Educational Equipment Act

[Akno21]

For whenever there is space open for a new Act, please have this debated and voted on.

I hereby propose the Educational Equipment Act.

Section 1

A. All public schools that contain serious structural damage, shal be either renovated or rebuilt within 5 years.

Section 2

B. All public schools shall be provided with enough computers for a 10:1 Student to Computer ratio, at least.

C. All public schools will be provided with new textbooks no less than once every ten years.

Section 3

D. This will be paid for by an increase in taxes on the richest 2% of Atlasia.



If you think the cost of education is high, consider the cost of ignorance.

[ilikeverin]

Just say yea!

[JohnFKennedy]

I believe it can go straight to the Senate floor.

[Akno21]

I believe it can go straight to the Senate floor.

Yes. If I lose this weekend, can this act still be voted on, even though it's proposer isn't in the Senate anymore?

[JohnFKennedy]

I believe it can go straight to the Senate floor.

Yes. If I lose this weekend, can this act still be voted on, even though it's proposer isn't in the Senate anymore?

Until the swearing in of the new Senators, then it will need for a new Senator to say they submit it.

[Platypus]

I will absolutely promise to submit it if you lose th election, Akno.

[Akno21]

I will absolutely promise to submit it if you lose th election, Akno.

Thank you very much. Seeing has I have made education a priority in my posts on the fantasy Elections/Governments, I feel it is appropriate to take some action on the subject.  

[Fritz]

New Senators are to be sworn in the first weekend of the month following the election.  Thats 2 weeks away.  Current Senators remain in their positions until then.

[Niles Caulder]

New Senators are to be sworn in the first weekend of the month following the election.  Thats 2 weeks away.  Current Senators remain in their positions until then.

That's one hell of a lame duck session!  (Six months of game time?)

[Fritz]

Yeah, well, I didn't write the Constitution.  

But on the plus side, it gives us time to hold another election, in case of an unbreakable tie.

[Akno21]

I believe it can go straight to the Senate floor.

Can we open debate on it?

[Akno21]

Can we open debate on it now, or should we wait until after the election?

[JohnFKennedy]

Oh sorry, I thought it was implied when I said it could go straight to the Senate floor that debate could begin. Yes debate can begin, sorry if I wasn't clear enough.

[Akno21]

For whenever there is space open for a new Act, please have this debated and voted on.

I hereby propose the Educational Equipment Act.

Section 1

A. All public schools that contain serious structural damage, shal be either renovated or rebuilt within 5 years.

Section 2

B. All public schools shall be provided with enough computers for a 10:1 Student to Computer ratio, at least.

C. All public schools will be provided with new textbooks no less than once every ten years.

Section 3

D. This will be paid for by an increase in taxes on the richest 2% of Atlasia.



If you think the cost of education is high, consider the cost of ignorance.

Does anyone wish to add something to the act or remove something? Are there any suggestions?

[JohnFKennedy]

I would like to know what constitutes serious structural damage and how this differs from structural damage.

How great will the tax increase on the richest 2% be and why is it that only the very rich must pay for something that should benefit everybody?

[??????????]

Nay...and you can mark that as my vote if you wish or whatever.

[JohnFKennedy]

Nay...and you can mark that as my vote if you wish or whatever.

Voting has not yet begun, we are still debating this act.

[??????????]

Nay...and you can mark that as my vote if you wish or whatever.

Voting has not yet begun, we are still debating this act.

My vote remains the same.

[StevenNick]

Let me just say that I believe this is a bill that will waste millions of taxpayer dollars that will provide few real improvements to our education system.

[StevenNick]

Section 1

A. All public schools that contain serious structural damage, shal be either renovated or rebuilt within 5 years.

Section 2

B. All public schools shall be provided with enough computers for a 10:1 Student to Computer ratio, at least.

C. All public schools will be provided with new textbooks no less than once every ten years.

Section 3

D. This will be paid for by an increase in taxes on the richest 2% of Atlasia.

This bill is loaded with problems.  First of all, section 1 is terribly vague.  What constitutes 'serious structural damage?'  Who decides whether a school should be repaired or rebuilt?  Will local officials or federal officials undertake the process of assessing whether or not a school is need of renovation?  Why five years?  If a school is suffering from 'serious structural damage' could the building last for five years before being renovated?  If the definition of 'serious structural damage' is not serious enough to merit immediate renovation, is the definition of 'serious structural damage' such that the federal government will be shoveling millions of taxpayer dollars into unnecessary rebuilding projects?

And a general question about Section 1:  Will renovating and rebuilding school buildings that suffer from 'serious structural damage' help educate our children?

On to Section 2.  Why should the federal government pay the money to install computers in classrooms around the country?  Shouldn't this be the duty of the state and local governments throughout the country?  And is this really necessary?  Do our schools need many more computers, especially in an era when many, if not most children have access to their own PCs at home?  And what will the federal government do when those computers we provide for the education of our children inevitably become obsolete?  Will we be continually buying computers year after year after year?  And how many computers shall we buy?  This bill calls for a 10:1 student to computer ratio, at least?  What shall we do about the at least?

As far as the clause about providing schools with textbooks "no less than once every ten years," I must ask--Will schools need new textbooks "no less that once every ten years?"  And if the federal government is going to be paying for all of these textbooks, will the federal government also be responsible for selecting these textbooks?  I for one do not feel comfortable with the idea of the federal government selecting the material that will be used to fill the vast majority of young minds in the country.  Such a measure would only leave our education system further exposed to the destructive, corrosive force of political correctness.

Now on to Section 3.  How much will this bill cost?  Will a tax increase on the richest 2% of Atlasians cover the cost of this behemoth of a bill?  Is this a proposed increase in personal income tax rates, corporate tax rates, capital gains taxes??

The fact is, this bill is a sloppy, ill-advised mess that tramples on the rights regional, state, and local governments while inserting the federal government into the business of regulating and providing for the entire country's education to a unprecedented degree.

[??????????]

If a school had serious structural damage wouldn't it be declared uninhabitable by the state?

[7,052,770]

this is a good idea, but it really needs to be fleshed out more

[Akno21]

Section 1

A. All public schools that contain serious structural damage, shal be either renovated or rebuilt within 5 years.

Section 2

B. All public schools shall be provided with enough computers for a 10:1 Student to Computer ratio, at least.

C. All public schools will be provided with new textbooks no less than once every ten years.

Section 3

D. This will be paid for by an increase in taxes on the richest 2% of Atlasia.

This bill is loaded with problems.  First of all, section 1 is terribly vague.  What constitutes 'serious structural damage?'  Who decides whether a school should be repaired or rebuilt?  Will local officials or federal officials undertake the process of assessing whether or not a school is need of renovation?  Why five years?  If a school is suffering from 'serious structural damage' could the building last for five years before being renovated?  If the definition of 'serious structural damage' is not serious enough to merit immediate renovation, is the definition of 'serious structural damage' such that the federal government will be shoveling millions of taxpayer dollars into unnecessary rebuilding projects?

And a general question about Section 1:  Will renovating and rebuilding school buildings that suffer from 'serious structural damage' help educate our children?

On to Section 2.  Why should the federal government pay the money to install computers in classrooms around the country?  Shouldn't this be the duty of the state and local governments throughout the country?  And is this really necessary?  Do our schools need many more computers, especially in an era when many, if not most children have access to their own PCs at home?  And what will the federal government do when those computers we provide for the education of our children inevitably become obsolete?  Will we be continually buying computers year after year after year?  And how many computers shall we buy?  This bill calls for a 10:1 student to computer ratio, at least?  What shall we do about the at least?

As far as the clause about providing schools with textbooks "no less than once every ten years," I must ask--Will schools need new textbooks "no less that once every ten years?"  And if the federal government is going to be paying for all of these textbooks, will the federal government also be responsible for selecting these textbooks?  I for one do not feel comfortable with the idea of the federal government selecting the material that will be used to fill the vast majority of young minds in the country.  Such a measure would only leave our education system further exposed to the destructive, corrosive force of political correctness.

Now on to Section 3.  How much will this bill cost?  Will a tax increase on the richest 2% of Atlasians cover the cost of this behemoth of a bill?  Is this a proposed increase in personal income tax rates, corporate tax rates, capital gains taxes??

The fact is, this bill is a sloppy, ill-advised mess that tramples on the rights regional, state, and local governments while inserting the federal government into the business of regulating and providing for the entire country's education to a unprecedented degree.

Some estimates have it that up to 25% of our schools have structural damage. That means, walls are broken, the general structre is harmful and dangerous. If those estimates are true, than states would be closing 1 out of every 4 schools. If there is serious structural damage will be determined by a contractor hired by the government.

The schools that this bill would be effecting are mostly inner-city schools or schools out in very rural areas. I dispute any claim that most inner-city kids or most kids who live on a farm have a computer. In these cases, school is their chance to experience such things as internet access, that they can't experience at home.

The funding may come from the federal government, but I do not think it should choose what textbooks each school district buys.

As for the cost, it would be in a mix of corporate taxes and personal income taxes. However, unlike many other liberals, do not have a problem with excessive adverstising and vending machines in schools. If it would help to finance this, I would be open to putting more vending machines in our schools, putting more adverstisements in our schools. Also, I would repeal any of the health iniatives that restrict what schools can sell. If a kid wants to by 10 twinkes and get fat, I don't believe the school should say no, especially if not selling that product would reduce school revenue.

As I said, if you have any suggestions to make this bill better, please let them be heard.

[The Duke]

Akno,

Perhaps it is not my place since I am not a Senator nor is my Department directly affected by the bill.  However, if I could suggest that we pay for the bill without raising taxes.

We should demand caps on what percentage of a state education budget can be allocated to administrative costs like building new district offices if those states want to continue to recieve federal money.  This would free up enough money to fund your program without raisning taxes in a sensitive economy and it would make us better stewards of public money.  The people deserve to know that education funds actually go towards education, and this small change would do that.

[Nation]

I want to support this act.

I have three problems with this --- one, it's too vague. Two, you are right, many inner city schools do have structural problems, and not enough textbooks -- BUT, how is repairing these vague structural damages going to help the failing schools? And how are more new textbooks going to help kids learn? Schools don't need better textbooks, they need better teachers and better learning enviornments.

Obviously, that's where improving poor school structures comes in. But in the end, this comes down to spending more and more money on failing public schools, and probably getting nowhere.

And while taxing the richest 2% again sounds nice, we can't just keep increasing taxes. We need to find other ways to pay for it. I like John Ford's idea, but I'm not convinced that will solve all of it.