tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610430154861217625.post4732443247635522666..comments2024-02-29T10:14:57.263-06:00Comments on Diaristic Notations: Kate's worries about the poor.Kim Mosleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17658600791743162004noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610430154861217625.post-48544849130297201042011-12-23T11:17:29.090-06:002011-12-23T11:17:29.090-06:00Kate gave you a good grilling, but Kim held hos ow...Kate gave you a good grilling, but Kim held hos own. H.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610430154861217625.post-700375424198491902011-12-23T09:15:14.982-06:002011-12-23T09:15:14.982-06:00YOURS Market is definitely happening do to a desir...YOURS Market is definitely happening do to a desire to uplift the community. The operators are Muslims who do not drink (or sell) beer. <br />-RachelAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3610430154861217625.post-11298565027958036882011-12-23T08:49:52.741-06:002011-12-23T08:49:52.741-06:00But first, there is a question about whether money...But first, there is a question about whether money is key to improving education. – Mr. Kim<br /><br />Of course it is. Money is needed for a quality education. Money is needed for teachers. Money is needed for access to technology. Money is needed to heat the buildings. Money is needed to pay people to clean the buildings. Money makes the education happen. <br /><br />It is very true that education could improve without a new tax. I went to Riverview. I still live by the district. People knew for years the coffers were being fleeced. Kids staged walkouts. People picked in front of administrators’ homes. Finally, McCaskill’s state audit provided a means to put a few people in prison. I am well aware that more money is not always the best answer when where the money is going is also a key factor.<br /><br />I don’t think I was coming at your Robin Hood scenario from a perspective of ‘a new tax’. I was coming at it from a perspective of ‘a redistribution of tax moneys’. Currently here, property tax is what funds schools. If you live in a neighborhood where the homes are valued at $300,000, the schools are going to have more funding than the schools located in neighborhoods where the homes are valued at $20,000. People pay more for their homes in order to ensure their children get better education in the good neighborhoods. Taking from the rich and giving to the poor in this case would mean more evenly distributing that property tax funding . . . Alternatively, the funding of schools could be based on something else entirely. <br /><br />Maybe all schools in a city should get the same amount per student. --- Mr. Kim<br /><br />Robin Hood! That is Robin Hood!<br /><br />And don’t forget about the counties. City schools are not the only schools demonstrating huge inequality.<br /><br />If one city did that and the schools in the well-to-do neighborhoods went downhill, then parents would either move to another city, or send their kids to private schools. --- Mr. Kim<br /><br />This is what we already have. This is all I’ve ever known.<br /><br />And this idea opens up whole other topics that I am not certain I want to get into. What is ‘going downhill’? What drives the perception of bad neighborhood and good neighborhood? How do these perceptions influence property value? How do these perceptions drive human migration? Why do we call this migration ‘white flight’ in this part of the country?<br /><br />On the other hand, I saw many college students from North St. Louis who couldn't read at 4th grade level, who couldn't write a sentence, who didn't know that 1/2 is bigger than a 1/4. --- Mr. Kim<br /><br />I heard Majora Carter speak recently about the issues her home of Bronx New York faced back in the 80s and 90s. I remember her saying something like, “Unless you live it, you don’t know what it does to a person to see your home on the news and or hear it talked about in terms of blight and poverty and to know that they are talking about you.” I get that. I completely get that.<br /><br />I feel that the neglect of certain communities around me has been targeted and purposeful and completely devastating. And then people blame the victims for the conditions. They should just work harder or make better decisions.<br /><br />I had some great popcorn tofu tonight from our co-op grocery. I'm not sure the cook wanted to make the world better. Maybe he just wanted to pay his rent and buy a beer?<br /><br />Did you know that Baden just got their first grocery store in about 25 years? Little bitty co-op. It’s called “YOURS Market”. Number of write-ups about it in local papers. People said they opened it because they wanted to make the neighborhood a better place for everyone. . . though they also probably wanted to pay rent and drink beer. <br /><br />To people around here. . . The new grocery store is an achievement for the whole community.Kate Freemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07826311771326897525noreply@blogger.com