Posted by Joe Baker on February 07, 2002 at 23:36:48:
In Reply to: Re: Re: tuba charity posted by Doug on February 07, 2002 at 20:25:49:
We don't disagree. In my sig, I said that jobs were the way for adults to get things they want. As you say, you could find a job if you wanted to. I've got a daughter in her senior year of High School who keeps saying she's looking for a job but can't find one; yet she has several friends who are working two jobs. Methinks my daughter is just not willing to take the jobs available, either because they don't pay enough or the work is 'hard'. But that job business is for adults and near-adults. For children, I do think that DECENT musical instruments should be made available if at all possible, and I believe it is almost always possible.
How about this for a solution: give parents a voucher and real school choice. Let each family choose a school that spends money in a way that makes sense for their kid. Of course, all schools would need to meet academic standards. But if the kid is musical, send him to a school that spends its extra-curricular money on music, and if the kid is athletic, send him to a school that spends its extra-curricular money on sports. All the anti-marching types would find the environment they crave, and you would have a greater concentration of more serious musicians in the music-oriented schools. That would mean you could get enough students to justify other music courses, like theory, lit, etc. No children would HAVE to go to a broken-down, ineffective school just because they happen to live near it. Good teachers would be able to compete for high salaries, and higher salaries would draw more good teachers from real-world jobs.
Joe Baker, who believes competition is a force that should always be harnessed for good, and government is a burden that should be shed whenever possible.