<html>
<head>
<style>
.hmmessage P
{
margin:0px;
padding:0px
}
body.hmmessage
{
FONT-SIZE: 10pt;
FONT-FAMILY:Tahoma
}
</style>
</head>
<body class='hmmessage'>
Thank you, Paul!<br><br>keely<br><br><br><br><br>> Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2007 20:59:25 -0800<br>> From: godshatter@yahoo.com<br>> To: vision2020@moscow.com<br>> Subject: [Vision2020] Why I'm going to vote Yes on the Levy<br>> <br>> Just a few reasons:<br>> <br>> I can't underestimate the value of education in our community. Forget <br>> evolution vs. intelligent design, think basic math skills, a sense of <br>> history, simple reading skills, a knowledge of the language we speak, <br>> and a basic understanding of science. Where would we be today if we <br>> didn't value education? Do you like that computer you're reading this <br>> with? Are you happy to know that the hospital is just down the street <br>> if you have some kind of medical problem? Would you rather drive to the <br>> ocean, or walk? The more data we have to live life, the better it will <br>> become. The more we all know, the better off we all are. This <br>> prosperity results in real-world economic development. This makes us <br>> richer as a community. Our poorest people are richer than much of the <br>> rest of the world.<br>> <br>> So, education is important. But why not educate everyone individually? <br>> Why centralize it?<br>> <br>> Well, first you have economies of scale. There is more to learning than <br>> just sitting around the teacher on the floor in a semi-circle, listening <br>> to him or her reading you stories. You need books and supplies. You <br>> need places to work, and you need prepared lessons. Centralizing all <br>> this makes sense. Why expect every family to buy a microscope? Or a <br>> bunsen burner? Or a wall map of the US? Why dump a substantial amount <br>> of money individually when we can spend less by centralizing it?<br>> <br>> You also have the benefits of specialization. We teach our teachers <br>> about one particular subject until they become experts on it. Why ask <br>> everyone to learn everything about all subjects? We also teach our <br>> teachers how to teach. It's not simple, and just faking your way <br>> through it is not recommended. Why expect all of us to learn this? <br>> Granted, it's probably very useful, but we have a limited amount of time <br>> and a limited number of neurons. Learning all this takes time, and the <br>> ones who have learned it the best cost money. Yet we need them desperately.<br>> <br>> Public education is the great equalizer. People who can't afford to <br>> teach their children, whether it's because of finances or time <br>> commitments or lack of knowledge in some areas, will still be able to <br>> give them an education. Every child, no matter their background, has <br>> the opportunity to excel in their learning. Who will become the next <br>> great physicist, or mathematician, or musician? It's also a great <br>> springboard. Who will be in the right place with the right set of facts <br>> and the knowledge to make use of them and do the next great thing? <br>> That's why I want to live forever. So I can see what people keep coming <br>> up with as the world progresses.<br>> <br>> Another reason for centralization is the changing nature of the world we <br>> live in. All of us spend much of our lifetime unlearning things we <br>> learned as children. Some of it was simply our misunderstandings as we <br>> developed and are simply later correcting. Other facts, though, have <br>> simply been shown to be wrong. Look how much physics has changed in the <br>> last 50 years. Subjects like history change as we realize more about <br>> our past. Geography changes as world events progress. Even with <br>> relatively slowly changing fields, such as mathematics, new ways of <br>> imparting knowledge to others in these areas are found. Teaching <br>> incorrect knowledge is probably worse than not teaching that knowledge <br>> at all. This corrected knowledge needs to be assimilated, and it's <br>> inefficient to have to teach every homemaker just to have them teach <br>> their kids the next day. It's more efficient to have those specialists <br>> I mentioned previously get updated on their subjects. It's faster, <br>> because they are subject experts, and there are fewer of them to teach. <br>> It's also easier to require that they get updated on their subjects. <br>> <br>> So why support this levy, specifically? Because, in my humblest of <br>> opinions, every penny we can afford to throw at it we will see back <br>> again a hundred-fold in the future as a community. I'm sure there's a <br>> line out there past which any increases will not help. I think we are <br>> so far away from the breakpoint that it's silly to talk about it. Also, <br>> the appropriateness of this levy has been put into question. Show our <br>> community that we know how important education is by voting Yes on this.<br>> <br>> Paul<br>> <br>> =======================================================<br>> List services made available by First Step Internet, <br>> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <br>> http://www.fsr.net <br>> mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<br>> =======================================================<br><br /><hr />Windows Live Hotmail and Microsoft Office Outlook – together at last. <a href='http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook/HA102225181033.aspx?pid=CL100626971033' target='_new'>Get it now!</a></body>
</html>