Thread: Fulton County Schools to Pay for School Attendance

A part of me would like to see public schools made voluntary. We treat education as though it were a right- and legally, that is how it is ensconced in state constitutions all across the US. The truth is, it is a privilege, and it is often more of an unwelcome imposition on the unwilling, thus, we have discipline problems in school. Let those who wish to learn, learn; let those who refuse to do so struggle and rot in their own filth, reaping the full bitter rewards of their own laziness and ignorance. Or, so says one part of me.

The other, though, sees education as a civic duty, especially in this country where a knowledgeable citizenry is one of several necessities to insure the survival of representative government. We pay people to serve in the military, we pay people to serve on juries. Neither of which are voluntary (we have had wartime drafts; failing to show up for jury duty is usually a misdemeanor). It might be worth a pittance- jury duty where I live pays a staggering $12/day. (How about instead of ISS we dock a student's pay- we would probably have some idiot who ended the school year owing the school system money....)

In the final analysis, though, I disapprove. The reason being is that it is already patently obvious that these students do not care about being educated, that their parents do not care about it, and I do not think that any amount of money proportionate to the activity in question would be enough to compel them to do so. So, I think they are wasting the money of the taxpayers, and thus, I disapprove.

What has happened to the concept of work ethic and the American dream?

In my opinion it is being slain by several things- we reward mediocre behavior with welfare benefits, public housing, and food cards. We punish people for getting ahead with higher taxes to support those who do not get ahead. We punish those who do not break the law, by allowing lawbreakers to roam at will, with token punishments only incurred. We punish those who try to learn, by promoting those who didn't to the next grade level along with them. Instead of rewarding those who are virtuous, we reward those who are not.

As to why this is being done, my personal speculation is that it is partially done out of a twisted sense of egalitarianism, a rather stupid notion that those who do badly do so unwillingly. My personal experiences indicate to me that those who do badly do so quite willingly. Success in the USA is quite possible, if one avoids riotous living, works hard, and lives within their means and within the law. (Rather like succeeding in school, strange as that may seem.) My other personal speculation is that it is partially being done on purpose, so as to create a situation where change is demanded by the citizenry to a more socialist/totalitarian model of government....but again that is one of my favorite conspiracy theories....

Frankly, if I hew to my earlier post, truancy should not in actuality be a real problem.....it solves some other, much worse problems.

I say pay them for good grades and charge them for anything below a C. Most will only show up for the check, and do nothing else. Of course, I know some teachers who fit that description.