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Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown
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Author:  Traveler [ Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

http://www.twincities.com/ci_16134434

Quote:
St. Paul, Wilder win major grant to start a 'promise neighborhood'

By Dave Orrick

Updated: 09/21/2010 01:12:44 PM CDT

St. Paul and the Wilder Foundation have been awarded a significant federal grant that could transform how the city, schools, public health and other government services are delivered to people — with special benefits for the Frogtown neighborhood, U.S. Department of Education officials have announced.

The grant announced today is for $500,000 to plan a "promise neighborhood," the Obama administration's moniker for a model that seeks to combine and streamline government services for poorer neighborhoods to provide "cradle-to-career" education, recreation and health benefits to children who live there.

The Wilder Foundation, which has taken the lead in the application was just one of 21 grants awarded out of 339 applications nationwide, according federal data.

Local leaders will likely trumpet today's news as far more significant than merely the $500,000, which will be added to $250,000 in matching local donations.

They'll likely say the planning grant puts the city on an inside track to be actually awarded a full promise neighborhood grant to implement their plan. Such a future grant would likely be worth millions or tens of millions of dollars.

From how many servings of fruit a prekindergarten child should receive to keeping tabs on students through college, the Promise Neighborhood idea is base on a contention that problems plaguing some city neighborhoods aren't best solved merely by throwing money into schools — or by traditional
bricks-and-mortar economic development, such as special taxing districts to lure retailers and improve the housing stock.

The philosophy is modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, whose leader, Geoffrey Canada, has received accolades over increased test scores, graduation rates and health outcomes in that New York City borough. Earlier this year, several local leaders, including Coleman, city council member Melvin Carter III and Ramsey County commissioner Toni Carter, traveled to Harlem to observe the program. But it's still a nascent school of thought.

Author:  Jeremiah [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 7:38 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Ah, here we go again- "the socialists are coming! The socialists are coming! Run for your lives!"

Not seeing how this, in any way, links with or compares to the late Romanian dictator. YMMV, of course- to my mind, it sounds like a plan to "combine and streamline government services", something most conservatives tell me they're for..

Author:  Traveler [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:11 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Cradle to career? We are reinforcing a permanent subclass of people that cannot fend for themselves. The government has surplanted the plantation owner. We are near the pinnacle of wealth redistribution. Yes, indeed, this is socialism. It is not coming, it is here.

Do not want to work? Fine, the government will provide.
Healthcare? Don't worry. The government will provide.
Raising your children. The government will take care of that.

These programs are not a helping hand. They are handouts, and that is wrong. Wrong on so many levels that I cannot count them.

Author:  Dick Unger [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:30 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Well, according to the article, this is private money, not public money. So on the facts it sounds like an actualization of conservative rehtoric, as Jeremiah says. Private charity in action. :)

Of course the attached propaganda suggests otherwise, but it seems irrelevant to the facts as presented. Somebody just doesn't like the people getting the help I'd suggest. When i was young the conservatives were all worried about the "Communist Conspiracy" which included anybody but the people who were "in the know" about it, (the "true" conservatives).

People are crazy.

Author:  Traveler [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 8:42 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Pray tell, when is a "federal grant" private money?

I may have lost the plot here if the federal government is now being listed or observed as a private entity.

G-d help us all.

Author:  Greg [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:56 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Dick Unger wrote:
Well, according to the article, this is private money, not public money. So on the facts it sounds like an actualization of conservative rehtoric, as Jeremiah says. Private charity in action. :)

Of course the attached propaganda suggests otherwise, but it seems irrelevant to the facts as presented. Somebody just doesn't like the people getting the help I'd suggest. When i was young the conservatives were all worried about the "Communist Conspiracy" which included anybody but the people who were "in the know" about it, (the "true" conservatives).

People are crazy.


Sounds like Federal money to me Dick....

"St. Paul and the Wilder Foundation have been awarded a significant ***federal grant*** that could transform how the city, schools, public health and other government services are delivered to people — with special benefits for the Frogtown neighborhood, U.S. Department of Education officials have announced. "

Author:  Jeremiah [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 1:53 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

OK, I'm going to try a thought experiment. Honestly, I want to hear what folks have to say on this. I'm interested to see what sorts of replies come back.

Given these facts, as outlined above:

a) the program outlined above uses a Federal grant (although, let's be honest- in terms of Federal grants, $500,000 is small potatoes);

b) the money is to be used to
Quote:
plan a 'promise neighborhood,' the Obama administration's moniker for a model that seeks to combine and streamline government services for poorer neighborhoods to provide 'cradle-to-career' education, recreation and health benefits to children who live there.
;

c) the concept is that
Quote:
[f[rom how many servings of fruit a prekindergarten child should receive to keeping tabs on students through college, the Promise Neighborhood idea is base on a contention that problems plaguing some city neighborhoods aren't best solved merely by throwing money into schools — or by traditional bricks-and-mortar economic development, such as special taxing districts to lure retailers and improve the housing stock
;

And given that:

d) the current model of business-as-usual in urban areas simply isn't working- crime rates are high, unemployment is high, graduation rates are low, property values are low, etc.;

e) the government is required to provide a "free and appropriate public education" to all children, regardless of race, socio-economic class, or any other factors;


Can someone show me any of the following things:

1) That the use of this Federal grant as startup planning money for this model in any way, shape, form, or fashion has one iota to do with Romania, Ceaucescu, or a childrens' camp;

2) That this grant, and the program it theoretically plans, will have an objectively worse result that the current strategies being implemented in our urban areas (see "d" above);

3) That this grant, or program is in any way related to "wealth redistribution" (other than the obvious manner in which *anything* paid for with tax funds -police, fire, military, libraries, schools, etc.- is "wealth redistribution");

4) That this grant, and its associated program(s), will not
Quote:
combine and streamline government services
- something which would seem to harmonize well with the conservative call for more efficient government;

5) That the program(s) envisioned will not, in fact, promote the education of students and their development into productive citizens.

Dicuss.

This should be interesting... :)

Author:  Traveler [ Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Considering the amount of FEDERAL money being spent in the neighborhood already*, I would suggest that adding more is not necessarily going to help. How about a short five-year experiment where no FEDERAL money be spent and see how ambitious folks get?

*
Medicaid
AFDC
Food Stamps
Supplemental Security Income
Lower income housing asst.
Earned Income Tax Credit
Veterans medical care
Stafford loans
Social Services (Title 20)
Pell Grants
Low-rent public housing
General medical assistance
Foster Care
School Lunch
Pensions for needy veterans
General Assistance
Head Start
Food supplements (WIC) Women, infants and children
Training for disadvantaged youth and adults
Low-income energy assistance
Indian Health Services
Summer youth employment
Maternal and child health
JOBS and WIN
Job Corps
Child care block grant
School Breakfast
Child care for AFDC
Housing interest reduction
Child and adult care food program
"At risk" child care

Author:  SethB [ Fri Sep 24, 2010 10:02 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Nicolae Ceausescu Children's Camp To Open In Frogtown

Traveler wrote:
http://www.twincities.com/ci_16134434

Quote:
[size=150]The philosophy is modeled after the Harlem Children's Zone, whose leader, Geoffrey Canada, has received accolades over increased test scores, graduation rates and health outcomes in that New York City borough.


When did Harlem become a borough? And why should I assume that any other sentence in the article is more accurate than that one?

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