Schools in South Louisiana / NOLA

                        FOR THE RECORD:

• My wife is a school teacher with over 25 years experience with a degree in education.  She's taught elementary and secondary education during that time.  
• My business/job is low-voltage technology, I.T. and audio/visual.  Much of my business is with both public schools and private schools.

My wife and I both went to public schools.  In fact, we went to the same Middle School and both graduated from the same public High School.  My oldest daughter went to a public elementary school.  During the 5 years my daughter was in public elem school, my wife was teaching at a public Middle school.  By the end of my daughters 5th grade year, my wife had 20 years of public school teaching (the minimum number of years to gain retirement benefits).  Due to multiple factors, we decided to make a major change:

We live in a great neighborhood that is known for being safe, secure, minimal crime and a good place to raise children.  Property taxes are fairly high, but that's fine with us because it keeps our area free of....  ummm.....??  certain classes of undesirable people.  Perfect!

During the 6 years my daughter was in public elementary school AND the many years my wife teaching at a public middle-school, the public school system declined rapidly.  Here's how and why:

• Elected officials decided to expand and re-zone public school boundaries which allowed kids from other neighborhoods/parishes to enroll in different schools.
• Due to the above expansion/re-zoning, the school had to accept certain kids
• Equivalency testing was reduced 
• Basic Skills Testing was reduced
• Mandatory passing scores/grades were reduced
• To meet mandatory minority quotas, kids from any area were allowed to enroll
• Parent participation dropped
• Good/smart students transferred
• Good teachers quit
• Teacher hiring standards were lowered
• Unqualified teachers were hired
• Students weren't learning correctly
• Higher drop out rate
• Ignorance at an all time high

 So, after my daughter's 5th grade year and after my wife's 20th year of teaching, we made changes.  My wife retired from the Public School system and now collects retirement benefits.  She was hired by a private school in our same area.  So now she gets two paychecks.  We pulled my daughter out of public school and put her in private school (same private school my wife teaches at). Needless to say, the Private School in question is majority white teachers and white students.

Almost immediately, I noticed a major change.  They both worked harder.  Both spoke more clearly.  Both changed habits.  Both focused more on personal behaviors rather than blaming others.  It was like night & day.  My wife enjoyed teaching again.  My daughter didn't "hate" school anymore.  They both participated in school activities and school spirit (something they haven't done previously).  My daughter made better grades, participated in class more, and had more friends.  After one year, my wife was put in charge of different educational learning programs.  Obviously, we're better off.

My point is this:
Our once great public school(s) is now a breeding ground for ignorance.  Due to lowering basic skills standards, students are permitted to graduate.  With this HS diploma, they go to a publicly funded college (usually on some sort of minority program and/or student loans they never pay back).  Since it's publicly funded, the college professors are paid the minimum - so obviously hiring standards are low.  They professors give them passing grades due to meeting a quota of pass/fail rates so they can continue to get public funding.  Once graduated with an undeserved degree, the only job they can get is with public school systems - *Remember, they still have no skills.  And the cycle starts all over again.

Here's an example:
During a Friday night football game between <our> private school and a local public school, I overheard a conversation between a teacher, parent & student from the opposing team school.  It went like this:
(Teacher):  "HEEEY baby, where Teesha at?"
(Parent):  "She out dere doin hur thang"
(Teacher):  "HUUUH?  Whay she at?  I had lookded fo hur but I aint seent hu"
(Parent):  "She out dere, u herd me?  She be by Trinity n Mercedes up by da side"
(Student):  "U aint seent hu?  I fitna go by dem"
(Parent):  "U gone see dem....  day be cheerin by da udda side"
(Teacher):  "Aight den....  when u see hu tell hu I had said wutz up girl"

This was an actual conversation.  I know this was a teacher due to my wife recognizing her from the previous public school she used to work for.  It was obvious the other woman was the mother since she had an airbrushed shirt that had a picture of Teesha and said "Teesha 'baby-girl' Ja**son).  Yes, this was an actual conversation.

Some may say that my pointing this out is deemed as racist and/or racism.  Or bigotry.  My answer is simple - NO.  It's neither.  It's a downward spiral into ignorance.  It's an example of ignorance, raising ignorance, taught by ignorance.  Nothing more.  And these are the people that are not only raising our future generations, but also teaching them.

Too Common In NOLA:

    I heard a very interesting interview today on our local New Orleans AM News Radio station.  It was an interview with our District Attorney regarding a 14y/o criminal who is being held on a $900,000.00 bond in the Juvenile Detention Center.  Yep, that's correct - a $900k bond.  A small bit of background & history:

The kid is currently 14 as of 10/9/19.  Since early January 2018, this kid has been arrested 28 times including multiple arrests for attempted murder, burglary, car-jacking, assault with a deadly weapon, robbery, aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, illegal firearm possession, drug possession, drug possession with intent to distribute, destruction of public AND private property, truancy and attempted sexual assault.  Again, the kid is 14 and this is his record for slightly less than the past 2 years.  Per the police reports, this kid is part of a group of young males who's targets include the elderly, women, other young people, store clerks, pedestrians, vehicle drivers, parked cars, pedestrians, college students, taxi/uber drivers and delivery men.

The NOLA District Attorney went on local news radio and described how this kid would only spend a MAXIMUM of 6 years behind bars - until his 21st birthday.  He went on to say how during this 6 year period, it was "our job and responsibility to rehabilitate this young person by providing tax dollars for his education, job skills, social programs, mental health issues, substance abuse, drug-dependency and legal monitoring after his release.

I'm sorry Mr. Cannizzaro, but NO.  THAT IS NOT WHAT MY TAX DOLLARS SHOULD BE USED FOR!!   

During the interview, NOT once did the show host mention or ask about this kids parents.  Where are they?  Notice not once did I mention the race of this 14y/o kid.  Take a guess.....  Hmmmm....

Call me whatever adjective you chose.  Racist, bigot, nationalist, supremacist, whatever.  But this kid needs to be disposed of.  Yep, that's right - a 14y/o kid who's demonstrated behavior that rivals Satan's spawn should be thrown away, gotten rid of, and eliminated.  The world will be a better place without him.  To those of you who say this is heartless, too harsh, mean or hateful:  Eventually he WILL murder someone and sentenced to death.  It's inevitable.  Why waste time, money and a potential innocent victim?  Eliminate this poisonous disease before it grows. 

What is Socialism - Theft?

     Our country seems to be facing a virtual turning point.  We have two political parties at odds with each other over social topics.  Topics such as racism, fascism, socialism or other "ism's" are at the forefront of political topics.  Lot's of people consider Socialism to be the correct course of action and if you disagree with those people, you are labelled a racist or a fascist regardless of reasons.  What those people do not understand, and will never understand, is that a socialist society is based on the idea of forceful taking of goods, services, property and money from one group of people and giving it to another group of people.  A society where no one is considered "rich" and no one is considered "poor".  In other words, removing choices and decisions (good or bad) and forced to share goods, services, property and money.

Merriam-Webster Definition of "Theft":
"The act of stealing" or "felonious taking and removal of ones personal property with the intent of depriving the rightful owner of it" 

But a socialist society is supposed to SHARE all goods, services, property and money, right?  Notice this retort usually comes from those people that do not have anything of value to "share".  In other words, what happens if you don't have anything I want?  Do I have the CHOICE to decide which goods, services, properties, and money I wish to share?  Is it my choice to decide which goods, services, properties and money you share with me?  If I decide I don't want to share with someone, is that ok? 

If you're a Socialist and your answer to the above questions is "NO":

• This is called "Theft" and or "Stealing" - (see above for the definitions)
• This way of thinking eliminates drive and desire for a better life

If you answered "YES" to the above questions:

•  That's called Capitalism and yes, that's a good thing
• The ability to trade goods, services, property or money for something of EQUAL value.

This laptop I'm writing this on.  The Smart Phone I'm using to check my messages,  the flat-screen TV I'm watching, the name-brand shoes I'm wearing, the house that I purchased, the cars in my driveway, and everything else in my home was supplied via capitalism.  I'm able to acquire those things because I worked and traded a skill for money.  I then used that money to purchase things.  That's how it works.  I'm sure if my skill-set was less, I would've made less money - and I'm fine with that.  If I want more money, then my skill-set needs to increase.  How hard is that to understand?

 Our US Constitution states "....and the PURSUIT of happiness" - not a guarantee of happiness.  Shouldn't your happiness depend on how much effort you put into the pursuit of it?  It seems as though Socialists and liberals want to change the Constitution to say "Life, Liberty and the Guarantee of Happiness".  Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. 

Here's the deal - if you attempt to take something from me that I've earned and own, by force, in an attempt to make your own pathetic life better......  be prepared to be dealt with quickly, severely and deadly.  That's called protecting my property.  I'm out.