Replying to a message of TIM RICHARDSON to BOB ACKLEY:

 BA>> When I talked with her yesterday my sister reminded me that the left
 BA>> in this country is making noises about eliminating the tax deduction
 BA>> for home mortgage interest.  If that happens this country will see a
 BA>> wave of foreclosures and home abandonmnents greater than anyone
 BA>> thinks possible.  Wonder what Fannie and Freddie are going to do
 BA>> with all those empty houses - they sure won't be able to sell them.

 TR> Didn't you and I just recently have a conversation about this in one
 TR> of Klahn's echoes? Take a look at this:

Not about home mortgage interest deductions, probably about the US education
system.

 TR> U.S. Teens Lag as China Soars on International Test



I'm not at all surprised - the only thing I found surprising in the article was that
US teens scored 25th out of 34, my surprise was that they scored that high.  By
my own observations US teens are dumber than a box of rocks.

Colleges, of course, are so hungry for money that they've eliminated virtually all
academic requirements for admission.  Forty years ago colleges were teaching
'bonehead math' and 'bonehead English' courses to try to get incoming freshmen
up to the minimum requirements for admission.

The problem in rural areas is that schools simply cannot afford to hire teachers for
"advanced placement" classes - and with steadily declining
numbers of students they
can't afford much else, too.  Last September it was big news down in Shenandoah 
because their kindergarten class had gained eight students over the preceding year.

Then again, some public school teachers aren't qualified to teach, and some school
systems misues the qualified teachers they have.

I may have mentioned a lady I knew some years back who was an Omaha school
teacher.  She made more than I did, counting my full time job, my part time job and
my military retirement - so much for how underpaid those teachers are.  After some
35 years teaching 4th grade in one school the system transferred her to a school in
the heart of the city's low rent district (with 35 years in she's getting close to
retirement, time to get rid of her).  She tried for two years but couldn't handle the
kids; she finally gave up and took early retirement.  Four years later she was dead
of cancer (and she didn't smoke or drink alcohol).

--- FleetStreet 1.19+