You liberals are all the same!

[Fenris]

Really, you want to teach MY kids about "tolerance." And you want to teach MY nine year old about sex and transgenders. You want ME to send MY kids to school to learn how to be politically correct. TEACH MY KIDS MATH! TEACH MY KIDS READING! TEACH MY KIDS SCIENCE! Don't fill MY kids up with ideology, or tell MY kids how bad AMERICA is. TEACH THEM TO READ!

I'm sorry, I got in my car this morning and for some bizarre reason decided to check out whatever vomit was being spewed from Houston's one pure talk radio station, which has a variety of host opinions ranging from far right to batshit insane. And it's own by ClearChannel, if you didn't already figure that out. Anyway, I got a good taste of a national program hosted by a screaming ideologue who calls himself Glenn Beck. Now, I'm willing to listen to different opinions, and the above paragraph pretty much sums up what I heard. America, so says Mr. Beck, spends more money on education than any other country in the world (I didn't have the time to varify this statistic, but I am skeptical, and I have to wonder whether Mr. Beck was taking in to account the amount of money spent vs. the total budget of a country) and yet American kids are trailing when it comes to reading math and science. Why, do you ask? Because of the liberals. Yes, because of those one-world pinko hippies in Washington and in the education sector and in our universities teaching our kids about dirty dirty sex and how oppressive their country is, OUR children aren't getting educated where it counts. And so on and so on and so on.

Yes, I'm really glad the conservatives have followed through on their promise to elevate the national discourse...by blaming all of the problems with America not on a number of things, but on one group of people. Ahh, it's morning in America!

Talk radio is like a really nasty car wreck. You don't like it, but you just have to look.

[MissMillie]

1. "Rubbernecking" causes more accidents

And it also causes traffic jams.

Don't invest your energy in hate radio. Stick w/ NPR for clear, reasoned, balanced discussions on the issues.

[BiggJawn]

18. Alas, not even NPR is "Safe Haven" anymore...

Newt's "Contract ON America" pulled a lot of their funding, so now they have to rely on corporate Sponsorship to make ends meet. And add to that the suspicion that reporters like Cokie Roberts and Juan Williams get their orders from Karl Rove and....

And now an admission that even Auntie Beeb has fallen down on the job...

But I'd still rather listen to NPR than "Hate Radio AM Murka", I just don't trust them anymore.

[Richardo]

2. Lies and the lying liars - US is 47TH in education spending

...as a percentage of GDP.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph-T/edu_edu_spe

Thanks to SoCalDem for the link to this excellent site.

[Fenris]

3. Thank you Richaro!

I had a feeling that his number was off.

[Richardo]

5. Y'welcome, Fenris - I too occasionally hit the dark side (Houston AM)

...and is there anyone more idiotic than John Matthews on AM700?

A true true simpleton.

[Fenris]

6. Yeah, he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer

But then again, look who the president is.

[Bake]

15. What about per capita/per student?

I would think that would be a more relevant measure than percentage of GDP. Sometimes that number is relevant; sometimes it's just a way to count up to make something look better.

Bake

[Richardo]

16. Point taken, but that isn't on the handy "quick response" website Iooked

...maybe with a little more digging?

[leftyandproud]

22. see post above..

I'm quite sure my figures are correct..

national average = $9k per student

Washington DC, L.A., etc can top out around $15k per pupil.

[Don_G]

4. I Hear That Same Spew Around Here Too

Fortunately, I have a good NPR "talk radio" station that has a broad spectrum during the day and the BBC at night.

I just wish someone would take a can of that expanding insulating foam and "plug" Lush.

[zbdent]

7. Wow. Far right to batshit insane

Sounds like Rush's heaven.

Oh, wait. You meant that "batshit insane" was describing Liberals?

[Fenris]

11. No, batshit insane as in far far far far right.

[thom1102]

8. You know, I love it when the "party of Personal Responsibility"

Doesn't want to talk about the responsibility of the PARENTS to monitor their children's educational progress at home. They don't want to talk about how it is the parents responsibility to emphasize the importance of education. Yes, our kids are trailing in math and sciences, but no one wants to ask the question "why?"

Because kids are raised by the television, and not the parents. Don't get me wrong, I don't blame the television, I blame the parents. Television does not equal Supervision, and parents need to get actively involved in their childrens education. "Where are we supposed to find the time?" some parents ask? "Well, you chose to procreate, you need to make the time. If other areas in your life suffer because you have to be actively engaged in your child's education, then that is the CONSEQUENCE of your CHOICE to have children."

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong...

[prolesunited]

9. Support a liberal alternative!

Help get DUer Guy James land a spot on i.e.America Radio. See here for details:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=349545

[Cat Atomic]

10. Silly pinko. The media is a liberal propaganda machine,

;)

I wish I could get the BBC here. I get NPR, and that's good, but for television news, I'm pretty much SOL. Well, actually, ABC news is decent at times.

[BiggJawn]

19. Get thee a Shortwave radio!

Then you can get the Beeb.
Or you can listen on the web.

[maxanne]

12. pish and tosh

Kids don't need to read or write - just be indoctrinated into the homosexual agenda. ;-)

Oddly enough, all of the gay people I know are quite literate.

[Japhy_Ryder]

13. luckily, we have SOL tests to teach the children

and punish the bad schools. Now, instead of any sort of useful learning, they are being taught how to take "accoutability tests". So math, science, civics...it's all only relevant if it's on the tests. Music, art, philosophy, none of that is on the test, so it must not be important. The Republicans have come up with these ridiculous things, and then they want to complain when the kids are all mindless robotic drones. Well, if you give them no chance to expand their horizons, or focus on their talents, that's what you'll get.

[thom1102]

17. SOL? Shit Outta Luck?

:evilgrin:

[Japhy_Ryder]

20. Oddly that's the acronym VA uses

for it's Standards Of Learning tests. As it turns out, it appears that the kids do indeed end up shit outta luck.

[arcane1]

14. science, from the bunch that wants to teach Creationism

that'll learn 'em!

[leftyandproud]

21. We do spend a HELL of a lot more than anyone else

I believe national average is $9,000 per pupil, per year. In washington DC, it's somewhere between $14-15k per kid. I don't know what the problem is with the low test scores, but it is certainly NOT due to a lack of funds. And we do NOT need privatization...They just need to work something out.