Same-Sex Classrooms - Good But Wrong?

Bob Ray Sanders, a columnist, vice president, and associate editor at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, seldom comes up on the right side of any issue. And on those rare occasions when he does, it's almost invariably for the wrong reason.

When it comes to public schools, I am, like Bob Ray, opposed to segregating boys and girls. I believe that both genders should be taught by the same teachers.....the good ones as well as the bad ones. If the students are segregated, it stands to reason that the teachers will also be segregated.

Bob Ray's rational for opposing gender segregation in schools, on the other hand, is based on the simple concept of segregation, itself, being unfair. Having experienced racial segregation in school when he was growing up, it is understandable that he would be against separating people because of their differences. His argument against same-sex classrooms, however, seems to be contradictory.

"...I'm afraid it may lead to widespread public policy that will do more harm than good. It is a kind of social engineering that someday we are likely to regret."

Like cultural diversification, affirmative action, and any other well-meaning, but misguided, "social engineering" that has been attempted, and in many cases still applied, by government or institutions, perhaps?

Bob Ray goes on to deny his own logic, as liberals often do, by insisting that his experience with segregation was....well, good.

"While I wouldn't give anything for my experience in those all-black schools, with their dedicated and nurturing teachers, the policy of separate-but-equal was wrong then, and it is wrong now."

If you wouldn't want it to have been different, Bob Ray, how can you say it was wrong? Is it because what you often say you want is usually wrong?

Texas Political Ethics?

Don't get me wrong....Texas politicians and bureaucrats are no different from their counterparts in all the other states, but when they try to pull a fast one in Texas, it's a real doozy.

An editorial in today's Star-Telegram hit the nail on the head in its criticism of the Texas Ethics Commission's ruling about gifts to state officials - specifically, the reporting of the value of such gifts.

According to the Commission, if the gift is monetary, such as a check, it only needs to be reported as a "check." The amount of the check is not required in the report.

Perhaps the wording of the law supports the Commission's interpretation that the amount of gifts in the form of checks is not required - I can't say, having not read the law itself. But the next session of the Texas State Legislature will tell whether or not the Capitol is filled with crooks when we see if the wording of the law is made clear, even to the Ethics Commission, that the monetary value of gift checks must be reported by the recipients.

My personal feeling is that no government official should be allowed to accept any monetary gift of significant value (currently defined as more than $250). And in case someone wants to whine that I would, therefore, make it illegal for someone or some organization to honor a state official with a gift of appreciation....well, it's the thought that counts, and $250 is enough "appreciation" for anyone whose job it is to serve the public in the first place.

Greed vs. Doing the Right Thing

If crime didn't pay, there wouldn't be so much of it.

It's not just the criminals who profit from their crimes. Those who tacitly abet the criminals often benefit from the crimes committed as well.

Case in point: Employers who hire illegal aliens benefit by avoiding having to pay higher wages and contributing to Social Security. They benefit financially in many ways that are not enjoyed by employers who abide the laws governing their businesses.

Mitchell Schnurman, in today's Star-Telegram, laments the economic downside of the decision by the City of Farmers Branch to support U.S. immigrations laws by prohibiting the housing and employment, within the city's limits, of "criminal aliens." Note the sneer quotes used by Schnurman in his commentary in the paper's Business section.

According to Schnurman, the city's economic development goals should outweigh its responsibility to uphold the law ... unless I'm completely misreading his words ... and I'm not. In fact, Mr. Schnurman comes across as a Gordon Gekko type of capitalist whose only concern is bigger and bigger profits.

In the movie Wall Street, Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, spouted this famous line:

"The point is, ladies and gentlemen, that greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right. Greed works."

Gekko may be right about greed in some respects, but when it comes to a choice between greed and doing what's right, I think most of us would at least resist selling out our values for a few pieces of silver.