More is better mentality

becoming 'knowledgeable and sophisticated' does mean learning enough so that you can free yourself from the fear and confusion (or pride and prejudice) that pervade the realm of personal involvement

The biggest unknown is the future
"Waste not, want not" used to be mainstays of early-childhood education, but now days we teach how to waste, we teach convience, we teach that there will always be a safety blanket, we teach it is alright not to do without, we teach there will always be someone to pay your bills if you can't, we teach the government will always be there to get you through your mishaps,

I had rather go back to the one room school house for kids sure seemed to want less, behave better, respect authority more than they do these days, displayed better manners, etc. Kids (and many adults) don't even know how to respect the country in which they live by the removing of the hat while the playing of the national anthem, become still and quiet and face the flag, etc. However, these will be some of the students you will find in the city courtroom for not respecting authority and not respecting the freedoms given to them by the fathers who founded the country. Don't give me this crap the kids deserve it, the kids don't deserve anything. They earn privilidges and it is a privilidge to go to school no matter what the conditions. Individuals are responsible for making it on their own and children are accountable to their parents. Call out to the college and see if you can find out how many of PISD students are in remedial classes before they can attend the real thing. The blame is not with the teachers at the PISD school system. The blame rests solely on the shoulders of the students and their parents for not taking advantage of the freedoms afforded to them by the taxpayers to have the opportunity to learn! Hardships have a way of helping one appreciate what one has and not what one does not have.

Once, we were well-to-do if we didn't have to borrow our neighbor's push mover; now we feel poor if we don't have a riding mower. John Stuart Mill's once said "we don't want to be rich, just richer than others." By building a new high school campus who are we trying to be richer than? Atlanta, Pleasant Grove, Gilmer, Mt. Pleasant, all of these have a larger tax base than the PISD.

Our desire for more is due to unconscious and automatic habits as well as to our chosen life-style. Separate the habit from the real need and I think you will find that a new high school campus is not the real answer to the space problem. A new high school campus represents a choice not a necessity.

You want to do the kids a favor then help them by letting them experience hardship not favored status. This is a "new" world and these kids are going to have to compete in a global economy for jobs. Tech jobs of today are being done by 13 year olds in Indonesia that live in a two room shack (most likely a dirt floor) with a family of six plus. Are perhaps they live in the dorm living quarters provided by the employer where they sleep on the floor and are charged for the space they occupy. They work 13 hour days seven days a week for a wage up to $5.00 a day (most are lucky to earn a $1.00 per day). They take their money home and combine it with what the other members of the household and they manage to get by. They respect the fact they have the job and the opportunity to learn and work. Don't pamper these kids today, help them to learn the art of appreciation through hardship and tough love. The student and the country will be better off in the long-run. We have already tried "I want my children to have it better than I did when I grew up" and it failed! No respect, no manners, no appreciation, and medocrie learning.