Friday, December 28, 2018

Nashville student enrollment drops, again. This should be a wake-up call.

The Tennessean reported today that Nashville student enrollment drops, again. Enrollment dropped to 85,287 students in the 2018-19 school year. This is a drop of 115 students fewer than last year when enrollment was 85,399 students.  The 85,399 student enrolled in 2017-2018 was a drop of 1234 student from the  86,633 enrolled in the 2015-16 school year. The total drop form the number enrolled in 2015-2016 to 2018-2019 is 1346 students.

At the same time, the population in Nashville has been growing. We don't know exactly how many people live in Davidson County but the census bureau estimates that as of July 2017 there were 691,243.The census is only taken every ten years but the census bureau offers yearly estimates. July 2017 is the last estimate. The July 2014 estimate was 670,314.  I don't know how accurate those estimates are but one only has to drive down almost any street or maneuver in Nashville traffic to know they we are growing by leaps and bounds.  So in about the same time the population was increasing by about 21,000 people, school enrollment was dropping by about 1300. Something is wrong.

The schools board administration blames the enrollment decline on "gentrification."  I am not buying that explanation. Certainly the demographics are changing. Lower income people are moving out of many neighborhoods and more affluent people are moving in. However, density is increasing. Many lots with one house are being subdivided and two houses are taking their place.  If gentrification is the reason, it is that "gentry" are not going to send their kids to failing schools.

It may also be true that despite our growth there may be a decline in school age children. We need more data to know for sure.  Maybe most of the people moving to Nashville are childless couples.  If that is the case, that still is an indication that there is a serious problem with Nashville Schools.  The whole eleven county Metro Nashville Statistical Metropolitan Area is growing. It may be that people with school age children are choosing to live in surrounding counties where the schools are much better.  While Davidson County schools enrollment was shirking this year, Wilson County Schools grew by about 1,000 students. There is also massive growth in student enrollment in Williamson County where many schools are overcrowded.

I wish The Tennessean would have dug deeper and provided more insight on this story.  I would like to know if there is an increase in homeschooling and private school enrollment in Nashville.  If private schools are growing, are they growing  by leaps and bounds or experiencing modest growth. I would like for a reporter to interview parents who recently moved to the Nashville area and ask them if the poor quality of our public schools was a factor in where they chose to live.

These enrollment numbers should be a wake-up call.  People are voting with their feet and they are voting against Metro Schools.  When people no longer take pride in their public schools, they will be less civically involved.  They will be less inclined to support public schools.  Public school funding will take a back seat to other funding priorities.  Also, as is so often the case in large popular cities, there will be a greater social gap and cultural gap between the well off, and the less well off.  When people look at the public schools as the schools for only poor people it exacerbates a class division.  When public schools become the schools for the lower class, this leads to a lessened opportunity for upward mobility.

For those who can afford to send their child to a private school, this decline in public schools may be of little concern, but to the person of limited mean, worse public schools may mean their child falls from middle class status to lower class status with fewer options for advancement. Their circle of friends will be made up of people of lower income and the values they encounter will be different than when the schools have children from a mixture of socioeconomic backgrounds.

Something needs to be done. I would start by firing Director of Schools Shawn Joseph. I would then reinstate those programs such as International Baccalaureate and advanced placement classes that made public schools attractive to parent who want the best for their kids who may be tempted to leave the public schools system if their child cannot get a good education there.  We also need good people to run for school board who favor school choice and excellence rather than equal mediocrity. We need people who favor more money flowing to the class room rather than the administrative bureaucracy.  We need school board members more concerned with quality and discipline rather than social engineering and political correctness. 

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Thursday, December 27, 2018

Lamar Alexander: My last two years will focus on cutting health care costs

by Lamar Alexander, The Tennessean -  Up to half of health care spending is unnecessary.

That’s according to Dr. Brent James, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, who testified before my committee that 30 percent, and probably as much as 50 percent of all the money spent on health care is unnecessary. ...the truth is we will never have lower-cost health insurance until we have lower cost health care.... the unnecessarily high cost of health care is that the health care system does not operate with the discipline and cost-saving benefits of a real market. (link)

Rod's Comment: I think everyone recognizes that the market is not working in health care.  Cost continue to soar.  There is not a "price" for health care services when who is paying the bill determines what is the price.  When a third party pays the bill no one cares what something cost.  We must bring cost under control. I wish Alexander success in the next two years as he focuses on cutting health care cost

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Kwanzaa, the made up holiday created by a drug addled radical thug that promotes values detrimental to the Black Community, started yesterday.


Yesterday was the start of the citywide celebration of Kwanzaa, now in its 36th year here in
Nashville. Through January 1st there will a large number of Kwanzaa events. The city even participates by lighting the Korean Veterans Bridge in Kwanzaa colors. To the uninformed, especially impressionable young people, they may think that Kwanzaa is a traditional African holiday and that it promotes something of value.  It is not and it does not.

Kwanzaa is a made up holiday created by Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga, a radical American Black Nationalists. Maulana Ndabezitha Karenga was born 1941 with the name Ronald McKinley Everett but adopted the African sounding name in the 1960's. He was active in the radical Black Power movement of the 1960's and was for a while was a member of the Black Panthers. When the Black Power movement splintered into violent conflict between different factions he was engaged in that struggle. He started a group called "United Slaves" which positioned themselves as more radical than the Black Panthers.  Member of US and Black Panthers killed each other during the violent struggles for control of the revolution. We know that in the sixties, the FBI was engaged in promoting divisions within the Black Power movement. Some allege that Karenga was funded by the FBI to further that division but the truth is unknown.
In 1971, Karenga was sentenced to one to ten years in prison on counts of felonious assault and false imprisonment. He thought two female followers of his were conspiring to betray him and he took revenge. This is how the Los Angeles Times described the case.
Deborah Jones, who once was given the Swahili title of an African queen, said she and Gail Davis were whipped with an electrical cord and beaten with a karate baton after being ordered to remove their clothes. She testified that a hot soldering iron was placed in Miss Davis' mouth and placed against Miss Davis' face and that one of her own big toes was tightened in a vise. Karenga, head of US, also put detergent and running hoses in their mouths, she said. They also were hit on the heads with toasters.
Even if Karnega was not a made-up holiday created by a drug addled radical thug, it would not be something worth celebrating.  The principles of Kawanzaa are not admirable. The first principle is Umoja (Unity). That is not unity among all people however but  unity in the family, community, and race. The second principle is Kujichagulia (Self-Determination). It calls for the right to define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves. Keep in mind this is for Black people to do. It is not a call for cooperation with others or to be accepting or cooperative with others; this is a call for radical Black power.

It doesn't get better. The fourth principle of Kwanzaa is Ujamaa which is "cooperative economics,"  perhaps the last thing the Black community needs. Ujamaa was the 20-year experiment with African- style socialism in Tanzania. It failed miserably. "Cooperative Economics" never works. Voluntary collectives always fall apart. To urge collective or cooperative economics for the Black community is to urge them to remain poor. The Black community needs a good dose of capitalism, not socialism.

I know Christmas is made up also. All holidays are made-up or declared by a proclamation as a day to honor an event or a person. Christmas evolved over time and customs and traditions and elements were added one on the other. The message of Christmas is a positive message however and embraces all mankind. The message matters and any thing that evolves over time, to my way of thinking, has more legitimacy than something someone just set down one day and made up.

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Wednesday, December 26, 2018

TN Senator Lamar Alexander says government shutdown 'will produce a success for no one'

"I want to make sure Tennesseans know, as I have said from its beginning, that I believe there is no excuse whatsoever for this partial government shutdown. When the government shut down under President Obama, I said that I was elected to make the government work for taxpayers, not to shut it down. The same is true under President Trump. " (link)

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Tuesday, December 25, 2018

Merry Christmas


Merry Christmas 
from 
A Disgruntled Republican

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Sunday, December 23, 2018

RIP Bob Ries


Bob Ries
 
I was saddened to learn of the passing of Bob Ries.  He was a bigger than life character. He lit up the room when he was present. He was a former Chairman of the Davidson County Republican Party and a  Republican nominee for the 5th Congressional District, a military veteran and small business owner.  He was a patriot and an advocate for conservative principles. He will be missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family.

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Sen. Bob Corker says President Donald Trump pushed the government into partial shutdown as an act of political posturing.


Please watch the video and consider what Corker says before you have a knee-jerk reaction to blast Corker and defend President Trump. Corker explains that not long ago Trump could have had $25 billion for border security in exchange for settling the dreamer issue and Trump would not accept it.

Corker says this government shut down is a made up fight so Trump can look like he is doing something. I agree. Corker says even if Trump should win, our borders would still not be secure. Listen to his explanation as to why.

Corker also explains why Trump's sudden pull out of Syria without consulting allies is a mistake and why Gen. James Mattis is right.

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