"Abortion Affiliates"

In Mildred’s last blog post he began to talk about a Texas lawmaker who introduced legislation that would nullify a controversial the Abortion Affiliate rule, banning from Medicaid programs that offer abortion and other health care services to low income women. Rep. Lon Burnam (a House Democrat) disagrees with anyone who wants to let abortion be a part of Women’s health Care for numerous valid reasons. It will in danger access to cervical and breast cancer screenings, STD testing, diabetes testing, and birth control services for 50,000 poor women in Texas. I recently posted a blog response of another colleague who wrote about an article dealing with similar issues. Abortion is a very sensitive topic to get into. It’s also interesting to see what other people’s opinion on abortion is and what they justify as right or wrong. Please watch this video. It is about a beautiful young woman who survived an abortion attempt.  She was not intended to live. If you think about it, abortion is a sick and disgusting thing. It’s literally killing a baby. That baby could have been a doctor, lawyer, professor, the possibilities are endless. But how would we know what the baby had the potential of doing if the mother decides to kill it before she even holds him/her. Mildred had a similar response to the article. He mentioned that women should not use health care providers who also provide the health of women who rely on the Women’s Health Program. I could not agree more.

The Texas Tribune Education Chairmen Join Algebra II Fray at SBOE (Blog Stage Seven)

In an article titled “Education  Chairmen Join Algebra II Fray at SBOE” written by Morgan Smith talks about how they are lowering the standards in Texas education and making algebra 2 part of the honors program. Therefore, it will no longer be required amongst every student who chooses to follow the regular academic plan. This discussion began when two top lawmakers unexpectedly urged the State Board of Education to hold off on legislative intent because it includes new high school graduation requirements that the Legislature passed in May. Basically, the new law gives high school students an opportunity to choose your own math classes and to choose which academic path you wish to achieve. It gives high school students a better feel of what college is like because they now have the chance to choose which direction they want to go in. It may seem like a good idea but honestly I like our education system as it is right now. The fact that various classes are required in order for you to graduate is better because you learn a little bit of everything throughout high school. If you make students choose what they are interested in, in high school how will they know that they truly know if that’s what they want to do for the rest of their lives?

However, ”the 15-member board may decide this week that students in all endorsements must take algebra II  — a requirement the Legislature expressly dropped from existing law.” Business groups and educate advocates are convincing the board to require algebra 2 because they are worried about how this will affect their future. As a former high school student I highly agree with these business groups. I’m an average student and algebra 2 was not that hard. For the record, it was definitely one of the harder math courses but that’s what school is. You work hard and do the best you can so that way when you reach college, you’ll be prepared. Students need to be challenged, especially in this time period. This generation of high students are getting dumber. They need to be challenged not only in math but in other classes too. Because we are the future, I know how cliché that sounds but it’s true. Towards the end of the article, Smith talks about how educators and industry leaders are heading towards the decision of keeping algebra 2 required, which is good. Our education system compared to other states is not that high or difficult. If they decide to take away a major requirement, then Texas will look like we’re just handing out diplomas.

Response On Abortion

In one of my colleague’s article from her blog titled Texas in My Eyes, she brought up the subject about abortion in Texas. She discussed about House Bill 2 that was passed on October 29^th. Which “requires doctors who perform abortion surgery have hospital admitting privilege within 30 miles of the facility.” I agree with Lysa’s view on abortion. Personally, I highly disagree abortion in general. If you think about it, it’s the equivalent of murder. But I do believe that women have the right to do what they want with their body so it is a good thing that the option of abortion is still available in various locations around Texas. The fact that the available places to get an abortion are spread throughout the state makes it difficult for women who do not live in that specific city. All in all I agree with everything Lysa is saying when she makes the statement that “they should just leave the House Bill 2 it’s not making abortion illegal it is making it safer.” Not every woman should be qualified for an abortion. So it is a good thing there are numerous requirements in order to receive one.

Texas Should Allow Charter Schools To Impliment Religion If They Want To

There have been ongoing stories and issues being brought up in the state of Texas about religion in charter schools. A recent story about a school called the Eleanor Kolitz Hebrew Language Academy, deals with religion and financial issues. This charter school, located in San Antonio, mainly is surrounded and is based on Jewish and Israeli culture. It opened in August and is the first Texas charter the offers Hebrew. School officials make the claim that their classes are in fact aligned with the state curriculum. Last year the academy was a private Jewish day school, using no public funding. Now, as a charter school, they receive public funding. This is not the only school that has done this. When schools take upon this action, they tend to draw attention as a potential problem to the state. New charter schools are simply a reincarnation of a previous existing school. Critics worry that religious schools are changing their names in order to obtain public money. Giving a school a name change (from insert church school, to charter school) and perhaps even a change in location has been an ongoing trend. Why? It is a tactic used to receive public funding. But of course most churches do this in order to help spread and preserve their religious culture. In order to get other people to have a better understanding of their own culture and religious beliefs they need to make the big switch to charter schools. But without the public funding they could lose diversity, which would defeat the whole purpose of spreading their culture.

In Grits for Breakfast, a blog entry titled “Police officer "victim" shoots man standing at distance with hands at his side” talks about a horrific event that occurred on October 14^th 2013. To sum it up, a Dallas police officer shot a mentally ill man. The police officer shot him on a Monday afternoon outside of his home for no reason. According to a police report, Officer Cardan Spencer claimed that the reason why he opened fire was because Bobby Gerald Bennett walked toward him and his partner with a “knife raised in an aggressive manner.” Usually in a police report, the Officer’s word will be taken over any witnesses. But luckily there is actual video proof from a surveillance camera that they provided in this blog entry. In the video, it clearly shows that the police report was completely false and written before Officer Carden and his partner, were aware that the video was leaked. The author makes an argument that body cams on police officers would be a great idea, especially in this situation. I agree with him/her because if this became a law in the future, then there would be no way police can lie about their own actions if counted against them. The author states that “the episode also demonstrates the need for specialized police units to handle calls dealing with the mentally ill.” The author makes this statement using clear logic. The video has all the evidence needed, and that police officer obviously did not know how to deal with the mentally ill. I agree with every statement that the author is making. “it’s strikingly absurd that the arrest warrant affidavit lists Officer Spencer as the “victim” That’s certainly not how it looked from a camera’s-eye view.” The author’s information came from WFAA-TV (Channel 8) so the audience knows his/her credibility is legit. Speaking of the audience, the author is targeting all police as a warning. His/her audience is also the government, to show them that body cams are much needed to help prevent tragedies like this from ever happening again.