Great Nick, to bad you cant interject that it is the Gov who makes the determination of the value of the property that they are taking. and there is little or no negotiation of that price.
We had a similar situation with a neighborhood very close to the ocean. taken and redeveloped for the greater good of the community.
It was also just in the news that the Mayor of NY would evoke the eminent domain and take the site of the proposed mosque near the site of the WTC if he had to.
I thought conservatives believed in small government? Now, the republican candidate Carl Paladino wants to abuse the powers of governor to remove a building that he find offensive? Wow.
The most offensive building to me, is a government run grade school building. It represents a government-supported monopoly that takes parent’s money by force of gun to fund the harming of their children.
Lets raze them all and build statues of Nick Gromicko 
There are private schools out there, as well as the home-schooling option, you know. If you took away the public option, you’d have a lot more ignorant kids because their parents can’t afford to send them to grade school.
The people who send their kids to private schools or go this routeshouldn’t have to pay for public school inefficiency or lack-luster.
Rob, aren’t you forgetting something?.. if you took away the public option, the parents could keep all the school tax money and use it to educate their kids. Even renters pay school tax and it is a lot! In some places it costs the taxpayer $20,000.00 a year (per student) to provide a horrible education that the private sector can offer for $10,000… and that’s while competing with the government monopoly. Imagine how inexpensive and fantastic private schools would be if the government would get out of it. Opposing school choice and forcing poor children to go to poor schools, keeps them poor. Vouchers create competition amongst educators… and competition creates excellence.
The main reason western society has the best living conditions in the world is because of the public school system and the fact that all kids can go to school. Private schools tend to be exclusive whereas public schools are inclusive and enable all children to be educated and become contributing members of society. Third world countries invariably do not have any education system and become the breeding grounds for violence and terrorism.
Private schools are only exclusive because we don’t have school choice. Take all the school tax money, divide it by the number of children there are in the country, and give them all a voucher so that poor inner-city kids can attend the best schools… and… the worst schools will correctly close due to lack of funding.
They are exclusive because they choose to be exclusive and practice discrimatory policies that creat all kinds of problems.
The worst schools are the worst because they are under funded and left to founder. If your schools were funded on the number of students that attend and the number that finish the term and all schools in the whole district were funded equally they would be able be good schools and the students would succeed.
If you want to create competition to improve the schools you set state wide exams and publish the rankings according to the schools whose students get the highest marks and the schools that have the highest percentage of students that complete the year. Of course all schools have to be funded equally and teachers have to be paid high enough wages to attract the best and retain the best. As you are fond of saying you get what you pay for. If too many students under perform the poor teachers can be identified and be replaced.
I disagree, Money does not the determining factor for a good school, its the students and the parents. The public schools are required to keep children in the class regardless of their performance and contribution. So You have children who dont want to be there, who are disruptive and belligerent taking away the teachers time, resources and patience and take away from the students that are doing what they are supposed to do, Learn and progress.
We have brought the standards down to record low levels in order to accommodate all. That just creates a society of average people. Is that what we want to strive for? For fear of appearing discriminatory we ship students 30 miles away to a school that they dont want to go to. We lower the standards of education so that it is fair to all. Honestly how is that fair to the future brilliant minds.
I believe in opportunity, set the bar high and those that jump over it, get a prize. those that see those get a prize will work harder and reach for that higher bar.
Guys, remember; we are going to have private, government run health care. Education is next on the list, just after cap and trade (or whatever they are now calling it.)
Kenneth, your anology can be used for our industry, as well as many others. We are becoming a nation of basic standards, to accommidate all, and foreign nations are laughing. There is no disipline, enforcement, or incentives for people to do better. Most Americans want people to do better, but we are being limited by rules and regulations that do not benefit anyone. Teachers are afraid to do or say anything, or even give a student a hug if they need one. There is no personal attention. Students get up and leave their seats, have drinks and food at their desks, and walk around anytime they want. Teachers are afraid to do their best, because it may make one parent out of a hundred scream foul. So, it is one for all, all for one. Just like our industry.
We all better make a stand, and I hope it happens in November.
Our whole industry is in the mess it’s in because of uncontrolled greed in the mortgage business. Using mortgage interest rates below the prime minimum rate to sell houses at inflated prices. Then the government used my taxes and your taxes to bail out the fools that got us into this mess in the first place. Who the h*ll do you think is going to have to pay all that government debt? I guarantee that it will not be the greedy fools that we via our misguided government got us into And do not forget that the bushman was in power when all this happened.
Making a 6-year old take an exam is a form of government-mandated child abuse. 6-year olds should be left in their naturally dreamy world to play and imagine. Baking the cake slow and allowing kids to be kids is how you end up with very smart adults. Pushing stupid stuff like phonics on grade-schools children is worse than burning their arms with cigarette butts.
Really Nick?? Burning kids with cigarettes??? Where do you find this stuff.
Is there a Model somewhere in the World that you can point us too that supports your “Private School” claims??
The top ten Countries that produce Nobel Prize Winners are all Western Countries with Public schools?
Odd dontcha think?? 
Nicky, nicky, nicky I do not believe you are serious.
I was tested and my kids were tested. SAT= student achievement tests that showed what the student had achieved. If I remember correctly the tests were designed in the US.
In this province grade nine and grade twelve students are all tested with the same province wide exam for each subject. Thie grade 12 exam establishes whether or not the student has the marks to get into university. When this present government came to power in 1972 they stopped this testing. Several years later the universities had to set up entrance exams because the marks the students had did not reflect the students actual ability and were failing.
So the government has reintroduced the prov. exams. The results are published and all the schools are ranked on marks, the percent of students finishing the year compared to those that started. and several other stats. Parents can review these results and then pick the public school they want their pride and joys to attend.
Teachers with too high failure rate or too high drop out rate are replaced.
We have private schools and public schools. A couple of years ago a bunch of private schools in Edmonton went belly up and the public school system had to bail them out.
I see nothing wrong with testing high school kids.
Canada’s system is better than here in the states. Here in the U.S., a parent is NOT permitted to pick the public school they want their children to attend, even if willing to find their own transportation to and from.
Well not all school districts allow kids to attend the school of their choice but the Edmonton public does.
Unfortunately the prov govt has taken over all the funding of schools. They collect the school property tax and distribute the money back to the school districts on a per student grant. They are extremely tight with this funding. The school buildings are not maintained and some districts have to choose between paying for teachers and supplies and building maintenance. The students take priority and the building is neglected. 50 bucks worth of paint now would prevent 500 bucks of repairs later but the fools in government do not understand this concept. Up until the prov took over the funding the individual district had to build and, maintain the building. The buildings were well maintained. When the Prov took control of the funding my school tax dropped 200.00 and has not been increased.
Another thing that makes for better schools is almost every community has a “separate school system” The separate school system is run by and for the Catholics. They will accept any child from the public system and this creates competition. When I pay my property tax I tick off a box that sends my tax to one or the other system.
I should have raised my kids in Edmonton.
In Philadelphia, the funding goes to buy metal detectors and bullet-proof glass. 