Education thread

[Vrede too]

SCHOOL VOUCHERS IN NORTH CAROLINA
A REPORT ISSUED BY: CHILDREN’S LAW CLINIC DUKE LAW SCHOOL
DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA
March 2017
THE FIRST THREE YEARS

... The number of children receiving vouchers has increased from approximately 1,200 in the first year to 5,500 in 2016-17. The General Assembly has authorized an additional 2,000 vouchers for each year over the next decade, bringing the total to 25,000 by 2017.

The Opportunity Scholarship Grant Program is funded through general revenues. The initial annual appropriation was $10 million; the current annual appropriation is $60 million; the anticipated annual appropriation by 2027 is $145 million. At this rate, the total expenditure by 2027 will be $ 900 million.

Approximately 93% of the vouchers have been used to pay tuition at religious schools.

Based on limited and early data, more than half the students using vouchers are performing below average on nationally-standardized reading, language, and math tests. In contrast, similar public school students in NC are scoring above the national average.

Accountability measures for North Carolina private schools receiving vouchers are among the weakest in the country. The schools need not be accredited, adhere to state curricular or graduation standards, employ licensed teachers, or administer state End-of-Grade tests.

Because private schools receiving vouchers are not required to administer the state tests nor to publish detailed achievement data, researchers will be unable to develop thorough and valid conclusions aboutthe success of the program at improving educational outcomes for participating students.

The North Carolina voucher program is well designed to promote parental choice, especially for parents who prefer religious education for their children. It is poorly designed, however, to promote better academic outcomes for children and is unlikely to do so.

The NC GOP and their taxpayer funded Christian madrassas are failing our children.

[rstrong]

"Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help."

Well put, but anybody can have a religion; it comes in all forms.

True, that. Horoscopes for example. When you don’t want to blame yourself for your failures, try the solar system. The belief may not involve a deity, but there's little difference from deity-based mythology.

[Vrede too]

Or these folks:

Mystical or magical? Who are the Aghoris who feed on human brains and mate with corpses?

There is exactly as much evidence for and proof of their beliefs as their is for any other religion or astrology.

[Mr.B]

"Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help."

Well put, but anybody can have a religion; it comes in all forms.

True, that. Horoscopes for example. When you don’t want to blame yourself for your failures, try the solar system. The belief may not involve a deity, but there's little difference from deity-based mythology.

"..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."

[O Really]

Astrology isn't so much a religion as a pseudo-science. I certainly wouldn't defend astrology as having everything right, but there are some interesting factoids. A personality description using astrology is about as accurate as a personality description done by a psychologist. And there have been numerous studies showing some fairly consistent differences among people born at different times of the year.
"Scientists and statisticians have found that birth months affect everything from chosen career to attitude. For instance, babies born in July are generally more optimistic through life. They're also more likely to have vision problems.

“It seems absurd the month in which you are born can affect life chances, but how long you live, how tall you are, how well you do at school, your body mass index as an adult, your morning-versus-evening preference and how likely you are to develop a range of diseases are all correlated to some extent with the time of year in which you emerge from the womb,” Russell Foster, an Oxford University scientist, told the Telegraph."

And consider - there are twelve signs of the Zodiac. If you're guessing somebody's sun sign, your chances are 1 in 12 by chance. But any decent astrologer can consistently guess half right.

Just sayin'. Maybe we shouldn't include astrology along with religions regarding lack of evidence.

[Mr.B]

"Maybe we shouldn't include astrology along with religions regarding lack of evidence."

Did you mean "should"? Or did you mean "in regards to"?

The "religious" aspect of man's belief does have evidence; it's whether or not one wants to believe that evidence is real.
Granted, that much of Biblical writings are hard to comprehend; but one has to decide on his/her own what to believe. I'm wrestling with something now that I'm having a degree of difficulty taking in because I can't find anywhere where a "highly-educated" scholar or even a simple layman has explained, watered down, dismissed, or what.

As far as the astrological signs, my late Grandmother was a devout Christian who believed God gave us seasons for every aspect of everyday life.
Canning for instance. She absolutely would not can vegetables, fruits, etc on certain days if the signs 'weren't right'. She said the food would spoil; nor would she plant on days when the 'signs weren't right'.

Later in life, I found that practically all the 'old-timers' believed deeply in that practice, so I asked an acquaintance about astrology as is used in 'fortune telling' and predicting certain life events. He replied that "like every good thing that God gave us, man twisted it in an attempt to enrich himself and he brought in false gods as figures of worship." Therefore the Bible says "..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness." Means to have no dealings with witchcraft, the occult, reading of the signs (in respect to self-enrichment), etc.

[rstrong]

True, that. Horoscopes for example. When you don’t want to blame yourself for your failures, try the solar system. The belief may not involve a deity, but there's little difference from deity-based mythology.

"..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."

Would astrology be considered "a work of darkness?" It has its place within Christianity. The Three Wise Guys were astrologers, the movement of the planets (the same word was used for planet and star) pointing them towards Bethlehem.

[Mr.B]

"..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."

"Would astrology be considered "a work of darkness?" It has its place within Christianity. The Three Wise Guys were astrologers, the movement of the planets (the same word was used for planet and star) pointing them towards Bethlehem."

Go back and re-read my last paragraph; read it a little slower this time.

[O Really]

Astrologers don't do "fortune telling" or predict future events other than through their interpretations of existing conditions. More like meteorologists than magicians.

[rstrong]

"..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."

"Would astrology be considered "a work of darkness?" It has its place within Christianity. The Three Wise Guys were astrologers, the movement of the planets (the same word was used for planet and star) pointing them towards Bethlehem."

Go back and re-read my last paragraph; read it a little slower this time.

I was responding to your earlier post. Your "last paragraph" hadn't been posted yet.

I'd tell you that there's no actual requirement for you to be a pig-ignorant asshole, but given your personal religious justification for your neo-Nazi alt-right beliefs, I'm sure you'll disagree.

In any case, we'll just chalk astrology up as one of those things that the Bible endorses in some places and opposes in others.

[rstrong]

Astrologers don't do "fortune telling" or predict future events other than through their interpretations of existing conditions. More like meteorologists than magicians.

Astrologers regularly tell fortunes and make vague predictions (a good time for a trip over water, a bad time for romance, etc.) Much more so in the past, when it was used to predict natural disasters and more.

[bannination]

The "religious" aspect of man's belief does have evidence; it's whether or not one wants to believe that evidence is real.

[bannination]

Astrology isn't so much a religion as a pseudo-science. I certainly wouldn't defend astrology as having everything right, but there are some interesting factoids. A personality description using astrology is about as accurate as a personality description done by a psychologist. And there have been numerous studies showing some fairly consistent differences among people born at different times of the year.
"Scientists and statisticians have found that birth months affect everything from chosen career to attitude. For instance, babies born in July are generally more optimistic through life. They're also more likely to have vision problems.

“It seems absurd the month in which you are born can affect life chances, but how long you live, how tall you are, how well you do at school, your body mass index as an adult, your morning-versus-evening preference and how likely you are to develop a range of diseases are all correlated to some extent with the time of year in which you emerge from the womb,” Russell Foster, an Oxford University scientist, told the Telegraph."

And consider - there are twelve signs of the Zodiac. If you're guessing somebody's sun sign, your chances are 1 in 12 by chance. But any decent astrologer can consistently guess half right.

Just sayin'. Maybe we shouldn't include astrology along with religions regarding lack of evidence.

I'd agree. Astrology in itself isn't a religion per say, but it's used in many religions.

[bannination]

True, that. Horoscopes for example. When you don’t want to blame yourself for your failures, try the solar system. The belief may not involve a deity, but there's little difference from deity-based mythology.

"..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."

Would astrology be considered "a work of darkness?" It has its place within Christianity. The Three Wise Guys were astrologers, the movement of the planets (the same word was used for planet and star) pointing them towards Bethlehem.

You just reminded me of the moment in "Life of Brian" where the stars lead them to the wrong house of the messiah... (Brian's house)

Good times

[Mr.B]

"I'd tell you that there's no actual requirement for you to be a pig-ignorant asshole, but given your personal religious justification for your neo-Nazi alt-right beliefs, I'm sure you'll disagree."
Cry me a river. Pig ignorance is highly intelligent compared with your mentality level. Pot, kettle, etc.

"In any case, we'll just chalk astrology up as one of those things that the Bible endorses in some places and opposes in others."
Cry me another river.

[Vrede too]

... Just sayin'. Maybe we shouldn't include astrology along with religions regarding lack of evidence.

My bad. If I'm ever desperate I'll try astrology first.

[Vrede too]

..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness.

Perhaps wise words, but BRD tolerates you.

[Mr.B]

[Mr.B]

"..and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness."

"Perhaps wise words, but BRD tolerates you."

You more than me ...

[Mr.B]

Gotta love this .... opened the barn door and every one of the jackasses got out ... !