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If the services that are going to be saved by these tax increases are really that critical to my life and well being, then I would like to help pay for them. I am not a fan of receiving handouts or of singling out a small segment of the population and making them pay for something that everyone is going to use. Unfortunately, the voting population in this state always wants something for nothing, and a fair tax increase of less than one percent across all tax payers would never pass.

When the economy gets better, the state will start more new programs that we don't really need. Then, when the economy gets bad again, they'll put schools and public safety back on the chopping block. Which group shall we single out then? The obese? Bike riders? Working parents? Non-working parents? People without children? People who's income is higher than $20? People who receive hourly wages as opposed to salary?

posted 2 years, 3 months ago
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I graduated from high school in 2001. When I was in high school, I got A's and B's because I was expected to.

Rewards were unnecessary, but that didn't stop the school from trying. Each year, my high school would "honor" everyone who received high grades in an assembly. Not only was that system horribly tacky, but gruesomely embarrassing.

There were systems in place for high-risk students in which the reward scheme was much more enticing. I don’t know whether this affected their grades at all, but I do know that other students would be jealous. After all, these students received rewards for showing up and doing their homework. Everyone else showed up and did their homework and received nothing. I worry that such a system may serve to alienate students in remedial classes.

posted 2 years, 9 months ago
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When I was a teenager, I was living on my own, supporting myself on a minimum wage job at 17 years old. My parents had a messy divorce and my brothers and I ended up in the middle of it. I had to transition from Middle School to High School, and had 8 classes a day. I didn't feel challenged by any of the material.

But I still graduated in 2001.

While I was in school, I saw the more challenging programs getting cut left and right. Meanwhile, my friends in alternative schools were getting field trips, small class sizes and personal attention. I find it offensice that a person like me, who worked my behind off to excel at school in the midst of everything that was going on in my life gets nothing, while the whiner who gives up gets rewarded.

posted 3 years ago
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