State Senator weighs in

[All Tell]

Just saw this on WLKY 32 news. State Senator Tim Shaughnassy stated that if the KHSAA does indeed approve Prop 20 that he will investigate legislative remedies to stop it. He said that private school students have the right to compete for championships against the highest level of competition and he also said that he felt the whole thing was not a public vs. private as a whole issue but rather a very thinly veiled case of bigotry against the Catholic education system.

[westsider]

Before I comment further, let me say that I am against Prop 20.

 

However, I don't see this as "thinly veiled bigotry" against the Catholic schools. Some people think private schools, especially the bigger ones, have a significant competitive advantage on the public schools. That alone is the reason for the proposal.

[HDE]

How does the senator explain the other states who have already split publics and privates? Are they bigots, too?

[BigStud]

I honestly have always thought from the get go this was partialy bigotry. I think some people who support it are just anti- catholic. Just and tell me these people don't exist and I will laugh. I know people and grew up with people like this. I'm sure some people are motivated differently. But I still think a portion of the people for prop 20 are anti- Catholic.

[westsider]

How does the senator explain the other states who have already split publics and privates? Are they bigots, too?

Tennessee underwent this split a decade ago, and it had nothing to do with religious bigotry. Very few of the private schools in Tennessee are affiliated with the Catholic Church. Most are Christian and independent, non-sectarian schools.

[westsider]

I honestly have always thought from the get go this was partialy bigotry. I think some people who support it are just anti- catholic. Just and tell me these people don't exist and I will laugh. I know people and grew up with people like this. I'm sure some people are motivated differently. But I still think a portion of the people for prop 20 are anti- Catholic.

I've been around high school athletics for a long time, and I've heard a lot of griping about private schools. It has always been for the reasons that always get talked about here, and the religious aspect is never mentioned.

[Trinity alum]

If these travesties pass I think that it will be important to let all members of the legislature know that we vote and will be watching what they do to rotect all children. I hope that the elected members of the Jefferson County Board of Education aren't too attached to their jobs. These proposals are an assault on Catholic education. At a time when the public schools should be looking at ways to improve their own product, they are instead trying to damage the alternative. Any members of the political class that doesn't stand up to stop this nonsense will earn my everlasting disdain.

[stickymitts]

If these travesties pass I think that it will be important to let all members of the legislature know that we vote and will be watching what they do to rotect all children. I hope that the elected members of the Jefferson County Board of Education aren't too attached to their jobs. These proposals are an assault on Catholic education. At a time when the public schools should be looking at ways to improve their own product, they are instead trying to damage the alternative. Any members of the political class that doesn't stand up to stop this nonsense will earn my everlasting disdain.

 

Listen, I'm all for you guys fighting (and winning) this ridiculous proposal but IMO, this is a bit of a stretch. These proposals in no way, shape or form hinder the Catholic education. For advocates of the Catholic school to say on one hand they don't recruit athletes, than on the other say these athletic proposals "Are an assault on Catholic education" seems a bit contradictory.

 

Again, I think this is ridiculous and hope it never, ever passes but I think we're losing sight of what's truly at stake. Mainly out of anger. But, that's JMO.

 

BTW, it's also obvious that there is no recruiting going on since there hasn't been anyone found guilty of doing such.

[Trinity alum]

Listen, I'm all for you guys fighting (and winning) this ridiculous proposal but IMO, this is a bit of a stretch. These proposals in no way, shape or form hinder the Catholic education. For advocates of the Catholic school to say on one hand they don't recruit athletes, than on the other say these athletic proposals "Are an assault on Catholic education" seems a bit contradictory.

 

Again, I think this is ridiculous and hope it never, ever passes but I think we're losing sight of what's truly at stake. Mainly out of anger. But, that's JMO.

 

BTW, it's also obvious that there is no recruiting going on since there hasn't been anyone found guilty of doing such.

There are a lot of different reasons why people choose a private school, but I think that in general they fall into four categories academic, athletic, discipline and religious:

 

Academic: The JCPS have segregated top students into Manual and Male. That gives them the ability to argue that JCPS are "just as good as the private schools. The part they leave out is that for every top school they create they also allow some really bad schools to exist.

 

Athletic: They tried to create an athletic powerhouse at Male by providing it with top notch facilities at the same time other schools (Central) had no facilities. While Male has been very successful, they still can't pass the big private schools. So now the JCPS will vote to kick the private schools out.

 

I see this as an assault on the Catholic schools. They are trying to saw off two legs of a four legged stool. Rather than trying to improve all of their schools they are creating a couple of show schools so that they can make the claim that they are competing. What I don't understand is why the have not schools allow themselves to be used like this. If they kick out the private schools, the have not schools will not do any better. They will just lose to one of the chosen public schools. I'm telling you, these people will pay at the ballot box.

[stickymitts]

There are a lot of different reasons why people choose a private school, but I think that in general they fall into four categories academic, athletic, discipline and religious:

 

Academic: The JCPS have segregated top students into Manual and Male. That gives them the ability to argue that JCPS are "just as good as the private schools. The part they leave out is that for every top school they create they also allow some really bad schools to exist.

 

Athletic: They tried to create an athletic powerhouse at Male by providing it with top notch facilities at the same time other schools (Central) had no facilities. While Male has been very successful, they still can't pass the big private schools. So now the JCPS will vote to kick the private schools out.

 

I see this as an assault on the Catholic schools. They are trying to saw off two legs of a four legged stool. Rather than trying to improve all of their schools they are creating a couple of show schools so that they can make the claim that they are competing. What I don't understand is why the have not schools allow themselves to be used like this. If they kick out the private schools, the have not schools will not do any better. They will just lose to one of the chosen public schools. I'm telling you, these people will pay at the ballot box.

 

Agreed, however what you're saying here has nothing to do with the education aspect of Catholic schools. Catholic schools will continue to provide good education and JCPS will continue to offer two good academic schools and one good athletic school. JCPS will still have mediocre at best schools academically as well. The ONLY thing this is doing is allowing these mediocre TEAMS win in athletics.

 

IMO, this only will make the private schools stronger. People will realize the inferiority of their public school system. Well, that or they'll kick Manual and Male out. :lol:

[Fastbreak]

At a time when the public schools should be looking at ways to improve their own product, they are instead trying to damage the alternative.

This one sentence sums this entire issue up as well as the hundreds of posts I've read. :thumb:

[H]

Just saw this on WLKY 32 news. State Senator Tim Shaughnassy stated that if the KHSAA does indeed approve Prop 20 that he will investigate legislative remedies to stop it. He said that private school students have the right to compete for championships against the highest level of competition and he also said that he felt the whole thing was not a public vs. private as a whole issue but rather a very thinly veiled case of bigotry against the Catholic education system.

 

I thought the public schools and their hypothetical public-school-only state championships would be second rate? If that is true, how can adoption of Prop 20 be denying private school students the right to compete against the highest level of competition?

[02Ram54]

Agreed, however what you're saying here has nothing to do with the education aspect of Catholic schools. Catholic schools will continue to provide good education and JCPS will continue to offer two good academic schools and one good athletic school. JCPS will still have mediocre at best schools academically as well. The ONLY thing this is doing is allowing these mediocre TEAMS win in athletics.

 

IMO, this only will make the private schools stronger. People will realize the inferiority of their public school system. Well, that or they'll kick Manual and Male out. :lol:

Just one good athletic school? Hmmm, some one forgot to give Manual the memo. We'll have to yank those soccer, volleyball, CC, swimming and other teams that are some of the top in the state. Oh, and our football team's alright.

 

There are certainly more than two good academic school in JCPS. Seneca, Central, Eastern and others are strong choices, particularly in specific programs. We just have one school that's one of the best in the county, so the dazzling brilliance might throw you off.

 

As to the anti-Catholic excuse, that's all it is. This thing needs Louisville to pass, and Louisville doesn't have an anti-Catholic bias (anymore.) Things are different other places, I'm sure.

[thomam]

Its the best in the county because JCPS wants it to be.

[stickymitts]

Just one good athletic school? Hmmm, some one forgot to give Manual the memo. We'll have to yank those soccer, volleyball, CC, swimming and other teams that are some of the top in the state. Oh, and our football team's alright.

 

There are certainly more than two good academic school in JCPS. Seneca, Central, Eastern and others are strong choices, particularly in specific programs. We just have one school that's one of the best in the county, so the dazzling brilliance might throw you off.

 

As to the anti-Catholic excuse, that's all it is. This thing needs Louisville to pass, and Louisville doesn't have an anti-Catholic bias (anymore.) Things are different other places, I'm sure.

 

Those were Trinityalum's statements. When he said good academically, he only mentioned Manual and Male. When he mentioned athletics, he only said Male and their facilities. To clarify, I don't know anything about any of the schools down there and I don't think there is a problem. Actually, I agree with your post, especially the last paragraph.