Palin slams dropout reports
Published Wednesday, December 31, 2008
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Stumble It!Anchorage — Palin, the former Republican vice presidential candidate, says 18-year-old Levi Johnston is enrolled in high school through a correspondence program.
Palin says some media outlets also are erroneously reporting that her 18-year-old daughter, Bristol, is a high school dropout. The governor says her daughter is enrolled in regular high school and also has taken correspondence courses.
Bristol Palin and Johnston are the parents of Sarah Palin's first grandson, Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston, who was born Saturday. Johnston has said that he and Bristol plan to get married.
Community Discussion
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Ok.
Now where do I go without a diploma to get a good paying job up north?
(really have a diploma but was trying to make a point that probably just fizzled out...)
Best wishes and may these two young people and their child have a successful and long life. My grandparents born in a village in Alaska were married at 16 and had 15 children and lived to celebrate 70 years of marriage. Some young people can do marvelous things with their lives.
It is amazing how the media can slant information for their bidding. I say way to go Governor Palin keep them in line! And congrats on the grandson....I think it is wonderful that they have stayed in high school and will be finishing up school...The road will be long for them....I know...I've there!
palin- whipping up another version of reality to suit her purpose. Define it how you want, justify it how you want, concoct whatever you want...these kids aren't in school.
Taking correspondence courses, or school online? Please.
Really what learning is accomplished by some kids at home, unsupervised, using the same computer to cut and paste the necessary answers into whatever evaluations are being used?
Home schooling only works, if the kid is supervised. palin has proven, time and again, that her own interests outweigh those of everyone else, including her kids. Guaranteed she's not home watching these kids "attend" school.
Shokd
"Taking correspondence courses, or school online? Please.
Really what learning is accomplished by some kids at home, unsupervised, using the same computer to cut and paste the necessary answers into whatever evaluations are being used?"
Are you really that petty? My ex left the state..he left his 17 yr old daughter here to fend for herself, she not only finished high school on her own through correspondence (graduating with a 4.0 gpa)but held down two full time jobs to pay all her own bills and is paying her own way through college...not on line college she attends UAF and is only 2 credits away from being a fully licensed nurse here in Fairbanks...maybe you better make sure you dont get her at FMH (where she is working full time as a CNA (thats ceritfied...yet another course she took without supervision..while attending college) she may not be up to your standards.
Actually Shokd, I was home schooled and basically taught myself through High School. I am now taking correspondence College classes through UAF. I have an awesome job right now and also have a two-year old daughter. It all depends on the person, and how well they apply themselves. Congrats on the new parents.
Shokd - my daughter was a correspondence student all through high school and graduated from correspondence. She then went on to obtain a BA in business admin with 3.5 gpa in a college in lower 48 that is rated very high standards. She has a great job as a computer tech with the government. Granted, some correspondence students are in it just to get the diploma because of life circumstances, but their own motivation to make something of themselves for their families is above that. As someone who has done aptitude testing as my job, I have found you can test for aptitude and interest, but motivation proves out in the end.
Congratulations to the couple with the birth of their first child. Also congratulations to the Governor and the First Dude on being Grandparents.
I wish all of you the BEST
Right. Both of the parents are "enrolled" in "regular" high school and are "taking correspondence courses."
And Sarah stopped the Bridge to Nowhere, didn't want Congressional earmarks, was upset that $180,000 was spent on her and her family's clothes, said she would cooperate with the Troopergate investigation, is getting a gas pipeline built to "hungry markets" in the lower 48 and was truly worried that Obama was "pallin' around with terrorists."
Generally, online classes are much more difficult. Work must be either mailed or e-mailed in to the instructor. There's no interaction or very little with others in the same class. It varies from class to class. I'm currently taking an on-line Alaska History class through ASDN and it is more work than if I sat in a class at UAF or KPC. On a side note - a marriage lasts when you put effort into your relationship and value the other person more than yourself. If they're both in it 100%; that will determine how well they do - not their age.
Amanda B.
(online student, married 13 years)
Just another society "norm." High school dropout refers to one that regularly enrolled physically in high school and then quit going...for whatever reason. It might be unfair under some circumstances to label someone as a dropout but that's just how society sees it. Some do get a better education without attending a school, but it's the exception rather than the rule. The consequences of these kid's actions will show up later.
ohhhhhhhh.. this burns me some of you mocking Homeschooling (Correspondance etc) I know some of the SMARTEST kids personally that have been Homeschooled or schooled on Correspondance. They are some of them NOW enrolled in some of the Finest colleges worldwide and excelling in extremely high grades from their OWN efforts and not cutting and pasting !! what a slap on the many faces of really great kids that worked hard to recieve their diploma's and many of them by themselves becuase their parents had difficulty helping them and they were too far away from help in any other form. I have to hand it to those familys that have done it and had victory. We shouldnt blast those on Correspondance if you have NO clue just WHAT kind of correspondance Bristol or Levi are doing! So how can you judge them? There are MANY kids doing great jobs through Correspondance and excelling far above the kids that are going to a Public Schoool.
So be careful what you mock! how sad
and how sad that you would place that kind of visual on the kids that have done very well through correspondance. They worked hard for it and that is the kind of thanks they get for it... for shame!!
I hit the send button accidently.. 3 of my brothers children attended a small school AND on TOP of that did Correspondance as well, and graduated with honors from the U of A AND highschool!!! Many kids in the bush are not ONLY doing Correspondance but also taking College courses to get a few steps ahead before graduating. I find this something to applaud. What Drive !! What wonderful incentive to DO something with their lives.. give Bristol and Levi a Honorable chance to prove themselves and even if things don't work out.. that doesnt make them bad people or their familys bad. They are no different than you or I. Be nice folks!
JustMe, you are not an effective advertisement for homeschooling.
Congratulations to the new parents & Grandparents. Haven't seen anybody else that will stand up their beliefs like Palin does. If the liberals are attacking her, she must be doing something right.
I have family who hardly set foot in a real class room. They however have graduated (one with honors) and the younger ones are doing just great. It's less expensive and has less peer pressure. A few of them have paychecks that are over $200k. So; don’t knock the Gov’s family. I believe in her and her family.
Working up on the North Slope and going to finish High School?
Now, other than the irony Gov. Palin of not wanting to teach birth control or the lack of emphasis on education, I really have no opinion about Gov. Palin becoming a grandmother.
Although I'm curious if anyone can tell me if it's just an unfounded rumor that People Magazine wanted to buy photos of Trip with Bristol, Levi, and Sarah for $300,000
So what confuses me, is she was unwilling to do a press release about her grandchild, but she has time to "set the record straight" about Bristol and Levi's non-existant diplomas?
As I said on ADN, why not have just released "Governor Palin and Todd are please with the birth of their first grandchild and (stats here), Bristol and Tripp are healthy and doing well"
Democrats.....
Republicans...
BUT WAIT!!!
THERE'S MORE:
Libertarians....
AIP....
Greenies....
People who voted for Perot....
Finally, All of us for participating in this silliness.
I agree with the Libies for the most part though, they have Alaska's best interest at heart.
The only drawback I can see to home schooling is the possible lack of social interaction with other children. Other than that, kids are probably better off being home schooled, or by taking correspondence.
I always welcome the birth of an Alaskan, and Tripp I welcome you to the state. Congratulation Bristol, Levi, the Palins, and to the Johnsons.
I am taking an online course and it is labor intensive. No one to cheat from and you can't hide in the back of class.
You want to disagree with Palin's polices or positions, fine, that it what public debate is all about. But to constantly berate the children of people you don't like only brings shame upon yourself.
For one thing, their schooling is their own business, and for another, we have two hideous wars going on and our economy is in the tank. Our corrupt leaders are stealing us blind and giving the money to wealthy CEOs as tens of millions of Americans lose their homes and pensions, so whether Levi and Bristol are attending school or not is about as low a priority as it gets on my list of issues to be concerned about. Our Vice President confessed to authorizing torture last week. Does anybody care?! I'd say that scandal trumps the Palins' by a thousand percent, but I didn't see any discussion of it in the DNM. I guess I must have missed that article.
Shokd,
do not forget that the U.S. Senator-elect Mark Begich, a member of the Democratic Party, has no college degree, i.e., he will be the only U.S. Senator without a college degree. Mark Begich attended Steller Secondary School in Anchorage and has taken continuing education classes at University of Alaska Anchorage, but without graduating.
Happy New Year
How interesting,Burger king won't even hire without a high school diploma.
If these kids don't go to public school, how are they going to learn to blame America first? How are they going to learn how compassionate true socialism is? How are they going to learn their inner sexual identity? For that matter, how are they going to learn about sex?
There's just no question that allowing kids to home school, or get a GED, or some type of correspondence will hurt the state in the long run.
How dare they lead their own lives!
if the governor spent as much time ensuring other kids in this state were "properly educated" as she did ensuring her daughter and her grandbaby's daddy were, we might not have one of the HIGHEST HIGH SCHOOL DROPOUT RATE IN THE DAMN NATION.
http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/1117...
plus we rank last in percentage of students who will likely earn a bachelor's degree within 10 years.
governor, it's time to start getting your priorities straight. alaska's children need some help.
Hey I thought she said the family was off limits? What, she can talk about 'em but we can't???
Thanks, Doris. All good points.
majas---
Are you blaming Governor Palin for the abysmal graduation rates in Alaska? It sounds like it. Just maybe the education system has been deteriorating over a decades long span. Why? Amongst many debatable causes, Sarah Palin being alive is not one of them.
The terrible performance of our public schools has led some people, myself included, that still believe in free market solutions to advocate for school vouchers. We now have a monopoly system, with an incredibly powerful teachers' advocacy group, the NEA, controlling it. What is so scary about allowing parents the right to send their kids to private schools, and not have to pay twice?
Anyhow, by your attitude of blaming Gov Palin for a long standing, institutionalized problem, I serve notice that on Jan 21, I am blaming Barack Obama for the bad economy, and for the violence in Gaza.
Am I the only one who finds it hilarious that the 18 yo daughter of an ultra conservative had a child out of wedlock and prior to finishing even high school, and all the mother has to offer is "they are not high school dropouts" because he doesn't want the daughters reputation to suffer?
You can't write a better script like that. Who needs SNL when reality is so much more amusing.
And if these children were Obama's what do you think the press would be saying???????
JustMe: Your success stories are from homes that have parents that make sure their kids are learning. I applaud all of them for putting in the effort it takes to educate their children AND take responsibility and participate in their lives. Unfortunately, some are lazy and leave the books up to the kids. Those fail.
Buh...buh...but HYPOTHETICAL OBAMA'S CHILDREN!!!!
No PeanutUser- you're not the only one.
g'les, Bristol and Levi already learned about sex back when they were in "regular" high school. Well, I guess Bristol was technically in middle school, not high school.
I don't care what Governor Palin says. The National Enquirer says the two kids are high school drop outs (burn-outs, actually). It's a sad state of affairs, but I believe the National Enquirer more than I believe my own governor.
Public Schools are useless I cannot wait until they are shut down and closed.
Glow is special I can see that clearly. Must be tied to UAF.
Pat
A public education is about as useful as most things that are free. You teachers have a barrier to entry and a state sponsored monopoly. If you had to compete in the arena of ideas and results less money would be spent and our kids would not be morons. Most young adults know nothing beyond cell phones and video games. Are you all proud of the dumbest common denominator curriculum in our schools cause I am not.
Change we can believe in, yes we can, I can see Russia from my porch. Pathetic!
Babylon; why do you say I am not effective for Homeschooling? Your just misinformed. I Homeschooled my own daughter all the way through 7th grade. She's a really sharp kid too!! I am proud of her.
and I endorse and support Homeschooling ANY day over Public School if its possible.
And many of my friends children were all Homeschooled or on Correspondance and they ALL were happy , healthy minded and free from the stuff that isnt good that comes out of public school experiences.
Dognabber; I beg to differ with you.. not all kids that don't have parents to assure their work is done fail!! I have known some that simply had to do much of it themselves for reasons that were valid and excelled big time......that says a lot!!
But I agree that a child SHOULD have someone there to assist if at all possible. But there ARE situations where its not always possible..and the kids came out fine.
and besides.. Levi and Bristol are NOT wee kids anymore. They are young adults striving to make something of themselves like anyone out there. I have to give them benefit of support because they ARE old enough to be capable and responsible enough to finish what they started. And lets just say they don't.... is anyone in this earth so perfect that they can throw the first stone at them? I bet if I were to find a way to go through everyones lives that comment on here, I would find something that would incriminate you all in some fashion where you all fell short of some expectation as well. Lets encourage the kids and not belittle them for trying.
Thats all I am saying. Don't add to their problems, become partners through support and encouragement.
"...free from the stuff that isnt good that comes out of public school..."
Like spelling, grammatical, and logical thinking skills?
I'm no Sarah Palin fan but honestly? I wish people would just leave the kids alone. After all, they didn't run for the VP slot.
Congratulations to your entire family. This birth, as all, are a blessing. Good luck to you all, and no politics should be involved with this wonderful adventure. You two go and make your lives with your new child. Ignore all the idiots out there, it is all up to you and you have a wonderful, supportive family behind you. THAT makes all the differnce in the world. They have stood - tried and true through what has been the most unbearable test, and have not faltered. Take peace in that kids, it doesn't get much better than that. Your future is not that of your parents, whether good or bad, you choose the path you walk and I can say, I would be proud to call you my children. You are strong willed and are taking responsibility where you could have easily ducked out. Good for you both. Like I said, ignore the idiots, take what opportunities are laid before you and don't look back. Life is good. :0)
OK - let me get this straight... If the young Johnson is 18 and enrolled in high school correspondence classes, then he falls under the child labor laws, in which, he is not eligible to work in Prudhoe Bay. Ummmm... am really confused and why is the governor upset over the press releases that she craves? She demands the State Taxpayers pay for all of her family's travel expenses (as they are "Official State Representatives") but then demands that the family have their privacy.
What gives?
glacierles,
there you go twisting my words again. i didn't say she was "solely responsible for alaska's piss poor graduation rate." i said maybe if she got her priorities straight we would have started climbing out of the pit in the last 2 years. instead of campaigning for vice president, stumping for a georgia senator, or putting together a committee to justify her own pay raise, she SHOULD have been working on alaska issues....like our embarrassing graduation rate.
i'm not proposing any solutions here, but that's not my job. i'm not the governor. if people are as worried about the future of this state's young people as they say, maybe we should refocus our energies.
so sarah may not be to blame for the downfall of alaska's public education system, but she sure can be blamed for sitting there and doing nothing, much like most other politicians have been doing in this state. we can blame them too, if it would make you feel better.
blaming obama on january 21st for those silly things isn't akin to blaming palin for doing nothing about our education system. after all, it's not like he has been on the job for 2+ years.
Scoobys, I think Levi Johnston is 19, not 18. But you are spot-on with your comment about Our Gov's contradictions.
Palin continually complains that her family members, to include her children, should be off limits to the press. I would agree if it were not Sarah herself who pushed them into the limlight at every opportunity. Draging her baby to every political stop, with Bristol generally the one who was charged with the child's care.
Poor Bristol. Made a national spectacle to futher her moms career. "Look at me, my daughter is pregnant, but no abortion in my house." She forgot the "look at me, no sex education or dicussion of safe sex in my house, just abstinance"
Good luck Levi and Bristol, and hopefully you will be allowed to run your own lives without input from either family. Generally children who are home schooled do better in college than those attending tradtional education.
But if Levi and Bristol do not want to marry, they should not be pushed into it for the sake of propriety. That is their decision alone, and not either family.
Shockd,
I completed high school through a correspondence program. I'm currently enrolled in college and well on my way to a degree. I would be hardpressed to say that I learned less in my correspondence than I did in regular high school classes. Regular high school classes are filled with so much time-wasting just to fill up the three or four 80-minute class periods a week that correspondence is a much better option for students who want to be finished quicker and get to the point of school, which is to learn.
Congratulations glow, you managed to be posting on the internet when the year turned from 2008-to-2009. I see your apparent education payed off.
Drop outs or not they will have easy lives because of who they know.
Let them do correspondence schooling and leave them alone, this way they and the Governor will have more time for the photo shoot. Then all the money they make from the photo shoot can then be donated to a worthy cause... all of it, every single cent!
Bottom line: Holier than thou's (Palin) "attempt" at parenting is questionable.
test
Palin's daughter and future son-in-law aside - we all know that it is rare for an employer to actually check to see if you actually graduated from high school. They may ask for college transcripts but that is a different story. As far as highschool goes - mark the box yes and you're in. I know kids in Wyoming are dropping out of highschool left and right to go get jobs in the oil fields that pay more to start than most people make in two years. Why would it be any different in Alaska and the North Slope?
Lets have an intelligent discussion about education in Alaska and leave Sarah's kids out of it.
majas---
You're right. I don't know how I got so confused as to think that you were blaming the governor for low graduation rates. It might be that I misunderstood your opening paragraph at 6:17 yesterday, and your link to The Empire.
But with your explanation, I can see now that I misinterpreted your comments. The fact that you were talking about the governor on one hand, and low graduation rates on the other hand must have confused the issue for me.
My apologies.
I am certainly no Palin fan but this discussion is as much about education in this country as it is anything else. Just to add to the "exception to the rule" stories I'll tell mine. I dropped out of high school in the 11th grade for two reason...first my school was an unsafe environment where I was just as likely to get murdered as I was to get a diploma. Secondly I had a drug habit that often made it impossible to get up and in the building by 8 am. Long story short, now after a GED and many years in the restaurant business I have completed my BA at UAF and I am now away at a Big Ten university working on a double master's program in history and library science. My public school education, in the South Carolina system, has been something to overcome and was never a fundamental start to life. Admittedly the Alaska system is much better than the one I came up in but Palin Jr. & Johnston's future is up to them and what they chose to do with it, not anything they do or don't do at Wasilla High.
How many "exceptions to the rule" must there be before the rule is no longer relevant?
Gil---
If citizens were able to have the amount of their property taxes and their portion of state funds that go now to the public school system, and they could use that "voucher" for tuition to a private school, don't you think that some enterprising educators would start up new schools to fill the gap?
But you are correct, I am more talk than action on this issue. If active participation is a new threshold that we are setting for public discussion, well, we might as well ban citizen opinions on any issue that the opinion maker is not actively involved in.
So many modern issues will be so less contentious under this improved system. Only soldiers can have an opinion about the war. Only productive tax payers can have an opinion about giving their money away to non-productive citizens. Only gun owners will be allowed opinions on firearms.
Life will be so much simpler this way.
Whether I agree with the Palin's or not one thing they most definitely are is a success story. Why? They went for specific goals with energy and enthusiasm. They do a whole lot of smiling and turn to for what they believe. If they choose to they can reinvigorate education in Alaska with that personal energy. They can say this is what we are doing and keep us involved. All of us and including the existing system.
There are lots of good things going on here: bipartisanship will have to be practiced not preached. We are a young state that still has not fully met practical infrastructure goals. We can do it our way.
doozzer----
Congratulations.
Yours is a great story, so far, and I'd imagine that there are many others like you.
JustMe said: "Babylon; why do you say I am not effective for Homeschooling? Your just misinformed."
In these two sentences alone, you have one misused semicolon, one capitalization error, and you substituted "Your" for "You're." Your first two posts talk about the effectiveness of correspondence courses, but you misspelled the word "correspondence" five times. Do you want me to go on?
Majast -- you are correct in your gaffe. It is not as if Obama has been on the job for the last two years. He hasn't been on the job, he's been campaigning since January of 2007. Where is his education legislation?
Some interesting stats here:
http://www.statemaster.com/red/state/AK-...
Alaska spends about $10,000 per elementary & high school student per year. We have the 8th highest high school diploma rate. Assume many of these were earned out of state. I know we have a terribly high drop-out rate. Much of this has to do with the village/rural setting where relevancy of educational subjects is virtually lacking. This is the teacher's responsibility. If they can't get across the relevancy of their subject to the student's lives, there is little incentive to stick with the program. The classroom becomes Hell.
The ignorance of "home schooling" is unbelievable! Statistics shows that home school students perform and test far higher than traditional (classroom) students while taking college level courses. Supervision depends on the age and grade.
It is interesting how so many people feel the need to take the low road. Perhaps we should all remember that people are human and life is about experiences, mistakes and learning. Do you not have something in your life that you would not want the media to report? Let's put things into perspective. Why is the schooling status of two people news worthy? (It isn't!)
I served 20 years in the USAF. One of the best commander I ever had was a (06) bird colonel with just a high school diploma. Which was unheard of, at the time. He'd get down and could really communicate with enlisted, probably how he made it. Although I recommend at least 2 years of college for any high schooler today.
Also for you military bashers ..The USMC requires 2 years of college for enlisted today.
I guess knocking our governor is habit forming for the ignorant oops or is it for the ones so smart they can't learn anything new. I guess too much intelligence s--ks.
OK, so just HOW did LEVI get his apprenticeship? Here are the BASIC qualifications from The Alaska Joint Electrical Apprenticeship Training Trust website:
"Before an application may be filled out, the applicant must document the first five listed qualifications.
A copy of a birth certificate or other official document showing date of birth such as a passport.
A copy of high school diploma or GED certificate (if high school diploma is not available, a graduating date on official transcripts will substitute).
An official copy of high school transcripts (an official copy is a set of transcripts that are certified by the issuing school with an official seal or stamp, and delivered to the Training Center or Hall in a sealed envelope either by mail or by hand).
Official transcripts, either high school or college, for High School showing one full year of Algebra, and College one full semester of Algebra not (Pre-Algebra) that have been successfully completed.
Documents showing that residency has been established in the State of Alaska for at least one year prior to the application date (this can include permanent fund dividend receipts, rent receipts, or resident fishing/hunting licenses issued at least one year prior to application date). "
OK ... no where does it say he can still be IN high school!!! Please splain!!!!
Thank you "Truthinnews"! I am also wondering... Isn't it also the hiring policy of EXXON, Conoco, BP, Alyeska and their sub contractors and their sub contractors to have a minimum qualification of a GED or high school diploma before they set foot on the Slope or the Pipeline??
Who's pulling strings? Do the oil companies condone this? (maybe i don't want an answer here)...
Try this for an explanation, you are a bitter fool and you don't know how the world works. Now go back to your crap job.
lol, talk about "bitter" roadtrip, maybe you should look in the mirror.
If Levi were Obamas future son in law getting a job he wasn't even qualified for you repubs would be screaming "nepotism" all day.
First he gets free luxury vacations paid for by Alaskan tax payers, now- he's getting a job that REQUIRES a diploma, without having a diploma.
(He just better not EVER break up with Bristol or he'll find out what Trooper Wooten went through, "Sarah" might sic Todd on Levi too)
Once again, republican hypocrisy shines.
It is difficult to believe Governor Palin, since she exaggerates/lies/bends reality so much. She's just your average un-intellectual demagogue, appealing to the emotions and fears of naive people on a superficially base level. People should strive not be someone who falls for this kind of behavior. At this point, I think people have too much pride to admit they were wrong about her, that she’s really NOT that great of a person—but this is more about themselves than her, and they don’t realize it. Don’t be someone who doesn’t know themselves well enough to take a stand against these kinds of people, when you claimed you disliked these exact traits in other politicians!
At any rate, the fact that she withdrew all three of her daughters from school to travel with her around the nation for 2.5 months (and did not hire a tutor, when that would have been the best for them) while campaigning for VP actually speaks volumes. Note how she does not give details, ever--for instance, are they enrolled in the Mat-Su School District correspondence program ("they are in 'a' high school correspondence program"), and which AP classes taking as seniors? Folks, it is smartest to be suspicious of people who make claims which continually prove to be false. We should always question the actions and words of people in power positions who seem to want to benefit personally (in this case, it makes her look good if they are actually in school). This woman has never done a single thing for anyone that did not actually benefit herself! I'm sick of politicians like her. She's too unethical, but not smart enough to really know what ethics are. She's anti-intellectual, and anti-education, anti-knowledge, and it is sad. It is true that some of you probably have had children do GREAT things with correspondance--I've had friends who were very bright do this too--but let's face it: Bristol and Levi are not of that caliber.
It will be interesting to see Bristol and Levi graduate this spring, and if they do, what are their plans for higher education? She should teach her daughter that higher education is her best bet for opportunities in her future (it does not appear that Sarah has taught her this, nor does it appear that Sarah thinks this, and Bristol and Levi do not seem college-bound). I would not be surprised if they only recently enrolled in correspondence, just so she could make a point of saying this--because this seems to be how she works. Everything she wants you to believe is a warping of what actually occurred.
Also, from what the murmurings are...if it is true that Track was actually the minor who vandalized schools and cut buses' brake lines with 4 other boys in Wasilla (hence, he had to join the military OR go to jail), then I would say, Sarah is NOT doing a good job raising her children... I would LOVE to see Sarah "set the record straight" on THIS one... since she has not, I'm tending to believe it is true. The judge who put forth his sentence and others in-the-know would not be impressed if Sarah lied and said it was false publicly.
I have stronger morals than Sarah Palin and thus, I judge her harshly.
1. Mind your business
2. Mind your business
3. You people need to spend more time minding your own business
4. Honestly you have nothing better to do with your time?
5. How would you feel if people like you were constantly judging you and your families?
6. I will say it again, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!!!!!!
jason---
You presume a lot of intimate details not available to the general public about the family relationships within the governor's family. Do you actually know these things that you write, or as it sounds, is it the speculation of a harsh judge without the benefit of facts?
Do you feel the same about our new president? He has been caught in stretching the truth on more than one occasion. Does the claim that Obama did not know that Wright was an anti-American racist jibe with being a church member for close to 20 years? Does the qualification, "he's just some guy in the neighborhood, our kids go to the same school." square with the facts that his relationship with Bill Ayers is more real and more complicated than that destroy his credibility with you? Does Obama's original statements that there had been NO contact between himself and the Illinois governor with the bad hair about his Senate replacement cause you to reconsider his truthfulness?
Then again, I don't know you. Maybe you hold the same disdain for all politicians, regardless of their party or philosophy. Or do you save your criticism for the Palin family, Republicans, and/or conservatives? In this case I sincerely doubt that you know all of the facts, rather what you've been told by the media and the left. If the governor, or any public figure, chooses not to share their most intimate family relationships with you does not mean that they are purposefully hiding incriminating information. What it does mean is that she is retaining some family privacy, as would any other American.
Your final sentence is laughable.
Vanessa, this woman makes judgements which effect my family. I will fight to protect our rights and if that means watching our gov and how she handles daily affairs, I will continue to do so. That is "minding my own business". However, if someone living out there somewhere feels it best for their family to live as the Palin family, that IS their business ... as long as they are not making State policies or effecting my family. I am an Alaskan and that makes her decisions my business. Poor judgement is not made in a vaccumn ... it invades every decision this woman makes.
Some people do not understand what Sara was trying to do. How long has it been since we've had a President or Vice President whom was qualified??? Obama sure isn't!!! What Governor wouldn't jump at the chance to run for VP. If she had said no, you would say she lacks self-confidence!!!
And I want to inform every anti-republican Bush Basher that he IS NOT the worst president we ever had. Lyndon Banes Johnson (a Democrat) by far, bare none, was the worst president we've ever had, and, hopefully ever will have.
You people either have a serious lost of memory; or are too young to remember and/or don't CARE to know your history at all.
"I will say it again, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS!!!!!!!!"
The veracity of claims made by our Governor are the business of state residents. Expenditures made towards the education of our children are the business of state residents. The Governor paraded her children in front of the American public, required Alaskans to pay for them to travel all over the country, supposedly to represent Alaska. Therefore, the activities of the Governor's children are the business of the state residents who are footing the bill. That would be me. And you, if you live in Alaska.
I will mind my own business, and not the state's business, when the state stops minding my business. Meanwhile, since I pay taxes, obey laws, file forms, and do other work required by the state, I am obligated to mind the state's business as much as my own. Until the time the Governor's children are not the state's problem, I will continue to care about them, including whether they are getting the kind of education that they deserve. And which I, as a taxpayer, have helped to pay for.
Akbob...Lyndon Banes Johnson was also the last and only Democrat to get all of Alaska's electoral votes!
And don't lump all people who say something against Palin as Democrat. I'm a registered Republican, but I don't blindly vote Republican.
I kind of think it is my business when my son wants to get in the union and I tell him he has to finish his GED first and I see someone else connected to the governor getting in without one.
"How long has it been since we've had a President or Vice President whom was qualified??? Obama sure isn't!!!"
Funny- didn't he (Obama) win the presidency?
Are you saying YOU(akbob) know better than G.W.B. and everybody else in Washington? WOW! dude, you must be a genius!
You better call the White House-(202)456-1414, and let them know that they messed up by allowing an unqualified person to run for president.
Wait a second AKBOB
U.S News ranks the ten worst presidents as
1 Buchanan
2 Harding
3 Andrew Johnson
4 Pierce
5 Fillmore
6 Tyler
7 Grant
8 Harrison
9 A tie between Nixon and Hoover
10 Taylor
The Times Online ranks the ten worst as:
1 Buchanan
2 Pierce
3 Van Buren
4 Harrison
5 Nixon
6 Bush
7 Hoover
8 Harding
9 Garfield
10 Fillmore
I don't see anyone mentioning Lyndon Banes Johnson. Where do you get your information from? Is this some more "Palinspeak"?
Johnson's middle name is Baines, not Banes. Non-Southerners! (hrrrumph!)
Glow, You ain't one of those southern democrats are you ?
TiN, no. But thanks for asking. I'm Alaskan now. Why, are you? Do I detect a bit of a southern drawl there?
Homeschooled education. Public school education. Private school education. It does not matter. The problems that we have with our kids learning is a compilation of the educational system and its standards compared to to other systems, parental accountability for things done to them in the womb and their responsibility to their child (pushing & supporting them to do better), the child's lack of committment and self-discipline, and the teacher. The teacher can be their level of committment to educating or their obstacles to trying to deal with the drama in our schools. It is sad that some schools need metal detectors and individuals trained to deal with medicated, attitude walking kids. We have lost respect and a sense of true focus all the way around. I just do not remember it being this difficult to teach when I was a student. So many factors of what you can and cannot do and individuals wanting to take responsibility for their actions. I am married and we are the parents of 2 children in the public school system. I have compassion for everyone's situation!
Now what DISTURBS me is the fact that this teenager can EVEN get hired on on the North Slope. Where is logic in that. I know we like to take care of oue own, but REALLY and BLANTANTLY. Especially during a recession?! I have a Master's Degree and Military Training and I have to wait on a waiting list for employment?! Why can't he work at Walmart and McDonald's like I did when I was in high school? Shouldn't he want to be NEAR the baby? It is favoritism like this that GIVES the GOP or the RNC a BAD REPUTATION!! It is very common in the GOP. If Gov. Palin is even interested in a future in politics, she needs to separate herself from decisions like this that make current republican voters and any potential voters look at her as unfair. Change is here and in her family. She cannot protect them from the reality of the world. What she can do is show her daughter and grandson's father how to map out a plan for a better future. Work at Walmart until you finish college or technical school, then move to something that will act as a stepping stone to your career. Walmart may not be $20.00+ dollars a hour, but that money can buy baby items and support them while living in her house. It will build character in them. One work and the other go to school! You know the Grandparents will pay for childcare/nanny.
I ain't no southerner but the Mrs. is.
All the comments on here I dont even see how Sarah became governer up there. I personally dont like her the way she conducted her self while she was campaigning for Mccain to many of her rallys were filled with hate, and she even kept it up after the election. Her and her family do not have very good morals, either did Mccain and they thought they were going to make it into the white house. Even today Mccain doesnt know if he would support her if she runs in 2012 he says there are a lot of other good governers out there. I dont think she would get very far if she ran in 2012 you people alone up there cant get her elected and she isnt very well liked in lower 48, except for a few republicans down here. I know she is your home town girl and you will stick up for her no matter how she conducts her self
Lets face it Flicker, they can cheer for her all they want up here but we still only have 3 electoral votes.
Truthinnews. I am stunned over the statistics you are claiming.
1.JFK Said 3 months before he was assassinated, that he was going to pull all our advisor's and troops out and away from Vietnam. (We had advisor's with M-16's in Nam <1959).
2. After JFK assassination, LBJ had the Presidential Limousine cleaned and sent back to Wash DC prior to a thorough investigation. I do and always have felt JFK's assassination was a CONSPIRACY.
3. By 1968 LBJ had most of our military in Vietnam.
4.Lady Bird Johnson was the sole owner of Brown & Root a construction Company who was awarded the contract for building Air Base in Saigon, (I couldn't spell it) and Cam Ran Bay, + other construction projects in South East Asia.
5. The Johnson family owned more than 51% of Textron Electronics, an electronic concomitant which owned all of Bell Helicopter. The main Helicopter used in Nam.
6. It was estimated that the Johnson Family made over half a Billion $ that over $500,000,000. off of Viet Nam..
How'd he do it??? Viet-Nam was not a War until Gerald Ford called it a war. It was a Conflict. The conflict was fought in Washington DC by Johnson and other politicians.
Many Military leaders retired quickly. We took land with blood and gave it back the next week or even days. Same thing we are doing in Iraq/Afghanistan.
Did we learn anything????? I wonder, how did Johnson not get on your 2 lists???? Maybe, this why history is repeating it self??? People much wiser than I have said, "If we do not learn our mistakes in our history, we are destined to repeat our history”.
"If we do not learn our mistakes in our history, we are destined to repeat our history”.
ok, SO QUIT VOTING FOR MORONS LIKE DUBYA!!!
What do you mean the statistics I am "claiming". I gave you the names of the sources I was quoting. So your conspiracy theories are to be trusted over the Times and U.S. News.
I thought this was going to be an argument based on facts. And like, how do you jump from Bristol Palin to Lyndon Johnson so easily?
I feel like I am wasting my time here.
Congratulations Gov. Palin and family on your new arrival!
Bristol & Levi - Hang in there and do your own thing! Tune out the haters! They ain't worth it!
Ha Ha Ha, I see I got a rise out of some of you!!! LMAO
You all need to look at the big picture! Sarah's parenting skills have NOTHING to do with how she runs Alaska's Government. I am from Alaska, born and raised and I know that Sarah is the BEST person to run this State. If you all think you can do better, I would love to see you try. Instead of sitting on your butts complaining, get up off your butts and do something, or SHUT UP!
Damn, Vanessa! You go girl!
Gee, if an obsessive, power hungry, hypocrite governor is the best we can do then I guess we are in worse trouble than I thought.
What does she do to "run" the state? does she sign state employee checks? drive plow trucks? drive a patrol car? work the DMV office?
No, it's the state EMPLOYEES who "run" the state, "Sarah" gets paid to sleep at home and take her family on luxury vacations.
Interesting first name - Tripp - as in we tripped up?
So we are suppose to accept your opinion of Sarah or shut up. Get real Vanessa. And I never said anything about Sarah's parenting skills. Seems like you don't think she is a very good parent.
We are trying to base some arguments on facts here, not blind faith.
Hi, Vanessa,
What I write I write in sincerity, let me begin with this.
Are you a Mother, and if so, does your child or do your children live with you full-time? If not, then I’m afraid that you don’t or can’t understand what being a Mother does to a woman’s heart, mind, and life. There is no Momma with any job whether it’s at Burger King, The White House, or anywhere in between whose jobs both inside and outside of their homes aren’t effected to a marked degree by raising children. I don’t have the time to go into detail on this, so I ask you to take some time to think about it (if you'd like) and if you have questions as to what I mean, feel free to e-mail me by clicking my profile. Anyone reading this who would like to is welcome to e-mail me for more information, as well.
Second, have you called Sarah Palin or written to her asking her to stop insisting that her Mothering is a part of who she is and what she does as governess? She’s the one who throws out the “hockey Mom” and “pitbull” remarks so often, to make herself look like another concerned Momma who wants to make the world a better place. Of course there’s also her making her campaign for V.P. quite the family affair and there are also all of her public comments about being the Momma of a special needs child.
As for those of us “anti-Palins” getting off of our behinds and doing something, you can at least rest assured that some of us are. We may not currently be running for public office or anything like that, but we are trying to build strong families of our own, encouraging others to do so, volunteering to help those in need, teaching others, and a whole plethora of things that make a state and country strong from the inside out.
I have a beautiful special occasion to get ready for, if God wills, so I can’t and won’t post anymore on this today. I agree to disagree with those of differing opinions and views.
Most sincerely,
Mrs. Wayne Hunter
When can we expect another released statement from Palin about how Levi can be concurrently getting his GED/diploma **and** be in an electrician apprenticeship?? She digs a hole deeper and deeper for herself. If she had stuck with a blanket "no comment" on everything (baby being delivered, the dropout status") she could have at least blamed the media for misreporting the apprenticeship part. Instead, she offers the info up herself. We're waiting...how DID he get into an apprenticeship program without the *finished* GED/diploma required by the state for apprenticeship applicants? And was there a waiting list?
State page about apprenticeship requirements:
http://www.jobs.state.ak.us/apprentice/e...
g-les,
sorry if my first sentence of my 6:17 post confused you. i was just trying to tie in the issue to the article.
prospector,
you said:
"Alaska spends about $10,000 per elementary & high school student per year. We have the 8th highest high school diploma rate. Assume many of these were earned out of state. I know we have a terribly high drop-out rate. Much of this has to do with the village/rural setting where relevancy of educational subjects is virtually lacking. This is the teacher's responsibility. If they can't get across the relevancy of their subject to the student's lives, there is little incentive to stick with the program. The classroom becomes Hell."
i'm not sure i understand exactly what a "high school diploma rate" is. does that mean that we have the 8th highest rate of people getting diplomas? if so, it would make sense that with our dismal dropout rate, most of these would be earned out of state. we should work to improve our in-state achievement rate in that case.
also, i'm aware of the disconnect that exists between traditional public education and village/rural/traditional native students. don't blame the teachers, prospector. that's the easy thing to do. blame the curriculum. we need to change the system somehow, because the one we have is clearly not working. that's what we should be working on. or does the alaskan government not believe that these students are worth time and money?
despite having just the rural alaska disconnect, there are also problems in our major urban public schools. my graduating class at west valley went from over 400 student our freshman year to about 215 or so. lathrop's graduating class also lost slightly more than 50% of its students. i see this as almost more of a concern than the problems rural alaska has, because at least they have an assignable cause to their problems.
*sigh* finally, i couldn't give less of a rat's rear end if obama had been campaigning since 2003. there is a BIG DIFFERENCE between campaigning and actually being in a position of power.
C'mon Jag27, you know the answer is that you should just shut up. Republicans don't want you to be able to put 2 and 2 together.
You really don't think Sarah wants her daughter to hook up with someone who can't support the baby, do you?
"I ain't no southerner but the Mrs. is."
TiN, I know you got it from somewhere.
"i'm not sure i understand exactly what a "high school diploma rate" is. does that mean that we have the 8th highest rate of people getting diplomas?"
The number 8 is meaningless unless we know what it is being compared to. I understand this statistic as meaning this:
Out of 51 states and the District of Columbia, Alaska's rate of graduation from high school is the 8th highest, meaning that there are 43 states above us who have better rates. Eighth highest is nothing to brag about. In fact, it's a shame. Statisticians like me often murmur thank god for Mississippi and Alabama and Louisiana when confronted with these kinds of numbers for Alaska, because without states that are even more poorly governed than we are, Alaska would be at the bottom.
That said, I don't know where you got your "eighth highest" rate. Last year we were second from the bottom, so unless we have miraculously gotten rid of a bunch of really bad students (by forcing them to drop out and go to work on the slopes, say), it's hard to understand how we would now have raised up by so many percentage points.
Finally, Anchorage's community college has a program whereby at risk high school students (like Levi, maybe Bristol) can take Tech Prep courses at a high school level that will lead to a technical degree. Often the final part of the Tech Prep program is an actual trial apprenticeship. That may be what is happening with Levi. If so, good for him. But that does leave Bristol at home alone with her son, which as another poster noted on another blog, risks turning Tripp into a fatherless antisocial psychopath who likes to carry concealed handguns and shoot them towards people.
Maybe there is a story here DNM ... dig and find out and let us know just what is going on and HOW Levi happened to be "given" this wonderful opportunity when our kids are waiting ..... and waiting. Or maybe another news agency will tackle this and we'll be sitting on the sidelines AGAIN without the story coming from our State.
Isn't this like Uncle Ted getting his relatives jobs on the pipeline / slope? Investigative reporting .... we need answers!!!
Too late News Miner. Anchorage Daily News already ran the story.
Toothynews, do I detect a bit of an inferiority complex in your mindless obsession with this non-story. A Kennedy is about to be handed one of the most powerful jobs in the world based solely on her name and the best thing that you can complain about is a young guy getting a good job. I've worked on the slope, it's tough, and the unworthy don't last long. My advise to you, grow up, and learn how the world works.
Roadtrip, I have two college degrees so I really don't feel I have an inferiority complex. Sorry you had to work "tough" jobs on the slope. Should have stayed in school.
Anchorage Daily News seemed to think it was a story and did their investigating. Because they know how Sarah works.
truthinnews, please don't flaunt you hard-earned and respectable education. you know how a lot of people feel about that "school" business here. school is for tools.
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