Op-Ed Outline

Prop 30 Op-Ed Outline

                I would start the essay by introducing Prop 30 and its overall purpose. Then I’ll explain how it’s a controversial topic that has drastic consequences for the California Educational system because the results will effects millions of students and teachers. I’ll explain the current situation regarding California’s education system. It’s suffered from $20 billion in cuts in the past four years and 30,000 jobs have been lost. The results are higher tuition, less availability of classes for students, reduction in services that are being offered, and staff and lots of faculty layoffs. I’ll end the introductory paragraph by saying that 30 can make or break California’s higher education.

                The second and third paragraph would go further into detail about proposition 30. I would explain what would happen if prop 30 doesn’t pass.  For example, schools face an additional $6 billion in cuts. Schools will lose half a billion in funding, city police will lose 20 million grants, and UC tuition would hike up by 20%.

                The third paragraph would address the positive things that would happen if prop 30 were to pass. I would say that prop 30 would give billions of dollars in funding, guarantee public safety funding, and it would balance the budget.

                In the fourth paragraph I would explain how prop 30 directly affects everyone. I would explain how sails tax will increase a penny for every four dollars, and it would still remain lower than it was last year. Also I would say that income tax only affects people earning $500,000 or more. I would say that it would ask the wealthiest of Californians to pay their fair share.

                In my conclusion I would explain my credibility as a student who feels the effects of the budget cuts. Paying for tuition, getting classes, and my higher educational experience will be much be improved dramatically if Prop 30 passes.

Prop 30 Annotated Bibliography

Prop 30 Annotated Bibliography

1.

"Yes on Prop 30 -- Take a Stand for Schools and Local Public Safety." California Labor Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://www.calaborfed.org/index.php/site/page/yes_on_prop_30_take_a_stand_for_schools_and_public_safety>.

This article is an opinion editorial supporting Proposition 30. The authors’ start the article by explaining how years of cuts have drastically hurt California’s educational system. They strongly use ethos and logos by claiming that Prop 30 will give California a chance to come back through three solutions. First Prop 30 will prevent the $6 billion in cuts that schools face if it doesn’t pass. Instead, Prop 30 will do the opposite and provide billions of dollars to funding education. Second Prop 30 will require that public safety is a priority and is required in California’s state constitution. This would make it so funding cannot be cut without a vote. As a result there will be more police to keep our streets safe. Third it will help California pay its deficit and balance its budget.

                Then the authors use pathos and ethos by saying that prop 30 will demand that the rich pay their share. This brings up strong feelings of fairness by making the rich pay a little more taxes. They also state that tax rates will be lower to the average person other than a slight rise in sales tax. The types of supporters for the proposition are listed as well to further support their argument; they say that they have broad support from educators, law enforcement, Governor Brown, community groups, healthcare advocates, and the League of Women Voters of California.

                The article was most convincing because of its use of ethos. Two pages of the text was dedicated to explaining in further detail how Prop 30 works, who supports Prop 30, how revenue won’t be lost, how it prevents school cuts, explaining its role in public safety, and how it will balance the budget. I found this article interesting and convincing and definitely will personally be a supporter of Prop 30.

2.

"Unfiltered Political News. For You. By You." Independent Voter Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2012. <http://ivn.us/2012/09/10/proposition-30-wont-fix-california-budget-issues/>.

This article is an opinion editorial that opposes Proposition 30; it is significantly shorter than my previous article, and has fewer valid arguments to back up the author’s claims. The authors started the article by stating that California has a low credit rating, that California has had a $16 billion budget gap, and that Prop 30 will erase the deficit.

The article continued by stating facts about the spending cuts in California, such as funding in California has been decreasing since 2008, and that California is ranked 47^th in the country for Per-pupil spending. The article tries to claim that the reasons for these cuts are a result of systematic error that cannot be fixed by raising taxes. They continue the article by continually blaming spending cuts on the spending cuts and bad legislation.

The solution the article suggests is that California should remove term limits from the legislature in order to avoid further budget cuts. They end up stating that raising taxes makes sense, but that budgeting should be left to professionals and if we don’t like our legislators, we should simply remove them from office. Personally I think that the article contradicted itself and had a very weak argument.

RA #1

Rhetorical Analysis

Question 1

John Taylor Gatto wrote an article called Against School, which appeared in Harper’s Magazine in 2003. In this article he presents an argument on why he believes the school system is both childish and boring.

Gatto was a school teacher in New York for thirty years. During those years he has observed that there is boredom amongst the students and the teachers. If asked, the students would blame the curriculum and the teachers for their boredom. The teachers would blame the students. He realized at that point that something was wrong and needed to change.

Naturally Gatto would try to find different ways to teach that would motivate both him and his students. He said “Often I had to defy custom, and even bend the law, to help students break out of this trap.”(149) As a result, the school system retaliated, Gatto returned from a sick leave to find himself without a job. They had destroyed any evidence of him being granted the leave, and he had lost his teaching license. These acts by the school led Gatto to conclude that the school system is both childish and boring.

I agree with Gatto’s beliefs about the school system, I too think that it is childish and boring. I value a strong education, and I appreciate it, but I don’t agree with the way that we receive that education. I don’t think getting up at 6 a.m. every day, five days a week, for twelve years, only to do busywork for six hours is productive or healthy. I always got the impression that teachers were disappointed with the way they were required to teach, and that were being trained to think and to act in a certain way, rather than being educated. Although there were teachers, classes, and subjects that I enjoyed and were valuable to me. Overall I felt that I was trapped in a monotonous cycle and I wished there was a better way. Then I found one.

In eighth grade I received a lower back injury that forced me to lie off of sports. Classwork was easy, so I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I knew that I was to attend Aptos High School next year and I would have to take at least two years of Spanish. The Spanish courses at the High School were notoriously bad, so I decided to take Spanish at Cabrillo College. I knew that one semester of Spanish at Cabrillo would count for two years of High School Spanish and it is UC transferable. Ever since that class I took at least one class every semester, including summers, for the length of my High School career. I realized that the extra classes gave me an advantage over the other students, allowed me to get ahead in school, and study the subjects I’m actually interested in. I ended up graduating a year early from High School with 42 transferable units under my belt. Now I’m at Cabrillo for a year and I plan to transfer to UCSD next year.

Taking an alternative method to my education wasn’t easy though. The High School fought me the entire time, the only member of the high school that supported me was my counselor. The rest of the faculty thought that I was being selfish, and that I was only trying to cheat the system. They were never helpful, and were reluctant to accept my units and they tried to force me to take unnecessary placement tests although they couldn’t benefit me. If it wasn’t for the support of my parents and my counselor I would still be there today. So from my experience I also think that the school system is both childish and boring.

Op-Ed Link

http://ivn.us/2012/09/10/proposition-30-wont-fix-california-budget-issues/

Blog Post #2

Blog Post #2

This week I have decided to summarize the article that was assigned to my team. I am a Hawk, and we were assigned to read Against School, by John Taylor Gatto. The article was about the author’s negative opinion about schooling. He draws from his personal experience to make a compelling case about the faults of our school system.

Gatto was a teacher in Manhattan for 30 years in the best and the worst schools. During that time he claims that he “…became an expert in boredom.” (148) He explained that in the school system, boredom is extremely common amongst the students and the teachers. He claimed that the boredom is a result of the school system. So Gatto tried his best to break the conformity of the school system, in order to improve the educational environment for him and his students. He returned from a medical leave, to find that his job had been terminated by the faculty as a result of his nonconformity.

This unfortunate event caused Gatto to further question the educational system. He started to ask himself, “Do we really need school?” (149) He made sure to clarify that he he’s speaking of the school system not education. He makes a compelling argument that the purpose of schooling isn’t to educate, because people can educate themselves, or get homeschooled. He explains that their three reasons for mass schooling, and it’s to make good people, citizens, and to make each person their personal best. He continues to say that despite these goals, schools fail to achieve them.

Gatto refers to the writings of H. L. Mencken who wrote The American Mercury to claim that the schooling system may have a more sinister plot. Mencken linked the American mass schooling model with the educational system of the no-longer-existing, Prussia. He believed that our school system is Prussian in origin that is “deliberately designed to produce mediocre intellects, to hamstring the inner life, to deny students appreciable leadership skills, and to ensure docile and incomplete citizens.” (152) In other words to create a population of people who can’t think for themselves, therefore they are easy to control.

Gatto also refers to the writings of Alexander Inglis called Principles of Secondary Education. Inglis claims that the true purpose of education can be broken down into six goals. First is the adaptive function, which establishes obedience in students. Second is the intergrading function, which establishes conformity in students. Third is the diagnostic function, which establishes a student’s social role. Fourth is the differentiating function, which sorts students into their roles and assures that they’re treated accordingly. Fifth is the selective function, which refers to Darwin’s theory of natural selection and causes there to be an inferior group of students. Sixth is the propaedeutic function, which creates a group of students who are “superior” to the others In order to govern their roles.

Gatto says that these goals are meant to create a nation of consumers designed to for mass consumption. He also claims that by teaching your children to be adventurous, open-minded, and independent, they can avoid being brainwashed by the school system.