*shrug*
I was very briefly (couple months) in a gifted and talented program, until my parents moved to a school district where "all of [THIS AREA'S] kids are geniuses, so we don't need one" (jackasses). One of the lessons we had was making a list of things we wanted, vs. things we needed. Ever since then I've been pretty much incapable of buying anything that wasn't going directly into schooling or keeping myself alive, often due to fear of not wanting it later.
Of course, the downside of this is that I wear jackets where most of the buttons have fallen off, the pockets have huge holes, and everything is frayed, or boots where the piece of the sole closest to the foot is beginning to crack and the leather is nearly worn through. For the financial state of the area I live in, this is... really far into the totally unacceptable range =/ Probably helped that I was never "paid" by my parents for good grades or given an allowance greater than $2/week.
Maybe some kids in the normal programs would be helped by that exercise.
The thing about people having to pay for education for their kids out of their own budgets is that that way, the poorest kids don't get educated. Because we do have
really poor people in this country, and if the choice is between everyone eating every night and reasonable housing, or a big payout for education every year, I'm sure you know what most people are going to choose. Furthermore, some sort of educational standard is important to teach kids what they need to know to function in the greater world than their little society. I'm sure lots of places would cut marginalized people's history, sex ed, and so on, if they tried for any district standards whatsoever.
And saying "well, don't have kids, then!" or "well, then that's their choice to make!" is silly. Especially in a country where abortions are really hard to get, everyone knows the adoption system sucks, and
people should not have to choose between food and educated children.
Oh, and usually in a system where some get to go to school, and some don't, you know who doesn't get to go? The girls. Universal state-funded education is a fucking huge deal for gender equality and a whole bunch of other things.
I may have totally misunderstood you, so please let me know.
I agree actually. I'm not against Healthcare, but I feel as though there are other things that need to be done to help the situation besides blindly funding anyone.
I also feel privacy of medical information should be top of a list of requirements. Privacy to the level that the patient determines who has access. (with stipulation to unlock that data only when the patient is unable to provide the "key")
Yeah, I'm totally for this.