| Bredesen’s State of the State address
I have also placed in the budget $25 million to continue meeting the requests of communities across our state for Pre-K classrooms. That is not enough to fund all of the requests that we have, but will keep us moving forward. Pre-K remains, dollar for dollar, the best investment we can make in improving the chances for our children's educational success. Let me address one issue head on. I have followed some of the discussion about halting the further funding of pre-K insofar as it serves any children other than the poor, the so-called “at-risk" students. This would be a terrible mistake, and I ask those of you who are espousing this to reconsider. How do you say to a middle class family with children in the public schools: “Yes you pay taxes for these classrooms; yes, they are public schools; but no, those classrooms aren't open to your children?" I hope to live to see the day when we stop dividing our children up into poor and rich.
Buy American
We read that the government might be sending us checks, possibly amounting to $800, and wants us to spend it immediately, it is hoped on American-made products. I hope it encloses a list of American-made products and where they can be purchased.
—Lou Bourjaily
Western Springs
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Coastal Post Online
The interview took place because an Italian doctor who had been treating my wife discovered that I had studied John Dewey's philosophy at university.
The former education minister had also studied John Dewey, although under John Dewey himself at Columbia University. I then discovered how American pragmatism made its way to Italy to serve the fascist cause. I was told that Italian fascism was just an attempt to put Dewey's ideas into practice, not only in education, but also in the relationship between corporations and the state. That's all fascism is, I was told; government working hand in hand with big business to rule the country more efficiently. At the time I marveled at how Dewey's political philosophy, with its emphasis on human liberty and the scientific method, could have been twisted into such a shape; but now I can see how this has actually come to pass in our own country.
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