Which do you support more: Elite Private Schools or Big Bird?

[Anonymous]

Which provides a greater educational benefit to our most vulnerable population: Big Bird (public television) or elite 501(c)3 Private schools?

I chose Big Bird and PBS for its benefits accessible to all including those with learning disabilities. Our Private and Independent schools receive grants from the Department of Education and are currently legally able to discriminate on the basis of learning disabilities. They legally MUST have access for those with physical challenges.

Please enlighten me. I have poured through the Federal Register on and around the Rep. Weiner scandal waiting for a DOE ruling and the grants to private k-12 schools were just astounding. Save Big Bird - Support Private School Tax Treatment and Funding Reform!

[Anonymous]

I would rather the federal government get out of both. Sesame Street is a huge money-maker on it's own. If you are worried that PBS might lose some shows because you don't think the small amount of federal funding can be made up elsewhere, don't worry about Sesame Street.

[Anonymous]

Enlighten us- what is the nature of the grants you are talking about?

Frankly, as a parent of a child with LDs, I did not want her in elite private schools. It would be a terrible fit and no amount of supports would make it a good fit. She did go to a private school, and maybe a borderline elite one, but one that was appropriate for her. She would have been miserable at Sidwell or Exeter or Groton. I also appreciate that there are private schools who ONLY admit children with LDs, and oftentimes kids with only certain types of LDs.

As to Big Bird - that is such a commercial enterprise that it should not require government support. Frankly same goes for PBS. Maybe their model needs to change if it is not financially viable. Is commercial free really that much of an asset? It's not one I am necessarily willing to subsidize with tax dollars (although I do contribute to WETA each year).

[Anonymous]

Is there some reason you want folks to choose?

I care about private schools for my kids. They're one reason I have chosen to stay in a job that makes more money but holds less personal satisfaction.

But I very much support Sesame Street. My kids watch it; I watched it, and I care mostly about the benefits it has for less priviledged kids.

I don't see any reason I can't care about both my own and other people's children.

[Anonymous]

sesame street

[Anonymous]

Private school by far.

[Anonymous]

http://170millionamericans.org/ is an advocacy site for public broadcasting.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Big Bird!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

ha ha ha!

[Anonymous]

For me it's snuffalugagus (sp?) just as long as elmo isn't in the white house I'm good

[Anonymous]

I wish we could get the Count in the Cabinet somewhere. Please just don't tell the President what comes after a trillion!

[Anonymous]

This premise is so dumb - what is your point?

[Anonymous]

Big Bird vs Romney. Big Bird vs Elite Private Schools. Big Bird's compound is going to be attacked with RPGs, and he is going to be dragged off with bloody handprints along with with his one navy seal guard and left in a ditch to die...

I am glad that you all are keeping Big Bird at the top of your list. It will put Obama back in the lead for sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This premise is so dumb - what is your point?

I'm pretty sure OP is a poster who regularly argues every few months in the Private Schools forum that private schools should not be entitled to 501(c) tax-exempt status. The details of her argument shift around, but it usually revolves around the idea that private schools aren't really benefiting all of society equally, so therefore they should not benefit from tax-exempt status. Other times, she's argued that DC-based private schools should lose their exemption from DC taxes, since some portion of their students come from Maryland.

She recently tried to revive this argument on some Private Schools thread, and someone told her to buzz off, since her comment had nothing to do with the discussion at hand. Quite frankly, many people who post in Private Schools have heard her argument several times, and repeatedly shot it full of logical holes. She's not getting any traction there.

I'm guessing this is her again, and that she's just wrapping her favorite 501(c) argument in a Big Bird blanket, so she can try to start the discussion here on the Political Discussion forum.

Enjoy!