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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TerryMiller" data-source="post: 1305569" data-attributes="member: 7900">Let me try to put this into perspective.  No one is trying to teach everyone something like Ebonics, however, those that learn that way and speak that way soon forget the proper use of the English language and its grammar.  Thus, when they graduate and go into the business world, they suddenly find themselves unable to properly communicate.It bugs the heck out of me to hear that radio commercial from the Cherokee tribe where the lady in the audio explains that her daughter is in the Cherokee language "immersion" school where everything is spoken and taught in Cherokee.  Not that I have a problem with them learning Cherokee, but will the lack of use of English hamper them later when they try to get jobs?  I fear that it very well could, and they shouldn't take that chance.Works the same way with texting in that those folks use too many abbreviations, some of which are clearly unknown to a great many people.  I've noticed that when folks take shortcuts, then a lot of education is lost.  Later on, they don't even remember how to spell the original word.With the case of the Flocabulary program, they are trying to make things "interesting" instead of informative.  If a child is having trouble getting an interest in a subject, then perhaps the teacher needs to present the correct information in a more enlightening way.I agree that we need to be teaching the basics.  There have been too many cases of high school graduates having to take remedial classes in their first year of college, just to get up to date.  And, in that atmosphere, I doubt that "Flocabulary" is going to be accepted in any way.  Getting away from the basics over the years has led to a steady decline in the rankings of American students in comparison to other countries, as well as a decline in test scores and overall general education.I don't even want to get into history.  However, modern textbooks have diminished the achievements of our country's founders in order to "highlight" other historical figures.  Have some of our founders been wrong in some of what they did?  Sure.  But, is it any less important to teach the valuable services they did.  Does any one of us want to only be known by our "sins" instead of our good accomplishments?I also think we need to get away from teaching "ethnic" or "racial" studies.  I've heard of too many schools using those "studies" programs to teach other cultures instead of the American culture.  The more people adhere to those programs, the more it seems that they lose touch with the American culture.  I hate to say this, but I fear that those programs for ethnic or racial studies may do nothing more than fuel racism.While our heritages are fine to know and love, I fear that the hyphenated Americans are letting that hyphen separate themselves from others in society.  When someone says they are a xxx-American, it is like they are saying, "Hey, I'm special and you aren't."Sorry for the long rant.  As a former school board member, I realize the value of education, especially education that is done right.  I only have a high school diploma and one year of college, but over the years I've learned a lot about a lot of other topics.  Yet, many that I see in college today have no clue of the value, or lack thereof, of their education.Just recently, there was a Senior in college at the University of Georgia, a "journalism" major, who wrote an article for their student newspaper.  In that article, a treatise on how evil WalMart was, she spoke how bad it was that WalMart sold goods for MORE than what it cost to produce those goods.  Evidently, that young lady has no clue of what a profit is and how it advances the company and the people who work for that company.Do we want to send our children down that same road?  I think not.  Throwing money at a problem never really solves it, and State Question 744 does only that.  And, it does it at the expense of EVERY other function of government.That is definitely one state question that cries out to be defeated.. </blockquote>

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