Arkansas Blog

If this passes probably knock up michelle again....more kiddos for Duggar Elementary!

Boy, that would be a tough choice between Duggar advocating tax credits for home schoolers and Pritchard advocating tax credits for health spas and unconstitutional injection of religion in public schools. I am sending a check to Lynn Carver today and praying that Springdale voters have an outbreak of common sense this fall.

Looks to me like the student teacher ratio over@ Duggar Elementary is gettin up there. Wowzer!

A tax subsidy for people to keep their kids home and teach them that the world is 5,000 years old, and that dinosaur fossils were deposited in Noah's flood? No thanks, you can pay for that without a sanction from the state, Jim Bob. As I recall, you're a millionaire.

Well, here's my take - and I am, as most of you put it, a Repug. I truely think that homeschooling would be great in a utopia world. However, we don't live in such a place. I for one am not qualified to teach my children advanced math or physics. That should be done by a qualified person.
I've heard that China graduated some unheard of percentage over us in the college of engineering.
How can we keep up with the rest of the world if homeschool our children? The answer is we cannot. These people MUST realize that we will never be an isolationist economy where we only compete with ourselves. If this were to happen this nation would possibly fall into a third-world category. We have a hard enough time as it is keeping up in the education arena. Why screw us up even more with all homeschooling all the time?

I am so sick of these Republicans that;
Love babies and tax credits
Hate Taxes and Gays and that's all they talk about...adnausem.
Hey God Squad - how about the
Uninsured?
School Funding?
Roads?
Consolidation?
Seniors and prescription drugs?
Poverty and job growth?
Nope, all we get is the pathetic pandering to the Republican base who apparently believe that their single issues will solve the many problems facing one of the worst states in the country. Yes, I said it, I love Arkansas, it's my home, but we rank at the bottom in just about every catagorey measured...right above Mississip - and with the Pritchard's and Duggars having a voice in our government - we'll continue to be on the bottom of the food chain. But hey, we got "choose life" license plates, now that's progress. Anybody got Carver's address or website so I can help bring some progess to Arkansas.

Hey anonymous...what are you doing at home playing on the computer? Why don't you get a job and pay taxes to fund all your commie programs and quit bashing the folks who pay all the taxes. We need more tax cuts and you need to go to work Lazy Boy...

Well, Catfish, I'm ashamed to say, one of these A...holes will soon be my state senator. I, of course will vote for the lady, but she stands no chance in this district. :>(

What is the reason for the property tax credit?

If it is because a home schooler is not using the public schools then I need a rebate and a credit. I attended private schools and now have no children.

If that is the reason I say keep that theme goingand I can keep from paying any tax. I joined a country club so I should get a rebate for any tax used for city golf courses, swimming, tennis, or exercize facilities.

I have a car so credit any bus or trolley money. I bought my own house so credit me for any housing sub sidy or housing projects. I haven't robbed a bank or shot anyone so send back my money for police and state troopers. Do you see a trend.

Why do these people hate public education?

If public education is not good enough I guess taking away money for it is a good idea.

Tax credits for home-schoolers makes no sense. My neighbors have grown children. They still pay property taxes. I know many folks, single and married, with no kids. They still pay property taxes. I know tons of folks who suck up private-school tuition and they get no breaks.

Homeschoolers should get the same considerations when their athletic teams want to play AAA schools that private schools get. They should also be able to sign up for SAT sessions at the local school. Thankfully, some progressive superintendents are starting to offer selective courses (typically math, science, and team activities like sports or band) to homeschoolers. They shouldn't get a credit, but they do pay taxes and do save the state the cost of educating their kids.

I hereby waive my interest in the war in Iraq. Please give me a tax credit for my share of the cost.

I also waive my participation in defending unconstitutional legislation pushed by Pritchard and Duggar to force religion on my children in the public schools and to restrict a woman's right to make personal medical decisions.

JB, you might be right. When Doug Thompson of Stephens Media writes, "The winner of the May 23 primary will face Democrat Nancy Caver in the November general election," you know Lynn Carver will have a name recognition problem.

Ooh...I'm with Homegirl; sign me up!

What tha..., the ignorance, sir or madame, is yours.

Home-schoolers statistically outperform public and private students. For those who immediately jump to "yeah, but sure they come from stable high-income homes and would do as well or better in a 'real' school": one of the most fascinating statistics is that home-schoolers with parents who have only graduated from high-school, or who haven't graduated at all, perform roughly equally with those whose parents have advanced degrees. In public or private school these same students statistically perform some 40% or more below their peers whose parents are better educated.

A February 11, 2000 Wall Street Journal article stated that:

A recent survey by the National Center for Home Education, a Virginia-based advocacy group, found that 68% of colleges now accept parent-prepared transcripts or portfolios in place of an accredited diploma. That includes Stanford University, which last fall accepted 27% of home-schooled applicants, nearly double its overall acceptance rate.

?Home-schoolers bring certain skills, motivation, curiosity, the capacity to be responsible for their education, that high schools don't induce very well, says Jon Reider, Stanford's senior associate director of admissions.

For something more current:
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_08/b3972108.htm

Important McDaniel update--He was seen at the Capitol rounding up more members for Sparklemotion!

Those who are in the know are aware of McDaniel's leadership in creating a bi-partisan legislative dance troupe, called Sparklemotion. However, there is drama afoot.

This Pritcard Duggar thing is a problem, becaus Pritch has aldeady been practicing. If he looses, he's out and McDaniel hates Dugger.

Also, he word is that due to a serious spat over some attempt at clogging, Monty Davenport was asked to tak a powder!

McDaniel has shown gross favoritism to Bruce Maloch, who only has one leg. McDaniel thinks keeping him has ADA implications and would appeal to a certain market.

Will Bond is heavy on McDaniel wanting a tryout, but Dustin has a stiff no-Harry Potter policy.

The real surprise is the choreography genius of Frank Glidewell and Linda Chesterfield. They are ying and yang--but it works!!

Beebe is dropping in on rehersals, but won't agree to a stage presence until after the primary--very smart.

David Dunn and Bennie Petrus have agreed to provide costumes, as apparently they can sew, but not dance.

McDaniel has shown amazing leadership and artistic vision in bringing these talents together. Also opposes high gas prices! These are truly sparkles in motion!!!

Yeah Brand X, if I was grading my own kid's papers you can believe they'd make a good grade each and every time if I had to kill the little booger bats.

They'd also have 100% attendance records, be the homecoming queens and football captains and the most popular students in their....uh......homes.

Imagine what kind of adults these poor isolated kids are going to be when they grow up? Most will think Jesus was a signer of the Declaration of Independence. They'll fall into traps most kids learn about by the 6th grade. They'll be sitting ducks for the con-men of the world.

They'll take Duggars family values into a Charles Manson world. It will be like hitting a basket full of day old puppies with a riding lawnmower. Unless your child is in an iron lung, home schooling should be outlawed.

It comes as no surprise to me that top colleges will accept "parent perpared" transcripts. Those kids are still submitting ACT/SAT scores. And the property tax credit is bogus BS for all the reasons already stated. And I'm more than sick of hearing about the Duggars based solely on how often dude can knock up his wife and exploit his huge family for political gain.

Sparklemotion.... WTF!

But I must lay this challenge out there....
Who can name at least 7 of the Duggar kids?

There will be a prize for who ever gets the most right!

Did I strike a nerve here? Listen, I pay more taxes in a year than the average Arkansan makes in 10 years. Although writing an annual six figure check is painful, I understand the consequences and costs to my business which suffers because of poor performing schools, bad roads, the cost of prescription drug care and the unisured. All these things weigh heavy on all small businesses and the middle class right here in Arkansas. I just want the God Squad to stay out of my personal life and get off their asses and fix a state that I love and help it become what it can be...not a state that hovers around 48-49th on just about everything. I'm so sick of folks like Duggar and Pritchard who are so worried about the frigging trees that they can't quite grasp that the forest needs tending. Again, we got "choose life" license plates but we also have 440,000 unisured, poor preforming schools and here we got wantabe's talking about more give-a-ways. Christ save us from fools.

I figure that I could luck onto at least 7 names of Dugger kids just by using the Biblical ones.
John, Matthew, Luke, Micheal, Jennifer, Mary, Sarah, Racheal, Job, Noah, Moses, Cain, Able, Paul, Babel, Sodom, Gomora.

Someone else help me here, I probably still need five or six to keep up with those breeders.

I think all the Duggar chirrens have names that begin with J. One little girl has an unusual name like Jeranium or something. Well now thats not it but you get my drift.

I am sad to report that Sodom and Gomorrah did not make the list. Very sad. I watched that program on the discovery channel and this is how I know these important things.

dont you all just love an impartial politician???

And I know this is tacky and catty but good grief. That poor woman needs to take a break from pregnancy and get a haircut - the 80s are over. Or wherever that one came from.

The absolute gall of Duggar and his fellow travelers. They'd fit right in with our budding cult down here. A local preacher with his followers built a small "town" of businesses that are "independent" but actually controlled by the "Church". Oh, and this preacher despises public schools and television (but keeps closed circuit cameras in his businesses).

On second thought, maybe y'all could keep Duggar in NWA.

Duggar and his clan are straight out of Raising Arizona. Remember Glen and Dot (Sam McMurray and Frances McDormand) with their pack of biblically named hellraising kids? "Malachi! take that diaper off yer head and put it back on yer sister!" I can hear Mrs. Duggar sobbing to Jim Bob, "Jebediah's gotten too big to cuddle. I need me another baby, Jim Bob." Talk about Hee Haw Hell. Fortunately for them, they live in the militia camp that is Northwest Arkansas, where freaktards like them fit right in.

Let me speak up for a minute. I am a homeschooler and I am not from Arkansas. I came here just be sheer curiosity to read what Mr. Jim Bob is up to. You see, the Duggars are a fascination amongst us homeschoolers--split down the middle, we are. One half of us think the Duggars insane, the other half are the "But, God blessed them" camp.

Those of us that are in our right mind, do not support anything this family comes up with---nothing.

Oh and let me also say this, please research your facts before you go knocking homeschooling. I don't do it for religious reasons (at all!!), I do it because *my* school system really stinks and just cannot educate my children. All one has to do is a simple Google search on homeschooling and one will find the true facts.

Not the Duggars and not these religious "anti-public-anything" nutcases. The truth is, us normal homeschoolers are slowly becoming the majority and are not raising our kids to be little "Jesus loves me" wannabe's.

I guaruntee it!! (spelt in my best southern accent)...
Toni

I would've home-schooled my kids in a heartbeat if I had thought our local schools were inferior or dangerous but they are not.

not for nothing, I have no background in art or history and a few other things. can you really be a good teacher as the kids get older, especially, without some prior knowledge?

I dont have a problem with the Duggars home-schooling so much as I have a problem wtih having 17 children or whatever this week's head count is. Why not give the rest of us a tax credit for not contributing wantonly to overpopulation and taking resources out of public schools?

Jinger, Joy Ann, Jackson Levi, Johanna, John David, Jess

Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar aren't charged property taxes on their home and the 20-acres it sits on! They made their home a church. Churches are tax exempt. A quick name search at http://www.ar-tax.org in Washington County, Arkansas, shows a 20-acre Duggar owned property with a tax bill of $0.00.

Mmmmm... WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?)

Please try to control the irresistible urge to act like this hicks you are. You don't have to like the man's policies but don't attack his wife and kids in a public forum. Rednecks...Good grief.

Please try to control the irresistible urge to act like the hicks you are. You don't have to like the man's policies but don't attack his wife and kids in a public forum. Rednecks...Good grief.

Please try to control the irresistible urge to act like the hicks you are. You don't have to like the man's policies but don't attack his wife and kids in a public forum. Rednecks...Good grief.

As an Educational Consultant and Counselor for some 41 years and age 83 have witnessed the awesome benefits of Home Schooling .. I am so pleased to see the dedication of Jim Bob & Michelle. The results and the academic growth of children are priceless with the skills and disciplines practiced by so many families similar to Jim Bob & Michelle. What'a great model for families to enjoy.

someone explain to me how she alone can homeschool so many childern on different grade level and do it so they are equal to their school counterparts? oh wait, that's because she isn't doing it alone and they have a lot of help they don't want you to know about because that would tarnish the image they have created.
Really, what does he do for a living and I want to see their childern's test scores.
if the public schools are so bad then why doesn't Jim Bob and his posse work on doing something to correct that? And honestly his stance on immigration - who cares? this state has much bigger issues to be dealt with.
Why on earth do people vote for him, Holt, and Woods? Are there really that many gullible people in our state?

I am an Arkansasan who homeschools for many reasons. One of which is that I can provide a classical education in 2-3 hours per day without wasted time. Ask any public school teacher how much time is wasted every day. The rest of the day my 2 sons are allowed to follow their own interests or, more importantly, just be kids and play.

I am a Christian, but my son does not think Jesus signed the Declaration. Actually, my 3rd grader is studying World History, including Greek Myths and is reading The Childrens Homer. How many 3rd graders in public school get to do that? World History is not encounterd in ps in depth until high school. Each family can educate based on their kids individual learning styles, disabilities, interest and giftedness. If my kids struggle with a concept, we can slow down. If they catch on easily, I can decrease repitition, review, etc. In public school kids who catch on easily are bored waiting on the rest of the kids to catch on and typically act out or are labeled ADHD. On the other hand, kids who catch on slowly tend to be left behind or put in remedial classes.

As far as how can she teach so many kids at different levels, have you vistited their website? It is full of info on how she gets it done. Although I doubt most of you would read it with an open mind. So I will explain some of how others with differing age ranges do this.

Once a child can read, the job of teaching becomes much easier. I use a literature based curriculum that can be used for a 3-4 year age range. Only Language Arts, Math and Reading have to be level specific. Most of this the child can do with very little teaching. This concept is not new. In 1972, when I was in 3rd grade, my teacher allowed us to do math and other things at our own pace and if we had questions, we went to her individually. That is similiar the Montessori method and the one-room schoolhouses of old.

Something I have never understood is that for thousands of years the majority of children have received a good portion of their education at home. Including many of our founding fathers and Thoms Edison. Public schools, as we know them, have only been around about 100 years. So why all the anti-homeschooling rhetoric?? I just don't get it.

Hi! http://www.insurance-top.com/company/ auto site insurance. The autos insurance company, compare car insurance, auto insurance. from website .

I have read many negative comments about homeschool families from many people on this website. I just want to say that I am 19 and was homeschooled through middle school and high school.

I am doing just fine in the world I am active in theatre, church, volunteering at a hospital, international travel, and many more activities. My parents are not rich by any means and they sacrificed greatly.

Also someone said they could not teach there child higher level math and physics well let me tell you my mother only made it through college algebra but I took online courses in physics, trig, and pre-cal, as well as other courses in the sciences and after attending 1 year at a state university i have a higher than average GPA and have been invited to join numerous national honor societies.

Please people don't bash homeschooling it is isn't for everyone trust me I know. I am pre-med and won't be able to offer it to my children. But I know homeschool students can do big things.

There are MANY statistics out there that I could post and if requested I could even send a paper I submitted to a college English prof on homeschooling.

I applaud the Duggers for what they are doing and wish to encourage them to stay strong and continue to push for the values they believe are important

Jim Bob was reported, by Doug Thompson for the Arkasnsas News Bureau, as claiming to be "...one of those parents who are paying thousands of dollars in property taxes while we teach our children at home, and I'm paying double for my children's education." Compare J.B.'s self-pitying claim to the facts found by clicking on the link to Arkansas property tax records provided by anonymous in his/her post of May 5, 2006. That's at least one lie we've caught J.B. in.

So many people seem to be enamored of the Duggar's supposedly self-sufficient lifestyle. They've turned their home into a church to avoid paying property taxes. They've probably also found loopholes to avoid paying income taxes or making payments to Social Security and will teach their offspring to do likewise. There goes the argument that all these kids are going to help support the system when they become adults. The Duggar's seem to be living off of church charity and fees for posing for photographs and doing interviews after their latest baby is born. They don't have a vegetable patch or fruit orchard or livestock. They produce nothing except more mouths to feed and have whooping monthly food bills. Their food appears to be mostly the cheapest available, which means commercially canned food full of sodium, sugar and corn syrup and sickeningly sweet junk like ice cream bars and chocolate syrup. All in all, I would have to say their lifestyle is hardly a healthy one--either for J.B.'s conscious or their physical health.

WOW! Doesn't this Jim Bob man or his wife know what causes a lady to get pregnant? I do not think they do. They probably wake up about every 10 months or so and say" Gee... I have another baby in my tummy... how did that happen...GEE!"
How many will they have? How many SHOULD they have? Is there a law against this many kids? There should be I think!
Lee

I can tell you as the fifth of 12 children, you don't get much individual time with your parents. You may not be a number but you are really close. I have had my parents run through four or five names to finally light on the right one. I watched the Duggers on television and it brought back my parents off loading the responsibilitry of younger chiildren on older children. The weirdly stepford, perpetually cheerful oddly dressed children who seem only to know their siblings and carefully vetted people who are just like them was a strange thing to see.
I don't know what will happen to the Dugger children but if they are like my family there will be athiests, gay people, happy people and sad people. But they won't end up like the strange parents who gave birth to them. As for home schooling it can work extremely well or extremely poorly. It all depends on many intangibles. As for Mr Dugger claiming a church exemption on his property. That is vile, and pathetic. Hardly christian.
Taxes enable all children to be educated, All parents cannot home school. My husband and I do not have any children in the public school system but when we pay properety taxes we realize that it is to our advantage both individually and as a society that ALL children be educated. He seems to clutch all his money and doesn't [ay much attention to the biblical injunction to help others. It is all MINE, MINE, MINE. Nothing for those who are not his. A selfish man not following God's word

What a lousy job by the Discovery channel and thier one sided biased slant profiling this family. These parents are just another example of what you get when you mix rednecks Christianity and zero birth control. These poor kids will be eaten alive in the real world.

I agree with the last post. What if this was a gay couple or even a Pagan couple that had this many kids? They would definitely be run out of town on a rail. And about the whole Duggar Church thing, the entire situation and appearance of the homestead brings memories of a certain "family home" in Waco, taxas to mind.

About the property tax issue, I read somewhere that the tax says $0 because it's linked to another property he owns, but he does pay tax on it. Anyway the laws for a tax exemption are for a legally certified minister, which he is not, so he couldn't claim exemption if he wanted to.

American Girl - The Duggars DO NOT pay property tax on their home or the 20 acres it sits on. Call and ask the tax assessor if tyou don't believe the bill/asessment on the website.

http://www.ar-tax.org - Washington County, Arkansas. "Duggar"

If you type the name "Duggar" into that website for Ark. taxes, there are 13 matches, 5 of which are for JimBob and Michelle. Looks like they paid over $5,000.00 in taxes last year. And no where does it say that they declared their property ot be a church.

Go back and try again.

Your Tax Records Full Year Amount Amount
Payable
Online
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $0.00 $0.00
2005 Personal Property DUGGAR, JIM BOB & MICHELLE A $254.29 $254.29
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $1,608.86 $1,608.86
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $927.22 $927.22
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $3,103.98 $3,103.98
Total Amount Payable On-Line: 5,894.35

Need Help? Request assistance online.

If you type the name "Duggar" into that website for Ark. taxes, there are 13 matches, 5 of which are for JimBob and Michelle. Looks like they paid over $5,000.00 in taxes last year. And no where does it say that they declared their property to be a church.

Go back and try again.

Your Tax Records Full Year Amount Amount
Payable
Online
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $0.00 $0.00
2005 Personal Property DUGGAR, JIM BOB & MICHELLE A $254.29 $254.29
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $1,608.86 $1,608.86
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $927.22 $927.22
2005 Real Estate DUGGAR, JAMES R. & MICHELLE A., TTEES OF THE JAMES R. DUGGAR** $3,103.98 $3,103.98
Total Amount Payable On-Line: 5,894.35

Need Help? Request assistance online.

What does Mr. Duggar do for a living?
I just watched the show for the first time last night, so I am clueless as to how they can have this big beautiful home, RV's, all that food and clothes, and go on all these trips and vacations...
What? They get all kinds of donations or what?

You people are just ridiculous. Just cuz someone says something doesn't make it true. The Duggars are good people and they actually do pay taxes on 4 different parcels in Washington county. Oh, yeah, and you can verify this yourself on the same link that someone said you could follow to see that they have a bill of $0.00 because they claim as a church. From what is freely available information it looks like they've paid in excess of $12,000.00 in property taxes; Much of which is designated for the schools which their children don't even use.

Do I think they're crazy having 18 kids? ...(17 and 1 on the way at this time) Yes, I think they're absolutely crazy in this economy having that many children. But since they support them all and they all seem to be very well adjusted kids that will eventually contribute much more to the area, than they will drain from it These kids all worked on building their new house. Imagine that, at a time when most kids won't even lift a finger to help clean their house, these kids picked up hammers and saws and physically worked together to build their home. Most of the kids I deal with at the schools get most of their activity either playing video games, or selling drug. Their kids are very well adjusted.

I hope they do pass the law giving a tax break to all citizens that home school their kids. He deserves every penny he gets. And you pathetic rednecks need to hold your judgment until you have all of the information.