[Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?

[lfalen]

No I haven't, but you could write one. Most letters seem to support the levy
Roger.
-----Original message-----
From: "keely emerinemix" kjajmix1 at msn.com
Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:26:20 -0700
To: lfalen at turbonet.com,  vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?

> Ed Iverson hardly speaks for most conservatives.  Further, I believe 
> Courtney is still -- he was before -- a member of the DN's advisory board.  
> It seems that the relationship between the DN and the Kirk is quite cozy.
> 
> You're a conservative whose views are pretty much mainstream, and so is our 
> favorite Area Man, Dan Carscallen.  There are lots of conservatives who 
> offer more substantial grist for the mill than Ed Iverson, and the DN's 
> giving Courtney a platform to shill against the levy, and do so in a manner 
> lacking in truthfulness and integrity, is shameful.  By the way, have you 
> heard if there's going to be an opposing viewpoint?
> 
> keely
> 
> 
> From: lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com>
> Reply-To: lfalen <lfalen at turbonet.com>
> To: "keely emerinemix" <kjajmix1 at msn.com>,   vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?
> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:22:13 -0700
> 
> Keely
> 
> I wont comment on the bulk of your post, but those statements that relate to 
> the DN I think are misplaced. They only have two regular columnists on the 
> right. Add up how many they have with left wing views. You seem to be 
> unhappy if they carry anyone on the right. A newspaper should try to be 
> somewhat balanced on the Editorial Page. I think that is what they are 
> attempting to do.
> 
> Roger
> -----Original message-----
> From: "keely emerinemix" kjajmix1 at msn.com
> Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:47:19 -0700
> To: vision2020 at moscow.com
> Subject: [Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?
> 
>  >
>  > My head has finally stopped spinning from the dizzying array of "facts" 
> and
>  > the astonishingly glib conclusions drawn from Dale Courtney's guest 
> column
>  > in yesterday's Daily News.  I write not so much to expose the error of 
> his
>  > thinking, but the error of his character.
>  >
>  > First, though, I'll say that he has every right to submit a guest 
> editorial,
>  > and every right to blast the School District I served for three years and
>  > appreciate always.  The Daily News, which once was a reputable newspaper,
>  > has the right, I suppose, to print his words, although perhaps it would 
> go
>  > down better if they acknowledged up front that Courtney is an elder at
>  > Christ Church, and the DN benefits directly from Christ Church's New St.
>  > Andrew's College's leasing of five parking spaces owned by the newspaper 
> --
>  > you'll recall, I'm sure, NSA's continuing wrangling with the City over
>  > parking, but you would be forgiven if you couldn't recall the DN's
>  > aggressive coverage of the issue.  There wasn't any.
>  >
>  > It'd be nice if the DN disclosed that it benefits financially from an
>  > organization its city desk is supposed to cover, and it would be nice if 
> the
>  > DN acknowledged a terrible fondness for all things Christ Church -- 
> double
>  > weddings, cookbooks, regular columnists and such.  Still, the Daily News
>  > operates under whatever standards it chooses; Dale Courtney, a church 
> elder,
>  > really ought to operate under only one:  the integrity befitting a 
> professed
>  > Christian.
>  >
>  > The fact is, Dale Courtney's theology, and the theology of Christ Church,
>  > and the theology of Pastor Doug Wilson, precludes him from ever 
> supporting
>  > ANY request for additional funding for public schools, because their 
> beliefs
>  > forbid it.  It's not a matter of Christian doctrine but of the
>  > Libertarian-influenced Reconstructionist movement that has so influenced 
> the
>  > elders.  The Kirk believes, and teaches, that public schools, like any 
> other
>  > "government" institution, are a burden -- a punishment, if you will --
>  > imposed by God because of the unwillingness of the Church to seize 
> control
>  > and take dominion over schools, courts, banks and other institutions.  
> They
>  > chafe under the yoke of taxes, and especially under that part that funds
>  > public education.  Support of "government schools" is seen as collusion 
> with
>  > the enemy, and those children outside of the covenant (because they 
> surely
>  > must be not among God's chosen) who attend public schools are simply
>  > collateral damage.   Further, says the Kirk, education is, at its heart, 
> an
>  > entirely religious matter, and any education of children undertaken by 
> the
>  > State is a challenge, however impotent, to the very Lordship of God.
>  >
>  > Strong words, and words Dale Courtney and his pals won't deny -- at least
>  > vocally.  But they make clearheaded people, Christians and non-Christians
>  > alike, uncomfortable because their radicalness is exceeded only by their
>  > unfoundedness in Scripture.  They may speak the language among 
> themselves,
>  > but when it comes to "outsiders" -- in this case, those readers of the 
> Daily
>  > News -- they deny by an act of omission the real argument they have 
> against
>  > the upcoming levy.  The fact is, Dale Courtney's beliefs require him to 
> hate
>  > public schools, to hope for their demise, and to oppose any additional
>  > funding for which he will have to pay.  An honest man may believe these
>  > things, but a coward hides his true beliefs behind recycled statistics,
>  > false premises, and simplistic formulas.
>  >
>  > Why not just say it, Dale?  Why not just say, "Hey -- it ain't the
>  > economics, it ain't the demographics, it ain't that I think Blue Knights 
> are
>  > better than Bears.  It's actually that I hate public schools because 
> they're
>  > an offense to a Holy God, and I would never choose to fund them nor 
> support
>  > any additional funding for them."
>  >
>  > No, Dale has instead chosen to repeat the late Jack Wenders' tiresome and
>  > disproven screeds against what he saw as a school district gone wild -- 
> he
>  > even used some of the same stats Wenders, who died this summer, used to
>  > throw out.  But the facts are very clear:
>  >
>  > -- A 13% drop in enrollment is not a death spiral.  In fact, because of 
> its
>  > high-quality special ed and gifted/talented programs, MSD attracts many
>  > students from other districts.  And Logos has lost some kids to MSD, 
> while
>  > MSD has lost some to Logos or the two charter schools that started up 
> within
>  > the last decade.  And not even the number of families moving to Moscow to
>  > become part of Christ Church can reverse the overall flat-line of Latah
>  > County Growth.
>  >
>  > -- Unlike Logos, MSD is required by state and federal statute to educate 
> all
>  > children, regardless of the severity of their disabilities.  Perhaps Dale
>  > could give us information on Logos' programs for special needs and 
> disabled
>  > children.  I believe there's a matchbook nearby that could contain it 
> all.
>  >
>  > -- Because MSD prefers to make staffing changes through attrition and not
>  > head-chopping, very few positions have been eliminated.  However, because 
> of
>  > special education requirements from the Federal Government, deaf 
> children,
>  > for example, each are entitled to a qualified sign-language interpreter, 
> and
>  > provisions for the nurture and success of each student often requires
>  > additional personnel.  Not a worry for Logos -- they've chosen not to
>  > accommodate those who would be a burden on their support base.
>  >
>  > -- You hear a lot that administrative salaries at MSD are bloated.  
> Candis
>  > Donicht of MSD has been a superintendent in Idaho for 18 years, and yet 
> the
>  > first-year superintendent in Pullman already makes about $10,000 more a 
> year
>  > than she does.  Teachers are paid better in Pullman, even though nearly
>  > two-thirds of MSD's teachers have master's degrees and are endorsed 
> beyond
>  > generalized curricula.  Logos teachers are . . . well, very hardworking,
>  > clearly bright, and undoubtedly quite kind.  You'll have to ask Dale how
>  > their experience is quantified or their performances accounted for.
>  >
>  > -- Pullman benefits greatly from a reasonably generous state legislature, 
> as
>  > well as from the largesse of Schweitzer Labs.  Moscow School District
>  > consistently scores at or near the top of every possible measure of 
> student
>  > success, in an environment made less secure not only by a stingy 
> legislature
>  > but a church group dedicated to its demise.  A man of integrity, on a
>  > mission from God, would state that he is part of that group and an 
> adherent
>  > to its beliefs.  Dale, on the other hand, doesn't.
>  >
>  > If the levy fails, MSD's fund balance for next year means that "only"
>  > $400,000 in programs and staff would be cut; the year after that, the 
> amount
>  > more than triples.   That money funds smaller classrooms, technology
>  > upgrades, staffing, programs and all sorts of things necessary -- and
>  > beneficial -- for modern schools, even in facilities that are less than
>  > adequate.  Moscow residents are already paying for an indefinite levy, a
>  > fact Dale seems especially angered by.  But Moscow's citizens have
>  > historically stepped up to the plate when it comes to funding public
>  > schools, and I believe they are too smart to buy into Dale's message  -- 
> and
>  > too full of integrity to let him pretend his concern is motivated by 
> simple,
>  > if not simply wrong, economics.
>  >
>  > keely
>  >
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