Quotes are taken from a message written by Tom to Charles on 05/15/96...
TC>I realize your not advocating that the cheating is OK.  However that
TC>takes us back to the reality that tolerance promotes a given behavior.
TC>The students cheating very likely know that they are cheating the system
TC>and they get away with it.  It begins a cycle that is continuous and
TC>escalating.
I can't argue with you.  So, shall we raise our taxes to cover the cost 
of checking for cheaters?
TC>CB>I think we're getting dangerously close to arguing politics here, not
TC>>educational issues, so I'll make this brief.  I can't think of a program
TC>>run by public sector agencies or private sector businesses that runs
TC>>flawlessly, and that includes the free lunch program run by schools and
TC>>largely funded by the federal government.  I don't believe anyone
TC>>running such a program could satisfy every critic's demand that only the
TC>>*truly needy* (is there just one definition of truly needy?) be served.
TC>
TC>I would think ethics more than politics.  The education system should
TC>promote ethical behavior and allowing individuals to cheat the system
TC>IMO does not follow that line of reasoning.
Must be I got my Tom's mixed up - I could have sworn it was *you* who 
once wrote that schools ought not be teaching moral values - that was 
the job of the parents.  Can you explain these contradictory positions?
TC>In the US we seem to equate X number dollars to the term needy.
Seems logical to me - "needy" to me means lacking funds - what better 
way to define it than by money?
TC>This is true in the free lunch program also and remember this was 
TC>just a provable example of waste and fraud in the education system.
Can you explain further?  What do you mean, "This is true," - what is 
true?  What was "just a provable example of waste?"
TC>It could also be applied to educating illegal immigrants.  Everyone 
TC>knows it goes on and that it takes tax dollars from legitimate 
TC>citizens, yet by tolerance the behavior is further encouraged.  A few 
TC>million here and there until it is finally realized  the cost is too 
eat.
Two points.  First, I am sorry - perhaps the problem is mine - but I 
don't know what you're trying to get at in this entire section.  Second, 
I have avoided all discussions of the illegal immigrant issue in this 
echo as I have very mixed feelings about it that have very little to do 
with education (off topic).
Chuck Beams
Fidonet - 1:2608/70
cbeams@future.dreamscape.com
___
* UniQWK #5290* A frog has more lives than a cat-he croaks each night.
--- Maximus 2.01wb
---------------