon—Samuel Hill, 17, and Ronald Little, 19—were charged with Clarke's killing.

Chicago Tribune Today.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-simeon-shooting-webapr01,1,4255642.story

The Chicago Public Schools will bus 400 students and their chaperons ( I hope) to Thompson Center. It is to be presumed that Chicago Police Department will be called upon to increase their presence at Thompson Center. The kids will be hungry after the march - lunch must be provided. Teachers need to eat. Gas? It's on your dime, Taxpayer.

No instruction at Simeon today! This will be a 'learning, sharing and wonderful experience for the children.'

Leo High School is only a few blocks from Simeon. Teaching is going on full boil. Parents sacrifice to pay tuition costs and Leo Alumni pour tons of dollars to help.
As a result, 93% of all Leo graduates goo on to colleges and universities. It ain't brain-surgery - it is teaching, discipline, commitment.

There is no other choice, but Leo High School. Calumet High School. Simeon. Harper. Of, that's right Harper is closing. Arne's happy the kids are marching to demand stricter gun laws. Three Card Monte, Kids! Pick a card! Too fast - Lousy Schools means we need stricter gun laws.

This March Demands! This March Costs! This March is another in long string of cop-outs. Parent Failure; More Gun Laws; More Time; More Bureaucracy; More Arne Duncan Boondoggles; More Rufus Williams Social Events in Stella Foster Columns!

The fact that Chicago Public School students are the top homicide demographic tells me that the problem appears to lie with the sorry state of Chicago Public Schools. Arne Duncan's March today will be another band-aid on cancer.

A National report details the atrocious failure of Public Schools. Chicago's failure is not in this AP Report. That will come out after - Chicago Public Schools reap more millions from my pocket, your pocket, your neighbors pocket and get to hear more Arne Duncan nonsense about this being 'Our Problem!' Click my Post Title for the AP Report on our crumby Public Schools. Arne thinks busing kids down to the State Offices at Thompson Center will let out the waste and the ineptitude on his shrinking coat.

You wear this jacket Arne. It is a snug fit.

Until, and only until States - like Illinois, adopt real and genuine School Choice for all Citizens. Get ready for more homicides and get ready for more waste of time Marches!

Only One Candidate for President Supports School Choice - John McCain.

John McCain: Only Candidate Leads on School Choice

On the Endangered list - Any Progressive Voices wish to Call People to Action? Naw, there's no Tax-money in it for you!

The Archdiocese of New York and Brooklyn are closing Catholic Schools at an alarming rate. Click my post title for the story -

The greed of the Public School Lobby is only matched by the horrific incompetance intrinsic to that vice.

Public Schools in Chicago are mega million dollar sink holes, but also a handy political platform that allows politicians and activists, who directly benefit from these tax-funded atrocities attended by children and young adults, to rail and howl over homicides and anything but educational failure.

Crane High School was put on national spotlight when it was closed due to the murder of a student there - only to be followed by the death of an 18 year old student at Simeon High School. More money to Public Schools will be the answer to homicides, childhood pregnancies, morbid obesity, and the heart-break of psoriasis.

Public Schools control the tax dollar-thermostat for Chicago, Cook County and Illinois homeowners. There are no grown-ups puting a lock on that control.

School Choice and Competition for Quality of instruction is only way to stop the Public School Lobby from cranking up the furnace in which Illinois tax-dollars are burned up - passing the costs on to you the consumers.

John McCain is for School Choice - No Democratic Candidate is for School Choice.

Click my post title and read about the consequences of the nearly forty years of bondage served by New York Taxpayers to Public School Lobby and the largely Democratic politicians enthralled to its will.

It is time for Leadership on School Choice. It is Time for McCain.

John McCain on School Vouchers and Choice:

Vouchers needed where teachers fail
McCain believes school vouchers should be available to parents in order that they may place their children in the best learning environment for their particular needs. He feels that each and every child in every classroom deserves a teacher who is qualified and enthusiastic about teaching. “Some people just aren’t meant to be teachers, and we should help them find another line of work. Because if teachers can’t teach, our kids can’t learn.”
Source: www.mccain2000.com/ “Position Papers” 5/24/99 May 24, 1999

John McCain: Catholics Support John McCain

Yesterday, I remarked that the issue of school choice should be a bell weather for American Catholic support of John McCain's Presidential Candidacy. McCain reflects the attitudes of most Americans and Catholics in particular. Catholics constitute one of the largest voting blocks in the Democratic Party, but many of us feel ignored by the Democratic National Committee and its sharply Left Wing rubrics for candidates: Catholics are Pro Life, want School Choice, an end to Tax strategies that shrink the Middle Class and Catholics support an Honorable end to the War on Global Islamist Terror: in Iraq and around the globe.

Catholics are supporting John McCain. This Catholic Democrat has supported John McCain from the get-go.

Click my post title for Catholic News Agency's report on the Surge in American Catholic Support for John McCain.

Huge Hat Tip To Patrick Hynes of the Granite State - New Hampshire and publisher and editor of Ankle Biting Pundits

This from McCain Headquarters:

JOHN MCCAIN WINS CATHOLIC SUPPORT NATIONWIDE
For Immediate Release
Contact: Press Office

Monday, March 10, 2008
703-650-5550


ARLINGTON, VA -- Today over 100 prominent Catholics nationwide have come together to support John McCain for president. The National Catholics for McCain Committee, led by U.S. Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Former Governor Frank Keating (R-OK), is growing rapidly. The group is represented by elected officials, businessmen and women, grassroots organizers, students, and Catholic leaders from over two dozen states.

"John McCain has a common sense vision for America based on faith, freedom, and families," said Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS), National Co-Chair of the National Catholics for McCain Committee. "Committed to the protection of innocent human life, he is a leader Catholics will be proud to support. John McCain knows from experience what it means when a society tramples on the truth of the value of the human person. He is committed to defending the dignity and value of every person, regardless of their status."

John McCain expressed his deep appreciation and stated, "I want to thank Catholic voters today, who have played a vital role in electing me as the Republican nominee for the presidency. I am humbled by the support of such a diverse group of Catholic leaders who are dedicated to the defense of traditional marriage, advocate for the protection of innocent human life, and share my vision for a stronger, safer and more prosperous America . I stand firmly with those Catholics who believe that human rights are natural rights for all people, in all places, and in all stages of life."

The National Catholics for McCain Committee is actively recruiting Catholics at the national, regional, state, local, and parish levels to help share John McCain's vision and pro-Catholic message.

Catholics For McCain Co-Chairs:

U.S. Senator Sam Brownback, Kansas
Former Governor Frank Keating, Oklahoma

Catholics For McCain National Leadership Committee:

Republican House Leader John Boehner , Ohio
Former U.S. Senator Mike DeWine, Ohio
Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart , Florida
Representative Mario Diaz-Balart, Florida
Former U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Washington , DC
Representative Ray LaHood, Illinois
Representative Dan Lungren, California
U.S. Senator Mel Martinez, Florida
Representative Jean Schmidt, Ohio
Representative Pat Tiberi, Ohio

Catholics For McCain National Steering Committee:

David Adams, Florida , Retired Senior Foreign Service Officer
Laurence Alvarado , Florida , Managing Director, Bearing Point & Contributor, InsideCatholic.com
Hon. William Barr, Virginia , Former U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
David Barron, South Carolina, Former Advisor & Surrogate, Reagan for President
Andresen Blom, Hawaii, Former Executive Director, Hawaii Right to Life
Gerry Bradley, Indiana, Law Professor, University of Notre Dame School of Law
Helen Anne Bunn, California , Owner & Operator, Health Care Facilities
Frank Cannon, Virginia, Treasurer, Susan B. Anthony List & Former Campaign Manager, Bauer for President
Mary Cannon, Virginia, Speechwriter & Former Deputy Communications Director, Kemp for President
Ryan Carney, Virginia, Former Chairman, CUA Republicans & Former Finance Director, Brownback for President
Alan Carson, Georgia, President, Obor Digital
Joseph Cella, Virginia , Founder, National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
Theo Chalgren, Minnesota , Visual Media Producer
Linda Chavez , Virginia , Conservative Author & Syndicated Columnist
Denis Coleman , Florida , Former Chairman, Covenant House & Former General Counsel, Bermuda
Jim Corbett, South Carolina , Former State Director, Brownback for President
Lisa Correnti, Maryland , Grassroots Activist & Homemaker
Timothy Costa, Rhode Island , Policy Advisor
Marjorie Dannenfelser, Virginia, President, Susan B. Anthony List
Martin Dannenfelser, Virginia, Former Vice President, Family Research Council
Shawn Denton, Florida , Catholic Outreach Coordinator in Broward County , McCain for President
Terry Denton, Florida, Catholic Outreach Coordinator in Broward County, McCain for President
Bob Destro, Washington, DC, Law Professor, Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law
Stephen Louis A. Dillard, Georgia, Attorney & Former Legal Policy Advisor, Huckabee for President
Bernard Dobranski, Michigan , Dean, Ave Maria School of Law
Aggie Dowd , New Hampshire , Political Activist
John Dowd, New Hampshire, Former State Chairman, New Hampshire Republican Party & Coordinator, Catholics for Bush
Martin Duggan , Missouri , Television Host & Catholic Activist
John Eddy, Arkansas , Former National Victory Director, Republican National Committee
Tracy Eddy, Arkansas , Former Senior Staffer, the White House
Umberto Fedeli, Ohio, President & CEO, Fedeli Group
Ariel Fernandez , Florida , Catholic Outreach Coordinator in Miami-Dade County , McCain for President
James Fitzpatrick, Pennsylvania, Former State Regional Coalition Chair, Catholics for Bush
Dorothy Fleming, Minnesota, Deputy Chair, Republican Party of Minnesota
Angela Flood, Virginia, Former Deputy Political Director, the White House
Robert P. George, New Jersey , McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University
Martin Gillespie , New Jersey , Former Director of Catholic Outreach, Republican National Committee
Rob Gleason , Pennsylvania , Chairman, Republican Party of Pennsylvania
Frank Hanna, Georgia, CEO, Hanna Capital, LLC
Hon. Melissa Hart, Pennsylvania, Former Representative, US House & Candidate for Congress
Deal W. Hudson, Washington, DC, President, Morley Publishing Group
John J. Jakubczyk, Arizona, Former President, Arizona Right to Life
John M. Klink, California, Former Diplomat, Vatican
Christian Kotscher, Georgia, National Principal, IBM
Alfred A. Lagan, Massachusetts, Founder & Chairman, Congress Asset Management Company
Alyssa Lombardi , Virginia , Teacher & Pro-Life Activist
Connie Marshner , Virginia , Writer, Editor & Grassroots Leader
Kitty Martinez , Florida , Former Educator
Hon. Bob McDonnell, Virginia , Attorney General, Virginia
Edward McFadden, Virginia, Former Senior Advisor, Fred Thompson for President
Margaret Melady, Virginia , Former President, American University in Rome
Amb. Thomas Melady, Virginia, Former US Ambassador, Vatican
Tom Monaghan, Florida, Catholic Philanthropist & Founder, Domino's Pizza & Ave Maria University
Hon. Maureen Mooney, New Hampshire, State Representative (R-Merrimack) & Former State Director, Catholics for Bush
Mario Murgado, Florida, President & CEO, Miami Automotive Retail, Inc. Brickell Motors
Dennis Myers, Florida , Broward County Republican Executive Committee
Chris Nolan, Maryland , President, Landbridge Equity, LLC
Catherine Nugent, Missouri, President, Willis Pendleton Inc.
Joe O'Farrell, Georgia , Catholic Activist & Fundraiser
Patrick O'Meara, Michigan, Founder, O'Meara Ferguson Kearns, Inc.
Hon. Brian Palmer, Michigan , State Representative (R-Romeo)
Dana Phillips , Iowa , Former Co-Chairman, Catholics for Brownback
William F. Plunkett, Jr., New York , Attorney
Alexandra Preate, New York , Principal, Capital HQ
George Prezioso, New York , Vice President, AWMA
John Pudner, Georgia, President, Concentric Direct
Robert Reilly , Virginia , Former Director, Voice of America
Maureen Roselli, New Jersey , Founding CEO & Former President, Catholic Alliance
Austin Ruse, Virginia, President, Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute
Cathy Ruse, Virginia , Former Chief Pro-Life Spokesman , U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Paul G. Scolese, Virginia , Former Staff, Bush-Cheney 2000 Presidential Transition Office
Lauren Shea, Florida , Political Activist
Timothy D. Shea, Florida , Real Estate Executive
Shawn Smeallie, Virginia, Partner, American Continental Group
Jack St. Martin , Colorado , Former Campaign Manager, Beauprez for Governor
John Stanton, Pennsylvania , Former Executive Director, Southeast Pennsylvania Pro-Life Union
Frank Stella, Michigan, Chairman & CEO, F.D. Stella Products Company
Hon. George W. Strake, Jr., Texas, Former Secretary of State, Texas & Former Chairman, Republican Party of Texas
Warren Sweeney, New Jersey, Former Executive Director, National Right to Life Committee
Christina Valentine, Virginia , Former President, Franciscan University of Steubenville College Republicans
Rick Valentine, Virginia , Former Deputy Assistant U.S. Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice
Susan Valentine, Virginia, Vice President, Virginia Society for Human Life
Tim Von Dohlen , Texas , 2004 Delegate & Former Representative, Texas State House
Pat Von Dohlen , Texas , Pro-Life Activist
Robert Wasinger, Virginia, Former Campaign Manager, Brownback for President
John Willke, Ohio, President, Life Issues Institute, Inc.
Chuck Yob, Michigan , Republican National Committeeman, Michigan
Eugene J. Zurlo, South Carolina, Chairman, Zurlo Investment Trust & Former President, Catholic Radio Association

Catholic Students For McCain Leadership Committee:

Billy Valentine, Virginia , Chairman, Catholic Students for McCain, Franciscan University of Steubenville
Lauren Benning, Florida , Catholic Outreach Coordinator in Lee County , McCain for President, Duke University
Raymond M. Gennawey, III, California , Former Chairman, CUA Republicans, Catholic University of America
Danielle Huntley , Massachusetts , Former President, Students for Life of America , Boston College School of Law
Kilty Maher, Iowa, Ave Maria University
Matthew Rooney, New Jersey, Former Chairman, CUA Republicans, Rutgers Law School
Terry Schilling, Illinois , Student Body President, Franciscan University of Steubenville
Thomas Ternan , Texas , Franklin & Marshall College
Katie Wilcox , Michigan , Ave Maria Law School
Colm Willis , Oregon , Boston College

John McCain: School Choice and Hope v. Clinton/Obama/DNC Static Public School Entrallment

The National Democratic Committee and all Candidates are Enthralled by the Public School Lobby - no brag just fact.

Enthrall -1. To hold spellbound; captivate: The magic show enthralled the audience.
2. To enslave.

from Old English - Þræl/slave Bright's Old English Grammar is always a useful tool as it helped me last Good Friday in my assist to Neil Steinberg on the Good Friday Story - godes frias daeg - God's Friday.

There I go again . . .


The DNC and the candidates it anoints pay homage to the Public School Lobby and they are heavier than whale poop with the Democratic National Committee. Most Democrats that I know, my neighbors and friends, would like to see school choice as an option for success. Most of my neighbors and friends are Roman Catholic Democrats - we pay twice for education, once for our kids to attend Catholic Schools and then again through obscene taxes that get soaked up by the monstrously - I can say that - unsuccessful public schools.

The Public School Lobby, especially the two major Teachers Unions, play hardball with every Democratic candidate - especially those who would presume to become National ( House, Senate, Presidency) Candidates.

Now, get this. Everyone is talking about Superdelegates for Obama and Clinton but no one, except David White in his Sunday New York Times op ed piece, is talking about the Public School Lobby as Kingmakers. Get This:

IF the Democratic race is settled at the party’s convention this summer — not unlikely, given Hillary Clinton’s victories over Barack Obama in Ohio and Texas — certain delegate constituencies are going to be the object of much affection from the candidates. Most prominent among these is the delegate and superdelegate bloc affiliated with the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions. In 2004, more than 400 regular delegates to the convention were members of the two unions, making up a group bigger than every state delegation except California’s.

Now, Hold the Phone! They are enthralled.

John McCain is less than enthralled. Me too.

John McCain is for Parental Choice in Schools for theri Children. John McCain is for easing the tax-burden on parents who pay twice. John McCain wants to end the enthrallment of the States to Public School Lobbies and wants greater accountability from schools that soak up tax dollars.

Real Democrats will find john McCain to be more like them than their Presidential Candidates or the Democratic National Leadership.

Click my post title for David White's caveat to voters.

Real Change means Real Choice - School Choice will Set You Free! School Choice means less burden on taxpayers and more Accountability from Public Schools.

End the Enthrallment; Vote for John McCain and School Choice!

John McCain: Real Change means Real Choice in Schools

Chicago Daily Observer an alternative Internet newspaper here in Chicago, published by a civic minded gentleman-philanthropist and managed and edited by the great Tom Roeser and John Powers, syndicated my article John McCain and School Choice.


Click my post title for the article in Chicago Daily Observer


School Choice is the bogey-man of Democratic candidates for any public office, because for decades the Public School Lobbies in America have orchestrated powerful chorus of dollars, votes and news media intimidation that drowns out debate, much less action on this vital issue.

Public Schools have inflated taxes and helped erase the once proud American Middle Class while creating institutionalized failure. The only solution to every problem with American Education, it is argued by the Public School Lobbies, is more tax dollars.

Independent, Parochial and Home Schooling have produced competitive students without public dollars, while heaping an extra financial burden upon families who opt to educate their children away from American Public education.

Public Schools have bankrupted State budgets - especially in Illinois. Public Schools are a factor in the low morale of public service employees who send their children to Catholic and private schools. In the City of Chicago, police, fire, streets and sanitation workers - all City employees - must live within the City limits. The choice for a quality education is limited to Catholic and private schools; thus, these same tax-salaried employees must pay private school tuition. The Chicago Public School system is no option for most City employees. Elected Officials who tout the value of Public Schools send their children to St. Ignatius, DeLaSalle Institute, University Laboratory School ( Senator Barack Obama's attend the LAB). Community activists like Reverend Jesse Jackson sent his sons to LeMans Academy operated by the Brothers of the Holy Cross in Rolling Prairie, Indiana.

Who's kidding whom?

John McCain is the only Presidential Candidate who supports real change in Education.

I ask Chicago Police Officers, Chicago Fire Fighters and any and all City Employees to chime in on the issue. Where do they send their children to be educated?

Here is what John McCain offers as true change in education -Change - Yes, we Can!

Excellence, Choice, and Competition in American Education


John McCain believes American education must be worthy of the promise we make to our children and ourselves. He understands that we are a nation committed to equal opportunity, and there is no equal opportunity without equal access to excellent education.

Public education should be defined as one in which our public support for a child's education follows that child into the school the parent chooses. The school is charged with the responsibility of educating the child, and must have the resources and management authority to deliver on that responsibility. They must also report to the parents and the public on their progress.

The deplorable status of preparation for our children, particularly in comparison with the rest of the industrialized world, does not allow us the luxury of eliminating options in our educational repertoire. John McCain will fight for the ability of all students to have access to all schools of demonstrated excellence, including their own homes.

No Child Left Behind has focused our attention on the realities of how students perform against a common standard. John McCain believes that we can no longer accept low standards for some students and high standards for others. In this age of honest reporting, we finally see what is happening to students who were previously invisible. While that is progress all its own, it compels us to seek and find solutions to the dismal facts before us.

John McCain believes our schools can and should compete to be the most innovative, flexible and student-centered – not safe havens for the uninspired and unaccountable. He believes we should let them compete for the most effective, character-building teachers, hire them, and reward them. (Emphasis my own)


If a school will not change, the students should be able to change schools. John McCain believes parents should be empowered with school choice to send their children to the school that can best educate them just as many members of Congress do with their own children. He finds it beyond hypocritical that many of those who would refuse to allow public school parents to choose their child's school would never agree to force their own children into a school that did not work or was unsafe. They can make another choice. John McCain believes that is a fundamental and essential right we should honor for all parents.

As president, John McCain will pursue reforms that address the underlying cultural problems in our education system - a system that still seeks to avoid genuine accountability and responsibility for producing well-educated children.

John McCain will place parents and children at the center of the education process, empowering parents by greatly expanding the ability of parents to choose among schools for their children. He believes all federal financial support must be predicated on providing parents the ability to move their children, and the dollars associated with them, from failing schools.

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