For a Constitutional system of free public schools

[David Van Os]

What was true for the authors of the Texas Declaration of Independence in March 1836 is just as true today. The continuance of civil liberty and the capacity for self-government depend on the enlightenment that public education brings. There will be much said about this in the Citizens' Filibuster for a Constitutional public education system from noon to noon, April 17-18, in front of the Capitol building in Austin.

The Sharp-Perry plan is nothing but a band-aid for a system that needs a heart and lung transplant. The educational crisis facing the people of Texas is not merely a tax issue. We need a lot more than merely re-arranging the tax structure and making a budget adjustment.

Incumbent Attorney General Greg Abbott has been twiddling his thumbs session after session instead of rolling up his sleeves and getting involved with the governor and the legislature to help them craft a Constitutional plan. On April 17 he’ll probably be churning out his usual daily press release praising himself, while I will be assembling with fellow citizens in the open air on the people’s property at the seat of government to state our case for a system of public free schools that will meet the Constitutional mandate for every individual and family in Texas.

The failure of the Mexican central government to establish a public education system was one of the main reasons listed in the Texas Declaration of Independence for rebelling and declaring independence 170 years ago. Throughout our history we Texans have made public education one of the highest priorities in our Constitution, wherein we guarantee to all the people of our State an efficient system of public free schools. We Texans insist on this for the benefit of all of us, because as our Constitution states, the general diffusion of knowledge is essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people.

The 24-hour Citizens’ Filibuster is not a nonstop campaign monologue by a political candidate. It is an assembly of citizens to demonstrate their determination to take back their government by taking a stand for 24 continuous hours. The April 17-18 Citizens’ Filibuster for a Constitutional education system is the second in the series of citizens’ filibusters that I intend to conduct. The first was the Filibuster for Independence on March 3-4 at the Capitol. The next will be a Cinco de Mayo Filibuster in San Antonio. My wife Rachel Barrios-Van Os came up with the idea for the Filibusters.
Please join us.

David Van Os

[acmejack]

1. I am going to try to get pictures & post them real time.

I'll wear my new Van Os golf shirt, quite stylish...

[David Van Os]

2. It will be great to see you, AcmeJack

[Czolgosz]

3. K & R

[Horse with no Name]

4. This is something that has plagued me

Because I grew up in Arizona and we didn't have the school finance problems that Texas has.
However, we also did not have as many counties--Arizona has 15 counties, Texas has 254.
In my county for instance, we have 4 High Schools. Each school has under 200 kids. In Arizona for instance, we had what was called a Union High School where all of the surrounding towns came in to one High School, allowing for more teachers, more choice in classes, less overhead than a bunch of different schools, etc. We even had a state of the art planetarium.
It seems it might be a little simplistic to think if all of the towns in my area consolidated High Schools, then many other problems would be solved as well. Racial equality would be more diverse, test scores would be higher, etc.
If the tax base for the schools was extended to the county instead of each city and was combined to support one school, especially in poor counties such as mine, it seems it might alleviate part of the problem.

[Lithos]

5. Good luck tomorrow

We definitely need a free system here that is free of much of the manipulation of local school districts and politics. It is sad that the education received even in one city such as Dallas varies widely, let alone the variation between Dallas and Plano or the DFW area and the Valley. Education and the promise of jobs with real career paths is a better investment than prisons. Education also is a major factor in proper family planning and yields better results than faith based sex ed. Educated people as a rule just have fewer babies which in turn helps break the poverty cycle.

Alas, our own leg and government seems to have forgotten this.

L-

[Kiteria]

6. Free?

Nothing is "free." How would your plan pay the teachers and staff? Where would the money come from?

[PDittie]

8. Welcome to DU, Kit

Careful with this sort of retort, however. People may think you're a troll.

Cg can explain himself, but I'm pretty sure that he doesn't define 'free' they same as you.

[Kiteria]

10. Huh?

Trolling is hardly my aim. Pointing out that "free" isn't free might be disallowed?

Boy! That'd be a rather loose definiton of free speech wouldn't it?

And by the way, I suppose I should've first said hello before wading in. So.....HELLO! :)

[Lithos]

12. Hello Kiteria

Glad you could join us here in the most active State Forum on DU.

This is a bit of an older thread, so I'm having to retool my mind again, but there are several definitions of "free" here. The first definition is that of a public free school where the children of the state have free access to at least a standardized education at the tax payer expense. The main justification is that an educated citizen is not only more prepared for the work force, but also a better citizen for their having a better knowledge of the State government and history.

Yes, this does mean that State is picking up the tab and this must come in the form of taxes against the citizens and the businesses. What people forget is this usually has significant payback, albeit long term, to the State as a whole, a concept usually forgotten by those who are short sited or whose focus is not for the betterment of the State. Yes, I consider the State to be not a physical thing, but a community of people who live in a physical area.

Another idea is that of an education free from the entaglement of special interest groups who are trying to promulgate an agenda and in effect limiting the education. These are those who try and mix religion and politics with a secular education with an aim to control the subjects being taught. This includes those who have essentially enviscerated biology, sex education and history. The best example of this are the Gablers who single handedly almost killed education in Texas though their torch has been picked up by a new breed of those who would desire to kill Evolution, the role of minorities, the New Deal, women's rights and the labor movement.

This all roles into the idea of an education for a free citizen. Free being freedom as opposed to someone who is capable of being a citizen capable of being an effective member of the democratic body. This is what the Republicans and Corporations are effectively stopping with their bigoted and short-sighted view.

[lavenderdiva]

7. How did the filibuster go?

any updates??

[PDittie]

9. Smashing success, lav.

There's one livebolg post here:

http://dvowhistlestop.blogspot.com/2006/04/lots-of-nothing-inside-capitol.html

I'll have another wrap-up later today there, and snarko will probably get some photos and video up at the website shortly.

[lavenderdiva]

11. Thanks, P!

:hi: