Posted on 04/26/2008 8:14:53 AM PDT by A_perfect_lady
OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. A Florida school board member is drawing fire from some parents for saying they should spend money on school clothes for their children instead of buying alcohol and cigarettes.
School board member Jay Wheeler's comments were made in an e-mail response to parents complaints that they cannot afford the new uniforms mandated by the Osceola County School District, according to MyFOXOrlando.com.
"Everyone can afford Wal-Mart and if they cant, they need to think about turning off their cable TV or stop buying alcohol or cigarettes and spend their money on their children," he wrote.
Parent Maria Quintana says Wheelers e-mail is insulting.
I have a job and sometimes it's really hard. You have to struggle," Quintana told MyFOXOrlando.com. "And to have them say something like that is really degrading."
Wheeler stands by his comments, saying people should get serious about education and put their children first.
"I thought it might be a wake-up call and I think it's something people want to say but were afraid to, he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Wheeler stands by his comments, saying people should get serious about education and put their children first.
Bravo.
What do you think of this? I say good for this guy!
Finally. A good man!
Don’t mess with my(six-pack)stimulus package!
This guy tells it like it is. He says what many of us have been thinking but might be afraid to say. He has my support.
what percentage of your students are ILLEGAL???
Already on a local blog he's being screamed at, how DARE he suggest people pay for anything themselves, etc etc...
And lottery tickets.
We aren’t allowed to ask if they are legal, but from the remarks the kids let drop themselves, I’d say at least 30% of my ESL students are illegal.
Jay Wheeler for President! Finally someone who will tell parents that the government isn’t going to raise their kids for them. If you don’t want to provide for them, if you’re not willing to make sacrifices for their welfare, don’t have ‘em in the first place!
“Wheeler stands by his comments, saying people should get serious about education and put their children first.”
If they put their children first, they would be educating them at home and not sending them to the government indoctrination center. As for Wheeler, what does he expect from the parents, given that they were largely products of government indoctrination centers, where self-direction and taking responsibility for one’s own destiny are hardly one of the lessons being taught.
http://www.wanderings.net/notebook/Main/SevenLessonsTaughtInSchool
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/underground/toc1.htm
The Underground History of American Education
A Schoolteacher’s Intimate Investigation Into The Problem Of Modern Schooling
http://www.johntaylorgatto.com/historytour/history1.htm
The Makers of Modern Schooling
The real makers of modern schooling weren’t at all who we think.
Oh and one of these.......
OR.........
For Cowboy Action?
Finally a school board member who isn’t afraid of speaking the truth. I have kids in my classroom that want to dress like gangbangers and hip hop artists. I swear this generation of boys will be walking fun when they grow up. They won’t know how to walk properly when they start wearing pants that actually sit where they are supposed to sit.
We have a school policy dress code as well: no baggy pants, no undies (male or female) showing, skirts to bottom of finger tips, but it does little use. I live/teach in a middle class suburb of Illinois and most of the parents side with their children. They think we are being too strict. The parents are part of the problem...stop buying them inappropriate clothing. The school is left to be the solution. Some of the kids feel they have the right to say, “stop looking if you don’t want to see them” and parents support that behavior.
Truth hurts, I think. And that's why people are so ticked off about it. They don't like having their noses rubbed in their own poor choices.
Yes, it’s depressing. The boys strut around exactly like they are in a prison yard looking for a fight, and the girls perch nearby in visitor’s room mode. The whole culture is devolving to a lifetime of institutionalization.
His point is not that you shouldn’t buy what you want with your money, it’s that you shouldn’t buy what you WANT and then demand that tax payers buy what you NEED.
Putting children first is now controversial?
That was the goal of the (socialist) system all along.
recently a private charity turned down an application for energy assistance because he smoked!!
I would have liked Wheeler to have focused on the cell phone connection. There is an inner city junior high school where I live. The caucasian and African-American population is nearly divided equally. But the demographics are such that over 90 % are eligible for free or reduced price lunches. There is no official count on how many students have cell phones but from people who work there on a daily basis, I am told it is easily over 60 per cent. As far as academic achievement goes, the school’s statistics are dismal.
We went to catholic schools for 12 years. Don’t forget to deduct the cost of regular clothing you would have bought before you figure the net cost of the uniforms. I didn’t like uniforms at various times, but in hind sight they prevent a lot of problems.
In a society that murders it’s unborn children, why would they even think of putting the children first?
A neighbor (rental cabin) got tossed from his rental cabin due to not being able to keep up with the rent. Never seen without cigarette. Spent as much on cigarettes as rent.
The only thing that gives me pause, and it's a minor one, is they don't have a long pants option in the uniform for when its cold. A pair of kahkis or dress pants, anything like that. Just jumpers, and legging/tights for cold weather. But, again, that's minor.
“saying people should get serious about education and put their children first.”
He’d better be careful! If parents get serious again about their kids education, they may start demanding to have better curriculum, better teachers, etc. etc. Could have a snowball effect!
Plus, mid size kids grow fast and you can “yard sale” the uniforms at the snap of your fingers.
Bravo for him.
I agree with the spirit of what he said- but I will say money was tight at my house when my children were little and the school used to nickel and dime us to death with this that and the other. By the time you buy school supplies and clothes you catch your breath and they start putting there hand out for things you had no clue about.
Another thing- about the poor kids having all the goodies- my daughter is a single parent- gets no child support; her ex’s family will buy my grandson the latest video games, camera- yes and toys, etc. but not help with school supplies, etc. Sometimes it is not the parents buying the expensive goodies.
Perhaps, but when I ask the kids who bought the electronic toys, so far they have always answered “my parents.” Always. 100%.
This man deserves a presidential medal. Way to go!
Yesterday my wife and I had to go to Walmart to get a prescription for me. We walked through the food section. There were so many snack foods and chips and pre-made meals, and very little canned meats and vegetables or pasta and oatmeal.
We became a society of telephone sterilizers and marketers a while back, all riding the “B” ark to nowhere. With adversity, maybe people will think about what's important.
That one failed, too. I don’t know if it’s because he’s being inundated with mail and shut off his mailbox, or what. But we really should think of a way of getting supportive messages to him.
Yes that too, *hopefully*.
But also I'd feel better having the option of putting a 225gr .45LC hollow point into some fool breaking in my house than just my 9mm or my Makarov (9x18), even with the hot loads I have for them.
(don't have a shotgun and a .45 Auto is out of the question for now)
No offense, but I know what he was driving at and agree with him. I was just being a tad sarcastic and having some fun. (guess I need to take another 'humor pill')
But a Vaquero in .45LC would certainly get somebody's attention!
“I thought it might be a wake-up call”
One can only wake “sleeping” people—not those who are brain dead. The people who he is addressing are, for the most part, not fit to be parents and have a lot in common with the brain-dead.
Um, your 4-5 year old has a taste for insanely expensive designer clothing and doesn’t want to wear a uniform at kindergarten?
Whose fault is that, exactly?
I’m just saying.
I was in socal so leggings were worn maybe 5-10 days a year.<p.My catholic school years gave me a sense of discipline and self-control I never would have had otherwise. Uniforms were a part of that. Overall, I am very grateful to those schools, nuns and priests.
Don’t the parents help or hinder that self control as well? My personal goal is make sure my daughter is the best person she can possibly be with God’s guidance.
He has my support, too. I agree with your entire post.
My youngest, we call her Miss Fashionista, hates wearing a uniformm to school (Catholic school). So she always wears *cool* headbands or barettes to dress it up.
Our Catholic school finally had the long pants uniform included (we also have a spring/fall uniform) but not too many of the girls wear them. None of my girls do/did.
I pointed out that the Target store in the next town had uniform shirts for $5 each. Given what most of these students wear, that's got to be cheaper.
And, as you point out, most of them manage to afford cell phones...
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I hated wearing a uniform when I was in high school but appreciated them once I was in college and had to pick out my clothes every day. My teens are in public high school and hated wearing a uniform in k-8 but wish they had one now. My two still in Catholic grade school - one doesn’t care and the youngest hates it but tough :)
We HAVE to buy the uniforms from the school outfitter and they are expensive in a way. The polo shirts are $19 each, etc. However, they wear and wash well and I can hand them down to the next kid. Same with the jumpers/skirts/shorts. It’s less expensive than buying them school wardrobes each year.
There's always Salvation Army. I've found LL Bean and Gap clothes with the tags still on them.
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