351–360 of 585 posts
What's surprising is that it took California so long. My ex-gf adopted her sister's kids, and that came with multiple things for the kids, in Texas: 1. free healthcare 2. free college education 3. supplemental income
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree completely. Something so striking about the situation as well is that on balance, we have a staggering amount of wealth to share with the less fortunate. Yet these are children, specifically, who deserve every opportunity we can afford them by default. Not “hopeless addicts” or some other group deemed not worth saving by so many of us, but people quite literally the epitome of worth saving. These people need…
Not sure who we is, but I have 4 kids and live paycheck to paycheck and nobody helps me or my kids. We can’t spare what we don’t have.
ALL kids in Tennessee can now attend any two year trade school upon graduation from a state high school. Adults can, as well, based on certain additional requirements (that really are easy after you've lived in-state).
And Tennessee has no state income tax.
[1] - https://www.tn.gov/collegepays/money-for-college/tn-educatio...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It’s always depressing when we talk about the latest developments in minimum wage and how a day one burger flipper at an In and Out in California is making just as much as someone with 6 years of schooling and responsibility for teaching the next generation. Oh and that’s not even considering how much of her own $$$ is needed to successfully supply a classroom and how barely any is tax deductible. Her experiences alm…
Who are you voting for that will raise wages for teachers? Or are you looking to cut wages for burger flippers.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
On the one hand I 100% agree On the other hand we've got the phrase "Programs for the poor become poor" for a reason. Having a program that benefits everyone means that we all can support it out of enlightened self-interest. We can reduce overhead by providing food for everyone and not putting in place a complex government bureaucracy to carefully approve some people but not others, to give lobbyists a chance to advo…
Moreover, if free food is only available to low-income students, having to eat that food can become a symbol of poverty, and some students may feel ashamed to receive it. Making it available to all students, without reservation, avoids that.
64% of foster youth graduating high school is far far higher than I thought it would be. I’m beyond delighted by this. And if that 64% has free access to post-secondary… that’s a cycle breaking opportunity.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I agree completely. Something so striking about the situation as well is that on balance, we have a staggering amount of wealth to share with the less fortunate. Yet these are children, specifically, who deserve every opportunity we can afford them by default. Not “hopeless addicts” or some other group deemed not worth saving by so many of us, but people quite literally the epitome of worth saving. These people need…
> we have a staggering amount of wealth to share with the less fortunate Many Americans will stop you at that first word. Who is this we you speak of? If the pandemic taught me anything, it's that to all too many Americans the most important freedom is freedom from strangers' problems. They don't want to see them, they don't want to hear them, and they sure as hell don't want to pay for them. Now, if THEY happen to h…
I could go on at length about this. I'm deeply convinced this component of North American culture has contributed significantly to many aspects of decline and general loss of well-being. I won't go on at length of course, I just wanted to say I think you're on point and this feature of a lot of our cultures here is quite harmful.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> A very oversimplified pro argument: if it wasn't for slavery, these families would have generational wealth and better social situations. African Americans in the US ARE disproportionately lower wealth/income and this has CLEAR historical origins. I'm confused by the pro argument. My known lineage was not enslaved, but my grandparents immigrated with 0$, and my family has no generational wealth and we don't receive…
> Isn't being freed from slavery the same as being freshly immigrated with 0$? The US economy, and hence those immigrants, were better off, because of the gains made from slavery.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
They implemented a great component of those ideas. Seems like cause for at least some celebration, right? :)
I'm an educator, and a social democrat (approximately) so "yes"? What saddens me is that grand (and simple) plan "free education for all" gets watered down and chipped away to "free education for those who have money or connections" and later attempts to shore it up offten amount to "free education for $special_group". While I don't deny $special_group should get free education, what gets me is all the special-pleadi…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We shouldn't let perfect be the enemy of good. I'd rather see kids get free pizza and hot dogs for school lunch, than I would a system where it costs $8 per student and only some kids get free lunch, but it's 100% vegan fair trade certified healthy food. Now if you can pull a boiling frog meme and make the pizza be healthy, haha more power to them!
I agree with you, I really do. Some meal is better than no meal. But we forgot how to make decent food at scale.
We should definitely encourage schools to renovate and make use of the kitchens when they have them, encourage kitchen facilities be included in new construction, and maybe even encourage creative solutions when no other options exist.