Words of Wisdom from My Governor

Here are some words of wisdom from my New Jersey Governor Chris Christie on fiscal responsibility. He is a man after my own heart:

Gov. Chris Christie appeared on NJ 101.5 FM this week for his "Ask the Governor" show and left armed with a new viral audio clip.

Gov. Chris Christie

On the call-in show, Penny from Blackwood asked Christie how she, a state worker, was going to pay for the additional costs of her health care plan under the governor's proposal to take more money from state workers' pay for their insurance.

The answer was pure Christie:

"... We can no longer afford to pay 90-plus percent of the cost of your health care. Public workers are getting their health insurance paid for out of your property taxes and state workers are getting their health insurance paid for out of your income taxes. If I'm $67 billion in debt and you don't want me to take any more money out of your paycheck, how am I supposed to pay for it? Am I just supposed to raise taxes? Because if I raise taxes, you're going to pay more taxes. And if your property taxes go up, you're going to pay more taxes. I mean, the money's got to come from somewhere. We can't print it."

Read the whole article here.

I.O.U.S.A Movie Review

My husband and I enjoyed this movie about the national debt. It made him feel angry and bummed, but it makes me excited to make change - the political kind. America can turn things around, but we have to stop our bad habits, work hard, sacrifice and change.

Start with our own households first. Buy less, save more. Spend LESS than you make. Cash and carry. Owe as little as possible. If you have to take a loan for a house, pay more than required even if it is just a few bucks more. Help those in greater need than yourself.

Then get active in the community to change the country. One of the easiest ways to do this is simple to vote for those candidates that will be fiscally responsible stewards. The other is just to talk about the issue with others - word of mouth. America loves watch the TV, recommend the movie. The movie website has information on how to be active, such as sending a letter to your congressman, which they make very easy to do. Also, there is the Peter G. Peterson Foundation that is mentioned in the documentary, this website would be able to provide you with more up to date information, additional ways to get involved and the opportunity to sign up for a newsletter. Then there is the Tea Party Movement or here.

We first watched some of the movie on-line through Netflix, but if your computer is painfully slow as ours, just get it from your local library.

Homeschooling and Government Control

Recently I had a customer ask me (who knew I homeschooled) how it was going for us. When I replied, "Well." She asked if the government comes into my home to make sure everything is to standard, as if home school has some correlations with DYFS. I would like to think the best, and that she was only curious. Since other homeschoolers will probably at some point face this question, I though I would give the points I quickly rattled off, as well as a few more I did not have time to give. As an ambassador of home schooling, it helps to have answers ready. Besides, having answers will make you feel more confident in your choice because you WILL have days where you question your choice to school your children at home.

• If the government is going to spend the people's money, they should do a great deal of scholastic research on the effects of homeschooling regulations. Some studies have already shown that the IOWA test scores show there is no difference in performance of children under strict home schooling laws verses students under more relaxed laws. There has also been studies done on the effects of the parent's education. However, the most eye-opening statics I have heard about is on race. Can you tell me why there is no race racking apparent in homeschooling, while there is in public schools? HSLDA has a 2009 Homeschool Progress Report with lots of statistics.
  
• If you wanted to be a smart mouth, you could verbally rejoice in the fact we do not live in a socialized or communist country where the government has to take care of you because they think you are too stupid to do it yourself. I love America's freedom, it is what makes this country great! Why in the world do people think the government should tell how to raise your own children is bizarre to me (with exception of abuse of course). What America needs to do is improve the character training in their schools, so we create good parents of the future. An involved PARENT is what makes the difference in a child's education.
• You can point out that there are kids that graduate from public school, who cannot read. What was no child left behind for in the first place? Right, for those kids whom the school system failed, even with their certified teachers and regulations. This one really stumps them.
  
• What about the tenured teacher that comes to school everyday and just talks about their personal life? Sure, there are only a few of them, but we have all had them. My parents were both teachers, so this is not a hit against all teachers. Teachers desire more respect than they get in America. My point is there is always a bad apple, despite tons of regulations. Most public, private and home schooling teachers do a good job. The bad ones can easily fake it for a day or a portfolio.
  
• Why should homeschoolers need to be certified if private school teachers are not, as in my state. This point depends on your states laws for private schools, they vary from state to state.
• Here is one I just learned. Finnish schools do not give standardized testing, nor do they give grades/marks until 13 years of age. Yet their students make Finland one of the top ranking countries in the world. So, I am not sure what good it would do to have all homeschoolers forced into IOWA testing, as it has not made American students top of the class by world standards.
  

Generally, as more and more is being known of the outcome on homeschooled children, these sorts of questions give way to more positive comments. However, there will always be a group of individuals that seek government control over the population. It is a philosophy, a way of thinking. Homeschooling and private schools both bypass complete government control, thus becoming a target to be controlled. Perhaps when homeschoolers prove what good citizens they become, people will realize the senselessness.

The points I made above are given a little more flippant than I would normally speak. Just because someone lacks knowledge about homeschooling is in no way enough of an offense to bite their head off. I am opinionated, but I mean all I say in a friendly form of debate, which can be hard to detect over cyberspace. Also,we have CHOSE to have our children take the IOWA once in second grade, but we use it as a tool, not a master. HSLDA has many more points I am sure, they are experts at defending homschoolers' rights.

What point could you add to the list?