SENATE BILL: The Duke-Scott Educating The People Reform (Debating)

[President Tyrion]

Aye

I think there's still some work to be done on this, but I like the general direction.

[President Tyrion]

Nay

[President Tyrion]

What is the point of the amendment offered? Schools must offer those things and if they cannot afford it, they can apply for grants so they can afford it. Why do we need to change the wording? So we will set a limit? Do we even know how much money these needy schools will need?

It's not enough to say you must do something and you can apply for grants. What if the grants are denied for some reason, or they aren't given enough, or the grant office takes its sweet time?  In that case the schools are required by law to do something they don't have the money for.

Besides that, there are those of us who believe education ought to be pretty much a regional and local matter.  Nothing in the Constitution gives the federal government the authority to micromanage schools, as much as we seem to like to.

This can be corrected without removing the mandate.

[President Tyrion]

Nay

[President Tyrion]

I object to shua's amendment.

If we want to school districts from certain forms of litigation, let's be extremely specific.

[President Tyrion]

Nay

[President Tyrion]

I would not support a 90% top rate. That's excessive. TNF proposed 75%, though. Anyway, that's a discussion for another bill.

So, provided we actually earmark this WiFi funding, do we also leave the upkeep of these networks to the districts?

Also, some schools need some things more than WiFi, and sometimes block grants of this nature allow schools to be way ahead in some facets, while lagging behind in others, due to incongruity in legislation, lack of funding at the local level, and sheer ignorance of the respective states of individual schools. So perhaps we might want to re-evaluate whether this money might be better spent (I have no real issue with the number, per se).

[President Tyrion]

Is Bore referring to the power of the purse as the nuclear option? Or are we literally considering nuking San Francisco if DemPGH doesn't listen to us?

[President Tyrion]

Nay

I echo the concerns of my peers.

[President Tyrion]

We still don't really have much of an idea how much this will cost, do we?

[President Tyrion]

Very well then, should we replace "adequate technology" with a specific year, like technology updated as of 2012, 2013 or 2014?

I dunno, I almost prefer the vagary. Windows XP is adequate in some cases, but not others.

[President Tyrion]

Lack of update though poses a security risk for XP.

That's true. But maybe if we kick Microsoft in the balls by telling them we want to use XP in our schools, they'll continue supporting it.

[President Tyrion]

I think we should emphasize that the computers in question are student-usable infrastructure.

[President Tyrion]

Where are you guys getting the money to do this?

Our limitless coffers

[President Tyrion]

I don't think we should be specific about Windows XP.  Some schools use Macs.

Indeed. I honestly don't want to lose more time on this as I feel it's time to get this passed, so do you have any suggestions regarding the right language, Shua? I'm out of ideas here...

Where are you guys getting the money to do this?

Think of it as an investment, Deus. It's not the most responsible bill out there, but we've been working in reducing costs and this should bring benefits in the long term that we should not ignore just because it's an expensive investment.

I'm not saying it isn't a good investment, but you can't invest money you don't have...

Countries don't run on household budgets.

[President Tyrion]

I don't think we should be specific about Windows XP.  Some schools use Macs.

Indeed. I honestly don't want to lose more time on this as I feel it's time to get this passed, so do you have any suggestions regarding the right language, Shua? I'm out of ideas here...

Where are you guys getting the money to do this?

Think of it as an investment, Deus. It's not the most responsible bill out there, but we've been working in reducing costs and this should bring benefits in the long term that we should not ignore just because it's an expensive investment.

I'm not saying it isn't a good investment, but you can't invest money you don't have...

Countries don't run on household budgets.

I realize that and I never implied that they did. Countries spend money that they receive from taxpayers and creditors. Since we don't have any taxpayer money to spend, the money needs to come from creditors. However, this bill doesn't say anything about that. You need to clarify the source of this money if you want this bill to make sense and not screw up future budget processes.

What's the upside to that? We know we have the credit for it. It's just more work for the legislators otherwise.

[President Tyrion]

We had multiple parts remaining, but obviously those will never see the light of day at this rate.

If you've written it up, I'll gladly sponsor.

[President Tyrion]

We had multiple parts remaining, but obviously those will never see the light of day at this rate.

If you've written it up, I'll gladly sponsor.

I just might let you do that. Scott and I haven't written up any of Part II and III, but we had a basic framework completed. We figured this one would pass easiest and we'd go from there. In hindsight we both wonder what we were thinking..

Nothing is easy, my dear Dukie.

In any case, my offer is open and indefinite, so just let me know if/when you want me to sponsor and I'll do it.

[President Tyrion]

We had multiple parts remaining, but obviously those will never see the light of day at this rate.

If you've written it up, I'll gladly sponsor.

I just might let you do that. Scott and I haven't written up any of Part II and III, but we had a basic framework completed. We figured this one would pass easiest and we'd go from there. In hindsight we both wonder what we were thinking..

Nothing is easy, my dear Dukie.

In any case, my offer is open and indefinite, so just let me know if/when you want me to sponsor and I'll do it.

Great, I'll get with Scott after I take the bar and see if we want to move forward with it. If this part takes months to do, the next two parts will surely take years.

Haha, I look forward to Part 3 in 2020.

[President Tyrion]

Aye

[President Tyrion]

AYE

finally!