News Miner 73
Schools, bullying, primaries, the rule of law, police abuses, homelessness, and more.
An Exchange on Government Schools
In response to part of my recent post, Chuck Wright wrote in:
You wrote, “To address the related problems, government should improve schools in poorer neighborhoods, improve safety there, handle homelessness there, free the housing market everywhere, and generally make the city more attractive to middle-class families.”
In fantasyland, government can improve schools in poorer neighborhoods and handle homelessness, but in practice it cannot. Government has a long history of failure in those areas despite good intentions, and usually government based solutions make matters worse. I’m surprised you advocating for an activist government in these areas. Am I reading something into what you wrote that you didn’t intend?
Discussion here pertains a study showing that Denver schools are largely segregated in the sense that they are divided along lines of race and class. My point was that this segregation is not the fundamental cause of failing schools; rather, it is a consequence of underlying factors.
With respect to government involvement in schools, government is running a near-monopoly, but this is because government funds its schools through taxes, not because it shuts down competition. Parents are free to send their children to private schools or to homeschool.
Given the government’s near-monopoly on schools, government has to do something different, relative to what it is doing now, for (most) schools to change. That was my only point in the previous post.
What government should do is a difficult question. Some libertarians think government should stop funding schools altogether and privatize all existing schools. I’m sympathetic to that point of view, but to most people it seems bizarre. It’s a complete non-starter in today’s political world. The somewhat more popular view, which many libertarians also embrace, is that government should move more toward “school choice,” as through charter schools, vouchers, and the like. Even within the context of governments running its regular schools, there is much government can do to improve education, as by using phonics-based reading instruction rather than look-say (or whatever variant of that).
Quick Takes
Racism: Jenny Brundin: “The families of four Black and biracial students who attended schools in Douglas County have filed a federal civil lawsuit against the district, alleging district and school administrators failed to take adequate measures to protect the students from severe and pervasive racism and bullying. . . . One student posted that Black people should be removed from the planet and called for bringing back the Holocaust. Another asked for a ‘buckshot’ to shoot a Black person, using a racial epithet. . . . ‘They called him a monkey every single day, they called him a n***** every day,’ [a mother said].” Appalling and disgusting. Previously from Brundin: “Fourteen percent of white students said they’d been bullied on school property during the past 12 months, while 24 percent of Black students did.” Absurd and disturbing levels of bullying!
Preschool: Ann Schimke: Colorado indicated it would provide 30 hours per week of “free” preschool to children with “risk” factors. But there wasn’t enough money for that. “Instead, the state program will cover just 15 hours of preschool, the same hours offered to Colorado children who don’t face barriers to success in school.”
Party Primaries: CPR: “The Colorado Republican Party is suing the state in an attempt to stop unaffiliated voters, the state’s largest voting bloc, from participating in Republican primary elections. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Denver on Monday, alleges that Proposition 108, which voters approved in 2016, is unconstitutional.” My take: Parties properly are private organizations so should control their own affairs. But government also should stop giving parties special advantages, including tax-funded primaries.
Eastman: August 1: “In a statement to NBC News, an attorney for John Eastman confirmed that his client was unindicted co-conspirator No. 2 from today’s indictment” of Trump. Eastman held a temporary position at the University of Colorado, Boulder with the Bruce D. Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization.
Rule of Law: Speaking of the Benson Center . . . The new visiting scholar there, Todd Zywicki, is teaching classes this Fall on the rule of law and Hayek. One topic is how “‘woke’ ideology” is among the “threats to the rule of law.” That should be . . . “interesting” (and not at all controversial). “Auditors are welcome to attend these lectures, space permitting.” The leftward reporter Chase Woodruff had the best reply: “Two years ago, CU’s ‘Visiting Scholar in Conservative Thought and Policy’ was actively plotting a coup. This year, his successor will teach students about left-wing threats to the rule of law. No notes!”
ACLU Sues Police: Olivia Prentzel: “The ACLU of Colorado is suing four Colorado Springs police officers [along with the city and the FBI] for alleged ‘Orwellian surveillance’ and First Amendment violations after they searched private messages of a progressive nonprofit and the personal cellphone and laptop of one of the group’s members after participating in an equal housing march.” The ACLU claims, “The warrants targeting Chinook and Armendariz were part of a pattern and practice of unconstitutional actions intended to teach activists a lesson: Colorado Springs police would retaliate against political expression with dragnet warrants to chill free speech.” I’ll be interested to see how this turns out.
Gang Crime: So-called “hybrid gangs,” “loosely affiliated groups that lack the top-down hierarchy, codes and structure inherent in traditional gangs” (as Jessica Gibbs summarizes), are contributing to youth violence in the Denver area, according to police.
Kansas Police Stops: Anthony Cotton: A federal judge has ruled against the Kansas Highway Patrol, ordering it to stop detaining motorists without reasonable suspicion, a practice which had come to be known as the ‘Kansas Two-Step.’” Colorado drivers were especially at risk. See also the AP’s take.
Basic Income: Esteban Hernandez: “A midterm report from the Denver Basic Income Project found giving people experiencing homelessness free money is a meaningful way to improve their lives.”
Log Cabin: When will gay Republicans tire of getting shit on by their party leaders?
Homelessness: Mayor Mike Johnston is continuing “homeless sweeps.” Again, a key part of the solution is to legalize more housing. But here’s an issue I rarely see discussed. If you’ve been to Denver, you may have noticed that homeless camps mostly are in poorer parts of town. So they’re degrading the quality of life especially for many people who are already disadvantaged.