(PIC)Laurinburg Mayor Matt Block's recent <span style="color: #0000ff;">article</span> regarding Scotland County's school consolidation, remodeling and new school construction plans was good, but frankly, completely missed the mark.<span style="color: #0000ff;">
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Mayor Block is not just a politician, he's a doctor of cardiology too. Dr Block, like other medical professionals, is primarily trained to respond to problems once they have manifested (often severely), not primarily to preventing their occurrence in the first place.

If you are having heart problems, Dr. Block is a good man to have around, but unfortunately, regardless of how adept he is at repairing the damage, he can't prevent you from going out and doing the same things that got you into trouble.

Heart disease, cancer and diabetes are all highly correlated with poor lifestyle choices. Consuming fatty foods, fried foods, junk food, sodas and beer while sitting in front of the TV watching sports and Hollywood entertainment, are pretty much guaranteed to cause trouble. The choice between chronic, often fatal disease, and good health is pretty much up to You.

The same is true with Scotland County'. Our extreme dysfunction is the result of poor choices we've made in the past and continue to make to this day.

One of the biggest mistakes anyone can make in life is to allow others to 'frame the issues', essentially boxing us in.

Allowing the Scotland County School System to frame today's discussion around consolidation, remodeling and new construction, pretty much limits the discussion to these issues, which conveniently allows them to completely avoid responsibility for the one thing that actually matters: <strong>educating our children to become knowledgeable, critical thinkers capable of responsibly assuming their place in our 21st century economy and self-governing republic. </strong>If they can't do that, the rest doesn't matter. It's that simple.<strong>
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According to the State of North Carolina, Scotland County is doing a terrible job. We're dead last or almost dead last in educational performance, individual health and economic activity. It doesn't get much worse than this.

Why are we even discussing nonsense like spending over $40,000,000 + interest when it's a proven fact that home schooled children perform measurable better than those educated in public schools?

When you leave Laurinburg on X-Way, one of the first things you can't help but notice, is that the huge parking lot at Scotland County Department of Social Services is absolutely jammed with cars. It seems like everybody is either on the dole or serving those who are.

Why are we paying for schools that have consistently failed at providing the one thing they're paid to do: educate children.

Why aren't parents who can be seen hanging out, sitting on stoops and jaw jacking all day not forming homeschooling co-ops to educate offspring?

Administrators, Supervisors, Educators, Educators Assistants, Counselors, maintenance personnel, janitors, bus drivers and maintainers are all scoring big time. School Bus manufacturers like Mercedes-Benz and Volvo are winning the lottery every day.

Here are the Losers: Children and Taxpayers.

It's time to stop all the BS and get to work seeing that Scotland County's most precious asset, our children, are given at least a fighting chance in our rapidly changing world.

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<blockquote>"<em>123</em>" <span style="color: #0000ff;">Read more...</span></blockquote>
This article: http://laurinburgexchange.com/opinion/other-opinion/5041/school-consolidation-bad-idea

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