Parents Outraged Over School Pickup Process

[The Straight Story]

SPRING, Texas -- Parents of students who attend a northwest Harris County elementary school said they are outraged by the wait to pick up their children after school.

The parents said the wait at the Spring Independent School District's Smith Elementary on Cypresswood Drive is nearly two hours.

"It's insanity," one parent said. "They obviously didn't think this through."

"The kids are coming through here, they're crying," another parent said. "They don't know their parents are."

Students who live less than 2 miles away from the school are no longer eligible for bus service. Those students now have to be dropped off and picked up by private vehicle or walk.

http://www.click2houston.com/news/28979233/detail.html

[DrDan]

1. separate bus transportation from the education budget

what does that have to do with education? Let education dollars go toward running the schools. Let educators do the job they trained for.

Transportation to school - put those dollars and those responsibilities in the local bus/transportation system and let them run it. Why have two maintenance facilities, two sets of drivers etc.

[hobbit709]

4. How many communities have local transportation systems.

[izquierdista]

8. A lot do

Seems to me I've been to lots of communities where the kids get on the local transportation system when school lets out. They can go straight home, or maybe stop at the park to play, or the mall to hang out before getting to home. I've seen it in lots of towns; Katowice, Wroclaw, Lille, Toulon, Barcelona,....oh, did you mean towns in the United States? Hmmm, You might have a point there.

[hobbit709]

9. Smartass!

LOL

[DrDan]

18. why can they not run city busses - and school busses - separate functions?

consolodate drivers, maintenance, etc.

[izquierdista]

44. School buses are a uniquely American institution

I don't think I've ever seen a school bus in Europe. Usually, the distances are not great and most kids can walk. If they do need to ride a bus, tram, or subway, they pay subsidized student rates.

I have to wonder why schools get built far out of town. I was driving through some small town in middle America once, and noticed a brand new middle school a full 2 miles outside the city limits sign. Pretty much guarantees that 100% of the students have to take a bus or be chauffered by their parents.

[The Straight Story]

10. I am sure many have taxis. They are yellow just like buses

;)

[DrDan]

17. so why does getting the children to school have to be the responsibility of the school?

[Bandit]

55. Because the Government mandates the kids be there.

It is the government's responsibility to get the kids to school if the parents are unable to do so..The Government made laws about it.

[DrDan]

58. my point is - why is that a school responsibility - the school Districts

I have been involved with as both a teacher and parent also had public bus systems.

Put the school bus budget, staff and vehicles under them. They are the transportation experts. There are economies of scale that can be gained. Money can be saved and assets better used - both staff and vehicles.

Let the schools educate. Let the transportation people transport.

I know there are rural areas where this does not work - but in medium-large urban areas, it seems to me to be the right alignment of responsibility and assets.

[TransitJohn]

5. So no school buses in the entire State of Wyoming. Brilliant!

You sure you don't have a Master's of Planning?

[DrDan]

15. didn't say that - just make it the responsibility of the transportation folks - not hte schools

[DrDan]

39. geez - I am only referring to those areas where there are both

school district transportation and a public bus system. good heavens.

I have been a part of several school districts as a teacher, parent etc. There was public transportation and school transportation in each district. THAT IS what I am referring to. Why not combine those and get the transportation part out of the school district realm?

Tell me why that would not work.

[WinkyDink]

11. You have no idea of which you speak.

[DrDan]

16. why does getting the kids to schools have to be the responsibility of the schools?

aren't there other departments (in most cities) better prepared for this responsibility?

Let the schools educate.

[hobbit709]

20. Then why have football and other sports?

Those have nothing to do with education either. Of course if you bring that up at just about any school board meeting you might get rode out of town on a rail.

[DrDan]

32. extracurricular activities are a part of an educational system

just like bands, and clubs, and . . . .. yes, athletics

But if a county already runs a transportation system, why not combine school transportation with it. I am NOT suggesting doing away with school busses, just putting it in an appropriate place - not with educators.

[hobbit709]

46. Funny that schools in Europe get by quite well without team sports.

I don't know of any rural or even a lot of small town communities that have a bus system. At least not in any state I've been in.

[LTX]

61. Where did you get this notion European schools don't have team sports?

Team sports are ubiquitous in European schools.

[hobbit709]

63. Not at the level of them here.

I doubt very much that a high school in Germany would spend $30 million on a football stadium like happened here recently. I also doubt that coaches there make 4 or more times the average teacher salary.

[LTX]

64. Oh hogwash.

Europeans are avid spenders (from school to professional) on sports programs, including soccer, rugby, field hockey, cricket, equestrian/dressage (university equestrian spending in Germany is rather startling), lacrosse, basketball, hockey, water polo, skiing, sailing, biking, golf, etc. European spending on student sports programs is virtually indistinguishable from US spending.

It seems that you want to portray the US as a pack of ignorant neckheads obsessed with frivolous games, and to portray Europeans as sophisticates reading Shelley and sipping tea. I suggest that you attend a secondary school rugby match anywhere in England, and follow that up with a nice, quiet afternoon at a Rangers/Celtics match in Glasgow.

[hobbit709]

66. I can see that arguing with you is like talking to a brick wall.

FYI I was born in Austria and grew up there and in Germany before I came to the U.S.

[SwissTony]

68. So your measure of school sports is spending $30 million

on a football stadium? Can't they go down to a local park and play there like my kids did in Holland? Much cheaper.

And the 30 mil is only for the elite players. What about the other kids?

[hobbit709]

2. I bet not all those kids live just under two miles from the school.

I've seen parents pick up their kids with the car, pull out of the school parking lot, drive a half block and pull in their driveway. When I was a kid, the closest school for me was always at least 6 blocks away. I walked that every day. I never got to ride a school bus except on field trips.

[dixiegrrrrl]

12. Seriously, I walked to school 2 miles.

from 5th grade on, we had no car, no school bus, school was clear across town.
Did not think anything of it, you either walked or rode a bike if you were in town.
Was no big deal.
Admittedly, at the time, I did not live in the hot humid South.

[blueamy66]

56. I'm with ya.

Ride your bike kid.

I laugh at the parents in their SUVs waiting in line to pick up their darlings.

Well, until they cause a traffic jam on major streets.

on edit: not speaking of the real little darlings....but the older kids can most certainly ride a bike or walk

[xmas74]

73. My kid rides her bike every day.

She leaves for school about the same time I leave for work every morning. The school is only a few blocks away and it's good exercise. She has a basket on the front of her bike, a decent backpack, and a bike rack on the back for her band instrument.

For that matter, I also ride or walk to work. It's under two miles from my home and I figure if that's the rule with the school bus and my kid then I need to follow through the same for myself.

[blueamy66]

78. I cannot ride a bike or walk to work...it's about 10 miles

and our bus system here in AZ sux

But I do walk to the grocery store(s) on weekends when it's not 115 degrees outside.

[xmas74]

81. I wish we had a bus system.

We have the bus for the elderly and we have a shuttle for the university but nothing for the town. (At least not yet-it sounds like the town is finally listening.) When I worked out of town I had to drive and on really hot days we get our shopping done early in the morning or at twilight-Missouri has some nasty humidity to add to the heat!

I always walked to school, the movies, skating rink, etc, as a child/teen and I figure my child should do the same. As long as it's not a dangerous area or too far of a distance I expect her to walk or ride her bike. She gets upset sometimes but I figure she'll get over it.

[blueamy66]

82. We have a bus system, but it's crappy.

During the summers, even in this AZ heat, we would take off on our bikes and not come home until dinner. Your daughter will adjust. :-)

I guess that's why seeing all of the parents drive their kids to school irritates me a bit.

I also chuckle when the jr. high kids are walking to school, with their cell phones stuck to their ears. But hey, at least they're walking....

[NYC_SKP]

3. Hoping parents try a little something called "car pooling"...

Especially if this enormous number of stranded kids all live withing two miles (a 40 minute walk) of the school.

One gigantic stupid SUV or more reasonable mini-van, or a very reasonable Camry or Accord wagon (7 passengers), any of these could handle six rides home (one ride per student).

But in our advanced society we all have to roll alone, pick up the kid alone, can't be bothered picking up two or three more, or be bothered talking to other parents...

rant off...

[TBF]

13. Would work with SUVs and mini-vans

but in Texas they can't be in the front seat until they are a certain age/size (my 8 yr old isn't tall enough yet). We are 1/2 mile so she walks this year, but I picked her up when she was younger.

I have seen some car pooling here too ... some of these new developments are huge, though, with kids in virtually every house. It is simply a lot of kids in one area with inadequate small roads leading to the schools. Perhaps the developers have some role in this as well?

[DBoon]

36. Communist!

You are suggesting collective action for the common good instead of sacred free market individualism!

Free Market Jesus will smite you!

[SoCalDem]

75. That method pretty much vanished as Moms headed for the job market

out of necessity. Out here, kids get schlepped to a before school-sitter who may have several kids (going to many schools often), since Mom leaves for work at 6AM or earlier, and after school they go to that sitter (or sometimes a different one)

Unless you have a live in nanny these days, many kids don;pt even go to schools near home.. they go to schools near the sitter..and if the sitter changes mid-year, they have major transportation problems..

The whole time we had kids in school they never qualified for taking the bus (to their chagrin)

I was lucky enough to have working hours that allowed me to take them..One year I had all three in different schools:(,,and when that changed, I paid someone to take or pick them up as my schedule changed..

It;s pretty grim these days, to have kids in school:(

[Kceres]

6. So?

When I was growing up I had to walk to school bare-footed; in the snow; uphill, both ways.

[Chellee]

27. Hey! What a coincidence.

My mother went to that school.

;)

[HubertHeaver]

33. you forgot the blizzard--into the 30 mile an hour wind, 30 degrees

below zero, natural not windchill

[RC]

41. My daughter would do that with her coat open. No kidding.

Except the temperature was below zero. (This was in North Dakota)

A blizzard and 30°? Must be nice to be able to go to school in the 'tropics'.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

7. In MD they wanted/made students adjacent to campus to take the bus.

School got really upset when some us just ignored them

[XemaSab]

14. Why can't the kids get picked up two blocks away?

If I were a parent I'd be like "Dude, meet me around the corner and down the block a ways."

[a la izquierda]

21. Or the parents can park around the corner...

and walk. Jesus. I am wondering why the hell this is so complicated for people.

[Igel]

26. Perhaps park around the corner.

There are a few problems.

First, Spring's been bus-intensive. They'd bus you 600 feet. They had activity buses for those kept late. Buses for early release and late starters. From 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m., the roads in Spring ISD were thick with large yellow vehicles. The change to fewer buses wasn't a surprise, except for parents who weren't paying attention. Now they're in shock. Note that if there's public transportation, it's rare and inconsistent. Spring is a suburb more than anything, and the elementary schools here are small.

Second, the schools are new to dealing with this crush. I pick up my kid every day, but he attends school 10 miles from home next to where I work. My kid's schools has had a system for years, but it was rough for a few days. First day of school, at 3:30 there were still perhaps 50+ cars waiting to receive their occupant. I got away at 3:45, with 15-20 cars still in line. Friday at 3:29, 4 days later, at 3:30 the cars were gone, the traffic cones and signs were packed up and the people running the show were on their way home. My kid was sad and waiting with one other student, and was sure it must have been at least 4 p.m. He had trouble believing that I had shown up *earlier* than a few days before. Smith will eventually get its act together. (Then again, it's Spring ISD so maybe it's as together as it's going to get.)

Third, it's > 100 F in the afternoon. That's a bit hard for a thirsty 2nd grader to handle for a mile.

Fourth, the rules are obnoxious, as far as I can tell, *everywhere* in Texas. Because of parental and legal fear of abductions, because of custody cases and irregular parenting setups, the schools require that they be notified if a kid's going to walk or ride. (In my day, in another state, you could just walk by the bus and be gone. Spring ISD has RFID tags, thank you.) They make sure walkers leave by one door and nobody picks them up until they're off school property. They make sure bus riders are on the bus. They escort elementary school kids to the person designated to pick them up.

Fifth, Cypresswood (a road) cuts Smith ES off from most of the neighborhoods it serves. That means Texans have to trust their little ones to cross Cypresswood. It's not the most user pedestrian road around, esp. there where the road's getting close to a major commuter freeway. Plus, drivers aren't used to pedestrians. Why? Because Spring's always bussed kids even for incredibly short distances.

This is Spring ISD's retribution to the State of Texas. Their student population's increased but their funding levels were fixed in 2006 or so. This year they got a budget cut. The parents will scream to the legislature which might throw more money to Spring ISD. Used to be a top-notch district. Not any more.

[JVS]

31. Around the cornier is a sewage treatment plant on one side, a forest on another side, and the...

other two sides are tract housing plans. This is really shitty civil engineering.

[a la izquierda]

42. I was speaking generally.

Not about this specific case. But damn, that does complicate matters.

[JVS]

47. Yeah, I thought your general solution was a good idea, so I looked it up on the map.

Then I saw that it really wouldn't work because the layout is such a clusterfuck. They've essentially designed a school that needs either full bus service or a much more capacious access road for a driveway in order not to become a bottleneck for all the private vehicles. A true mess.

[MemeSmith]

65. Request for info

I'm a foreigner, so I don't recognise the term.

What are the parking restrictions on a tract housing plan?

At my kids' school in England, the parents who need to pick up and drop off their kids park a few streets away and walk in. Their cars are parked there for maybe twenty minutes, then they're gone. This is at around 3pm, so the industrial rush of people returning home is not affected by anyone being parked outside their house. The homeowners who work are oblivious to all of this. The ones who don't work are flexible enough to adapt to it as a normal part of their daily schedule.

It's a tiny island, with a population double that of California stuffed into a land mass the size of Alabama, so we get used to compromising on space.



Edit: to put a question mark at the end of a question.

[JVS]

67. There aren't parking restrictions other than you cannot park in front of somone's driveway...

but the roads are narrow, have low speed limits, and would definitely jam up quickly if they were parked on. Also, because the cars would be entering this small road from an arterial, it would back up traffic on the arterial. Basically the problem is that the street the school is built on is designed to carry lots of traffic quickly to the interstate highway. Any attempt to route more than the occasional car into the school's driveway or side road will cause a bottleneck in the driveway or side road which will back up onto the arterial road.

Go to googlemaps and put in Smith Elementary School, Cypresswood Drive, Spring, TX for a look.

[MemeSmith]

70. I suppose it's a question of what you're used to

I did look at it on Google Maps before I posted.

There is a designated school crossing over Cypresswood, so I'd be happy to park in the Burnamwood area and walk in. Because it's a school zone, the cars turning right at this point wouldn't have any great impact on general traffic speed. Likewise, for the people coming from the east, I would happily swing into the spring dusk drive area.

By English standards, these are wide streets.

If you approached this area via North Spring Drive, the access from the main road is at a traffic light, so your turn would have zero impact on the general traffic.

If you didn't live the full distance away, of course, you could always walk. Google streetview shows good pavements on Cypresswood and surrounding streets. It seems a very pleasant environment for a stroll.

To be honest, a couple of the people complaining in the VT looked like the walk would do them good. Might even extend their life expectancy.

[MemeSmith]

71. P.S. Practicing what we preach

We live three quarters of a mile from school and unless there is a pressing schedule issue or severe weather, the fifteen miles a week that my wife walks to drop off and pick up the kids is a welcome element of her regimen.

[JVS]

72. It's still going to be a mess because you're talking about hundreds of cars converging at once...

on a location without coordination. The side streets have stop signs and the traffic will clog quickly.

[MemeSmith]

77. I'm sure that would be the case initially

But with a little co-ordination and co-operation, intelligent human beings could surely come up with a preferred mode of operation that would take less than two hours.

It's not ideal, of course, and I'm sure that it's not what you're used to, but this is what happens in the UK all of the time.

From my perspective, this is a problem of attitude. The complainants seem to be expecting to have their lives handed to them on a plate. It's not the end of the world. Park and walk, co-operate and adapt. This is what normal people do every day.

[RayOfHope]

19. Its not the lack of busing, the school isn't coordinating pick up procedures efficiently

MANY schools dont transport students who live close. School needs to revisit their traffic plan. I teach in a school with over 400 kids, K-5th grade. Probably 30/40% of them are car-pickups, and we get them all safely loaded in 15 minutes.

We have a good traffic plan, plenty of supervision, and multiple walkie talkies so outside staff can call inside and they can get students waiting on the sidewalks as their rides pull up.

[Igel]

29. Same at my kid's school.

Lots of riders. Not just the kids who live far from the school but still too close to be bussed. The elementary school's next to a middle school and a large high school. Good district, all the teachers in those three schools want their kids to go to these schools, esp if they live in other districts, so they do. There are 70 2nd graders in my kid's school, 8-9 of them are teachers' kids. Same for the other grades.

First day at 3:30 it was chaos as they trained parents and got all the paperwork sorted out, long lines of cars blocking the road in front of the school. Fifth day at 3:28 the place was desolate and abandoned.

They use bullhorns and the kids wait outside for their ride, then they escort the kids to make sure they get into the right car and that the doors are closed. Works like a dream.

This is new for Spring ISD. Perhaps they'll sort it out. Perhaps not.

[Quantess]

22. So? The kids should walk.

I bet a lot of them could really use some exercise.

[seabeyond]

24. no sidewalks. a 2 miles stretch of road at 55 mph though they go much faster

a total of 4-5 miles from house. winter.... below zero and dark.

i dont think so.

on edit... i didnt catch the less than 2 miles. if there are sidewalks, ok, but the little ones? like 5, 6, 7.... nah. i wouldnt as a parent unless much closer.

[roody]

51. The city must put in sidewalks.

[seabeyond]

52. from my house to kids elementary, there is plenty road without sidewalks.

it is an older neighborhood. but then, there is a lot of old neighborhood in our city without sidewalks.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

74. Is it in a city or an unicorporated area?

I can not remember having sidewalks when I lived outside of incorporated cities.

[kick-ass-bob]

54. Yes, all those kindergartners should walk a mile or 2 home by themselves.

Give me a fucking break.

[FLPanhandle]

23. When I was in elementary school, we didn't have bus service closer than 2 miles

I had to walk to/from school rain or shine because we lived 1.6 miles from the school.

[seabeyond]

25. i have done this for years. if lines are long, i park and walk in.... many do. nt

[southernyankeebelle]

28. Wait til the first kid is pick up on the way home by a stranger and is

killed. Then you'll really hear the bitching. Our school has a new pick up procedure to. Usually the kids who walk home and the children that are picked up by parents come out by class room first. Starting with K thru 8 grade. Ususally the first 3 grades are out then the rest follow. We are getting use to it now.

[JVS]

30. If you look at the map of where the school is on googlemaps, you'll see the problem.

The school is located along an arterial road that divides undeveloped land from tract housing. So what you have is a very busy road or small roads that are part of a residential plan.

[Pisces]

34. They need to stagger release time by grade to ensure a smooth transition. They also need 3 separate

pickup locations ( one in front of the office for grades 1&2, on a side gate connected to the playground for 3 & 4 and another one for 5 & 6. Our school makes it work. They also have priority
name Tags for Kindergarden to go first.

[JVS]

40. How does your school handle it when a parent has kids in different grades.

Do they have to drive to both pick-up points or does one kid go to the other kid's location?

[gkhouston]

45. At my daughter's school, siblings wait together.

I believe the older child/children go to the pickup point for the youngest child.

[Pisces]

48. They allow your older children to be picked up with the younger siblings in priority pick up.

[RB TexLa]

35. So sorry their lifestyle choice is causing them inconvenience

Let's guess. They want property taxpayers to make it easier for them.

[Contrary1]

37. So those who live within 2 miles of the school don't pay property tax?

If they are paying for it, they are entitled to ride the bus. I don't care how close they live, or how far Gramps walked in his day.

Either reduce their taxes by the amount allocated to bus service, or let them ride.

[RB TexLa]

38. Oh, so do I get my taxes reduced by the amount allocated to bus service too?

and how about the amount allocated to educate children? Since I don't use that can I have my reduced by that too?

[jeff47]

59. You do use that

Public education is a massive boost to the economy. Whether or not you have kids in school, you are getting a very large benefit from public education.

[RB TexLa]

76. It was directed at the person thinking they shouldn't have to pay as much as other parents

due to lack of bus service. I was just pointing out that others don't receive any direct immediate services from the local schools and to extend their stupid logic would allow me to pay nothing.

[Contrary1]

69. Ok, here's the way I look at it:

Say you live within two miles of the municipal landfill. The city decides that you live close enough to take your own trash to the dump, so they won't be picking it up anymore.

You are still required to pay the same, you just can't use the pick-up service. And, you still have to dispose of your trash in a lawful manner.

I put out a couple kitchen trash bags a week. Many of my neighbors have 8-10. I pay the same as they do. For the good of the community, everyone pays for police protection, fire-fighting, road upkeep, etc. Some use the service, some don't. Communities that don't pay taxes for those purposes either pay extra, or do without.

But, for the most part; those who pay taxes that go for local schools are also paying for the bus service. The area I live in is an exception, as they are now charging $400.+ per student for bus service. A referendum that would have funded it was voted down, but that's a different story.

I'm not saying every child should have their own personal bus stop...I'm saying that since they are paying for the use of the school bus, they should also have the choice of whether to use it or not.

[LWolf]

43. Eligibility for bus service is often narrowed during lean budgets.

How does that somehow relate to waiting for 2 hours to pick up a kid?

Is the process itself confusing?

Here's the process at my school:

1. The bell rings. All students walking or being picked up are dismissed. There are three different areas available for parents to pick up their kids, and for walkers to exit. Some parents wait in their cars. Some park, in the parking lot or on the street, and walk up to the area their student will exit from. Unless a parent lingers to connect with a teacher, they are all done in about 10 minutes.

2. When a bus arrives, the office announces it over the intercom, and students riding that bus are dismissed. They go to the bus loading zone and get on the bus.

3. When all the busses have been called, the classrooms are empty.

What is so hard about that?

Our bus service has also been limited to those who live 2 miles or further for the coming year. It's not the kids being picked up I'm concerned about. It's the narrowing of bus service, so that fewer busses run, and kids spend way too long on the bus coming and going. Our school serves a widely spaced rural area. Some of my students spend more than an hour on the bus each way.

[riderinthestorm]

49. My daughter's rural and spends an hour on the bus each day. I walked 1.6 miles from 6 - 12th grade.

HOnestly, I don't have a problem with kids walking who are old enough (middle school and above). It took me 20 minutes to walk to school each day - rain, sleet or snow. I never got a ride. Now, for my 14 year old, she's picked up first and dropped off last so her ride each day is 60+ minutes. Nothing I can do about it as I can't get her at that time due to work scheduling but she uses it to do homework and socialize with friends.

If we lived less than 2 miles to school, my kids would walk, no question. It's great exercise and I'll tell you that vanity nonsense about NOT wearing a coat, boots, scarf, hat and mittens on bitter cold days falls by the wayside when you have to walk that.

[LWolf]

53. Yes.

I went to a bunch of different schools K-12. I started walking in 4th grade. I don't know the actual distance, but it was at least a mile. The walk to 8th and 9th grade was about 30 minutes at a brisk pace; I rode my bike on most days.

[roody]

50. That seems like an exaggeration---2 hours!

They can walk home in half an hour.

[Shagbark Hickory]

57. sd nt

[Odin2005]

60. That is what happens when you don't want taxes, you morans.

[olegramps]

62. I live about a mile from the elementary school.

We have sidewalks throughout the entire district. The sidewalks that border a busy street do not next to the street and have a grassed area of six feet the separates the sidewalk from the street. I walk down pass the school nearly every day and I really can't see why kids couldn't walk or ride their bikes in most cases. My next door neighbor drops off and picks up their grandchildren every day regardless of the weather conditions. When school is in session the streets surrounding the school are jammed with cars waiting to pick up the kids. When I attended a Catholic School I walked even when I was in kindergarten after my mom took me a few times so I would know the way. We didn't even have a car until after WWII. That was down on the list after a refrigerator, new furnace, water heater, gas range, wiring and new tools that you couldn't get during the war. Latter I rode my bike. I realize that parents could have concerns about their child's safety, but perhaps this is a bit over played. I can't imagine my parents taking me to baseball practice. Every one of the kids rode their bike and it was more than a couple of miles; more like five. It sure is a different world.

[WolverineDG]

79. That was the rule when I was in going to school

The only time I got to ride the bus was junior high. And the buses only stopped at the different schools (in town) or designated dropping off points (in rural areas). It was never door-to-door.

I walked to & from elementary, & sometimes to & from high school when I couldn't find a ride. Are kids today too stupid to know how to walk home from school?

dg

[lindysalsagal]

80. This story is going to be repeated nationwide. We all took these things for granted:

Busses, school nurses, psychologists, books, air-conditioning/heat, appropriate teacher placements.

I'm in education in NY state. Everything is now up for grabs. The GOP, the multi-national corporations, don't want to continue this stuff because it doesn't make them personally rich.

Parents are going to have to add political fighting to their 50 hour week jobs.

They're attacking the middle class from every side.

No medicare, no social security, no water/food/drug/road/bridge inspections.

When Obama said it 2 years ago, he knew: ""You're on your own."

I remember him saying that. He knew. This was the plan, all along.

Life for our kids and grandchildren will look nothing like our lives.