I DON'T WANT YOUR SCHOOL, BUT I DO WANT YOUR MONEY
the privately educated idiot letter of the
week.
Now that we're a full five days past Christmas --
and remember: some cards suggest you only have to wait one minute -- I feel perfectly comfortable
pointing out intellectual vacuity and letter-writing lunacy when I am
unfortunate enough to see it. As I did yesterday, thanks to Cindy Hudson of
Brookline...
I'm writing with a different response regarding the Pittsburgh Promise.
If by different you mean unique or unusual, you're mistaken. Because several letter writers and comment threaders, and even one City Councilman, have already made the same silly suggestion.
But if by different you mean selfish or stupid or senseless, then you're right. It sure is different.
I'm not incredibly concerned about the deal that UPMC attempted to make.
After all, it's not as if that deal were a shady, pay-it-forward, backroom-brokered-and-piecemeal-announced quid pro quo arrangement that betrays a lack of ethics and honesty from both UPMC and (yet again) the Ravenstahl Administration.
Assuming that the Pittsburgh Promise will become a reality, what I would like to ask is why is it not extended to children in private and parochial schools?
Assuming that Ms. Hudson has not been living under a rock for much of the past year, what I would like to ask is: why, Cindy, do you think a deal negotiated by the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, for the benefit of Pittsburgh Public School students, as both a reward for kids who graduate from the public schools and a benefit for families to consider living in the city and to send their children to public schools, should be extended to children in private and parochial schools?
Oh, that's right -- because your kids don't go to the public schools.
They are also the future of our city. And they are also just as deserving of a chance to further their educations.
Of course they are. And they will have plenty of chances to do so. After all, it's not as if the Pittsburgh Promise stands in their way. Or makes them any less likely to further their own educations. But if your children don't attend the Pittsburgh Public Schools, then they can't get scholarships offered to Pittsburgh Public School students.
Is that really so hard to understand?
Those of us who chose to enroll our children in schools other than the public schools did so for our own reasons, and many of us struggle daily to pay the tuition required.
Then you'll be well-prepared to struggle daily to pay the tuition required for your kids to go to college.
Those of us who enroll our children in the Pittsburgh Public Schools did so for our own reasons too. And when our children graduate from them, we will benefit from their scholarship. Those are the rules, and that is the reality. If that $5,000 a year is so important to you -- if it will really make a difference for you and your children -- then you should consider enrolling your children in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The last time I checked, there was no entrance exam.
And I know they'll welcome your kids with open arms. Even if they are as dense and as self-centered as you.
But our children are still a part of this city, too, and will face the same hurdles that all kids will face when it comes time to pay for college.
But you see, Cindy, they're not a part of this city's school district. And that's where the money is. Because that's where the Promise is kept.
Do you expect to get benefits from companies for which you do not work? Do you expect to get rewards from stores at which you do not shop? Do you expect to win jackpots from lotteries you do not play? If you answered no to any of these questions, then you shouldn't expect your children to receive scholarship funds from schools they do not attend.
(If you answered yes to any of these questions, please seek help immediately. You're even more hopeless than I thought.)
Don't they deserve all the help they can get as well?
So what you're saying is you just want someone, anyone, to pay for your kids' college educations.
Wouldn't we all, honey. Wouldn't we all...
Unless I'm mistaken, to achieve the grades necessary to be eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise, parochial school students have an even bigger hurdle to jump, as the standards are higher for them to reach each letter grade.
Unless I'm mistaken, people whose children attend parochial schools always assume their children are smarter, their schools are better, and their standards are higher than those in public districts. And, unless I'm mistaken, those people are self-important, elitist idiots.
But, hey, I could be wrong. After all, I went to public schools.
I do hope that possibly our mayor might consider this and open up the Pittsburgh Promise to all deserving students in this great city of ours.
He can't do that, Cindy. And if you're paying any attention at all -- I mean, beyond just your own self-interest -- you know that.
(I, with my public school education of hopelessly low standards, figured that out all on my own. Isn't that amazing? And both of my knuckle-dragging, Pittsburgh Public School attending sons have already figured that out too. Do you know why? Because we all understand that this deal was brokered in large part by Mark Roosevelt, the Superintendent of those bad, awful, nasty, worthless Pittsburgh Public Schools. And we understand that Mr. Roosevelt and his sidekick, The Boy Who Would Be Mayor, made this deal for the benefit of the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the students enrolled in them.)
And yet, somehow, after all this time and all this consistent, persistent silliness, I think that Ms. Hudson's thinking has actually rubbed off on me. By sheer blunt force and repetition, she's sort of brought me around to her way of thinking. And so, tomorrow, I'm going to go across the street to Mike Tomlin's house and tell him that it's just not fair for him to use his multi-million dollar contract to pay for the college educations of his own children but not for the college educations of my children. After all, my boys are also the future of this city, and they'll face even more hurdles than the Tomlin boys when it comes to paying for college. And Gee, Mike, I'll say, don't my kids deserve all the help they can get as well? Won't you possibly consider opening up your bank account to all the deserving children on this great street of ours? Or at least just to my kids?
If he won't, I'm gonna have to write a letter to the editor.
I'm writing with a different response regarding the Pittsburgh Promise.
If by different you mean unique or unusual, you're mistaken. Because several letter writers and comment threaders, and even one City Councilman, have already made the same silly suggestion.
But if by different you mean selfish or stupid or senseless, then you're right. It sure is different.
I'm not incredibly concerned about the deal that UPMC attempted to make.
After all, it's not as if that deal were a shady, pay-it-forward, backroom-brokered-and-piecemeal-announced quid pro quo arrangement that betrays a lack of ethics and honesty from both UPMC and (yet again) the Ravenstahl Administration.
Assuming that the Pittsburgh Promise will become a reality, what I would like to ask is why is it not extended to children in private and parochial schools?
Assuming that Ms. Hudson has not been living under a rock for much of the past year, what I would like to ask is: why, Cindy, do you think a deal negotiated by the Superintendent of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, for the benefit of Pittsburgh Public School students, as both a reward for kids who graduate from the public schools and a benefit for families to consider living in the city and to send their children to public schools, should be extended to children in private and parochial schools?
Oh, that's right -- because your kids don't go to the public schools.
They are also the future of our city. And they are also just as deserving of a chance to further their educations.
Of course they are. And they will have plenty of chances to do so. After all, it's not as if the Pittsburgh Promise stands in their way. Or makes them any less likely to further their own educations. But if your children don't attend the Pittsburgh Public Schools, then they can't get scholarships offered to Pittsburgh Public School students.
Is that really so hard to understand?
Those of us who chose to enroll our children in schools other than the public schools did so for our own reasons, and many of us struggle daily to pay the tuition required.
Then you'll be well-prepared to struggle daily to pay the tuition required for your kids to go to college.
Those of us who enroll our children in the Pittsburgh Public Schools did so for our own reasons too. And when our children graduate from them, we will benefit from their scholarship. Those are the rules, and that is the reality. If that $5,000 a year is so important to you -- if it will really make a difference for you and your children -- then you should consider enrolling your children in the Pittsburgh Public Schools. The last time I checked, there was no entrance exam.
And I know they'll welcome your kids with open arms. Even if they are as dense and as self-centered as you.
But our children are still a part of this city, too, and will face the same hurdles that all kids will face when it comes time to pay for college.
But you see, Cindy, they're not a part of this city's school district. And that's where the money is. Because that's where the Promise is kept.
Do you expect to get benefits from companies for which you do not work? Do you expect to get rewards from stores at which you do not shop? Do you expect to win jackpots from lotteries you do not play? If you answered no to any of these questions, then you shouldn't expect your children to receive scholarship funds from schools they do not attend.
(If you answered yes to any of these questions, please seek help immediately. You're even more hopeless than I thought.)
Don't they deserve all the help they can get as well?
So what you're saying is you just want someone, anyone, to pay for your kids' college educations.
Wouldn't we all, honey. Wouldn't we all...
Unless I'm mistaken, to achieve the grades necessary to be eligible for the Pittsburgh Promise, parochial school students have an even bigger hurdle to jump, as the standards are higher for them to reach each letter grade.
Unless I'm mistaken, people whose children attend parochial schools always assume their children are smarter, their schools are better, and their standards are higher than those in public districts. And, unless I'm mistaken, those people are self-important, elitist idiots.
But, hey, I could be wrong. After all, I went to public schools.
I do hope that possibly our mayor might consider this and open up the Pittsburgh Promise to all deserving students in this great city of ours.
He can't do that, Cindy. And if you're paying any attention at all -- I mean, beyond just your own self-interest -- you know that.
(I, with my public school education of hopelessly low standards, figured that out all on my own. Isn't that amazing? And both of my knuckle-dragging, Pittsburgh Public School attending sons have already figured that out too. Do you know why? Because we all understand that this deal was brokered in large part by Mark Roosevelt, the Superintendent of those bad, awful, nasty, worthless Pittsburgh Public Schools. And we understand that Mr. Roosevelt and his sidekick, The Boy Who Would Be Mayor, made this deal for the benefit of the Pittsburgh Public Schools and the students enrolled in them.)
And yet, somehow, after all this time and all this consistent, persistent silliness, I think that Ms. Hudson's thinking has actually rubbed off on me. By sheer blunt force and repetition, she's sort of brought me around to her way of thinking. And so, tomorrow, I'm going to go across the street to Mike Tomlin's house and tell him that it's just not fair for him to use his multi-million dollar contract to pay for the college educations of his own children but not for the college educations of my children. After all, my boys are also the future of this city, and they'll face even more hurdles than the Tomlin boys when it comes to paying for college. And Gee, Mike, I'll say, don't my kids deserve all the help they can get as well? Won't you possibly consider opening up your bank account to all the deserving children on this great street of ours? Or at least just to my kids?
If he won't, I'm gonna have to write a letter to the editor.
Posted: Sun - December 30, 2007 at 03:53 PM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2009 04:50 PM
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