Photo of the Day

Pioneer children!

So we spent most of Sunday at the Museum of the Great Plains. We're working on early America, so they had alot of good information and exhibits related to our current unit and then I let them loose in the science area. (The space set aside for the traveling, interactive area.)

Myth: Charter schools take money from traditional schools.

So this is how it works.

Schools have two sources for funds. The first is local, which means a portion of your property taxes, any bond issues or sales taxes that you vote to go to schools, and any local fundraising efforts. (Think Box Tops for Kids and similar programs.) The second is state, which means both state and federal funds. These funds go through the State Department of Education and are dispensed to schools based on a complicated bit of math called ‘State Aid’ formula. In a nutshell, each student has x amount of money attached to them. X is determined by taking a base amount and ‘weighting’ those funds for students whom are lower-income, have disabilities, or a variety of other needs-based factors.

Charter schools don’t get to dip from both funds. Charter schools only receive state funds, meaning no local taxes, no bond issues, etc. For instance, we live in Lawton, so our property taxes go to Lawton Public Schools. Our children attend Epic Charter School, so our State Aid funds go to Epic Charter School. The take-away is that our charter schools receive less money than our traditional brick-and-mortar schools, not more, as some critics would have you believe.

Do charter schools take money from traditional schools? Yes, when they take students. However, the traditional school no longer has to pay for that child, and gets to keep the local funds. So not only do they not lose money on state funds, but they are able to spread those local funds among fewer students. A win-win for traditional schools, which is why almost all Oklahoma charter schools are run by traditional school districts. You might notice that these districts are happy with their own schools. It’s the other schools that are villainous.

Banned Book Week

Remember, folks, read a banned book for Banned Book Week! We picked up And Tango Makes Three, with no problems. Also, here's a funny article about a few banned books.

Random Thoughts

"The Fukushima situation has exposed a grave danger to our world. But the danger isn't radiation, it's the poor state of science education."

and

An Austrian atheist will be allowed to wear a colander on his head in his driver's license photo after successfully arguing that it counts as "religious headgear" for Pastafarians.

As a contrast, more people are upset about the Austrian atheist than the sad state of American education.

About the Pledge of Allegience

I originally wrote this on Friday, October 15, 2010.  I am posting it here with minor edits, mainly for grammar.

Kevin is publicly shamed for his refusal to take an oath.

Yeah, that cartoon is cute. It shows someone who simply doesn't care in contrast to someone who cares so much that they gave their health, and was willing to give their life. It makes a point, and makes us feel good about being better than the lazy guy. It makes us feel proud of our veterans. (Although that pride doesn't seem to extend to caring for them, but that's a an entirely different post...) and it makes us feel patriotic. Yay!

The Darndest Things

Mike is telling his dad about what he learned today in science, specifically, about the 'Food Chamber', where minnows eat seaweed & everything else eats minnows. Except bears. They eat mammals, especially us.