[Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?

[Art Deco]

I find it interesting that CCC employee and DN columnist Ed Iverson alleges 
that he is not a believer in global warming.  Working everyday with 
Cultmaster Douglas Wilson, Iverson would have to be unconscious not to 
believe in global flatulence.

W.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "lfalen" <lfalen at turbonet.com>
To: "keely emerinemix" <kjajmix1 at msn.com>; <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 1:22 PM
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Why Not Just Say It?


> 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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