Chawlk

1. Drawar
2. Fenxy
3. Decaflon
4. Two Credits
5. Wriging
6. Loose Suits
7. Chixe
8. Dud3s
9. Wing Colors

 

Shorthand texting is what's really important~! :)

On a less serious note, it's good to think that our language skills will deflate to match that of our science and math skills.

First, I doubt that has anything to do with whether the government runs schools or not. That seems to stem from someone trying to be a bit too PC, not from government policy. Most industrialized nations have public education, and all but a few supply that education at a higher quality level than in the US and to a higher grade (in many the BA degree is covered by the public education system).

No, my friend, this has more to do with a culture of incompetency fostered in the educational establishments which are starved for cash by levels of bureaucracy which have nothing to do with the education process itself. Teachers are asked to work more and more hours, take on more and more students, and most are not paid enough to be able to afford a home. (My wife used to be a teacher. It was not uncommon for her to work more than 12 hours a day, then spend her paycheck buying supplies for the classroom because there weren't enough funds to buy things like paper and toner for making copies.)

The US should have a federal education system, standard across all states, instead of having states like Florida and Mississippi with education below the quality of some third world nations and states like New Jersey and Wisconsin with quality nearing the level of education in Europe.

Private schools aren't bad, but to stop government funding of schools is a quick recipe for societal disaster.

What you're seeing there is one system acting foolishly. What you're suggesting is the destruction of one of the things which created the US as we know it today.

While I'm not a big fan of socialism, there are certain things -- such as health care and schools -- which I believe are better served when they have been socialized.

Private schools aren't bad, but to stop government funding of schools is a quick recipe for societal disaster.

How so?

What you're suggesting is the destruction of one of the things which created the US as we know it today.

So education prior to the early 1900's didn't "create the US we know today"? Give me a break.

Implementing competition into our school systems would HARDLY "break" the system. One school issuing a memo to not correct grammar may be one school acting foolishly on THIS subject but it seems as if I get slapped in the face DAILY with evidence that our system of education is more concerned with making the kids feel good, rather than making them educated.

There are countless examples of individuality, innovation, curiosity and creativity being stomped on in favor of "equality" and "obedience".

Our schools have been scientifically designed to prevent over-education from happening. The average American [should be] content with their humble role in life...

-William T. Harris, U.S. Commissioner of Education in the late 1800s

The children who know how to think for themselves spoil the harmony of the collective society which is coming, where everyone would be interdependent.

Every teacher should realize he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of the proper social order... In this way, the teacher always is the prophet of the true God and the usherer-in of the true Kingdom of God.

- John Dewey, philosopher and education reformer of late 1800s-mid 1900s

Only a system of state-controlled schools can be free to teach whatever the welfare of the State may demand.

- Ellwood P. Cubberley, former superintendent of San Diego schools and Dean of Stanford University School of Education (late 1800s-early 1900s)

'Parent choice' proceeds from the belief that the purpose of education is to provide individual students with an education. In fact, educating the individual is but a means to the true end of education, which is to create a viable social order to which individuals contribute and by which they are sustained.

- Association of California School Administrators

We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages to our cause.

- Horace Mann, education reformer

The education of all children, from the moment that they can get along without a mother's care, shall be in state institutions at state expense.

- Karl Marx - Father of Communism

Every child in America entering school at the age of five is insane because he comes to school with certain allegiances toward our Founding Fathers, toward his parents, toward belief in a supernatural being, toward sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity... It's up to you to make all these sick children well.

- Chester Pierce - Harvard University Psychology professor

Straight from the horses mouth...

I'm a former school teacher from Texas, and nobody ever said 'Don't correct grammar'. Instead, we were told the opposite, and this was a few years ago, not 40 years ago.

I consider competition, in the form of charter schools, healthy. I also think that charter schools should have to prove that they're getting the job done.

But referencing the early 1900's as a positive example of an educational system completely ignores who was educated back then: the sons of rich white men.

What's funny, is that when people say 'the government should not run our schools' they're usually talking about federal interference in state/local issues, not about some idiot in a district office.

This is another one of those cases where someone local says 'Don't use red pens because it hurts their feelings'. Blechh. What's going to hurt a kid more? Seeing red pen on a paper and knowing what to fix or dropping out because he or she doesn't know how to write?

Right on, RightOn

Gnorb,

I agree with you in that the problem is not that the schools are government run. Rather it's our government specifically that's running them that is the problem. I think they could be run well by a government, just not ours, especially in it's current state.

The problem is huge and multifaceted, but I think a lot of it just comes down to stupid beauracracy. You'll encounter this in any huge monolithic organization. The people actually doing the work are not empowered to do it well, but are also required to meet certain standards which may or may not apply to the overall goal of the system. This breeds shortcut taking, cheating, bending the rules, all for the sake of keeping one's position.

If you look at private schools you'll be very hard pressed to find one that isn't orders of magnitude better than a public school. It happens, but it's a rare exception. This isn't just due to the funding issue, though of course that plays a large role. It's also due to the size of the organization. They can make changes, and quickly if necessary. There's not miles and miles of red tape to go through to make a simple adjustment that can benefit the students.

Wow, those were some excellent and terrifying quotes.

I consider competition, in the form of charter schools, healthy. I also think that charter schools should have to prove that they're getting the job done.

I consider competition across the board to be healthy not just in special charter schools. We foster competition in our economy, allowing businesses to fail if they don't meet demands etc... and somehow "education" needs someone to hold its hand? Not in my book.

So, how is the success of a charter school determined? Is it via test scores, the happiness of students, a monetary kick-back that makes parents happy?

Other issue this brings to mind:

The lack of performance pay for teachers in public schools. I don't mean 'complete this program and we'll pay you more' kind of performance pay, I mean monetary incentives based on student performance and professional growth.

If you were a high-performing teacher, wouldn't it drive you crazy to see the lowest performing teacher in the school take home the same paycheck?

Tests are fine to determine the success of a teacher/school... my only problem is that FAR too many schools end up teaching the test so that the state grades them well simply because their kids can regurgitate data back onto a peice of paper well.

You can still test the schools but it should be done randomly and by a privately funded testing company, not by a government agency who all but send the answers to the teachers ahead of time.

reason #7 or 8 or so why I'm never having kids: because I realize how few of my former classmates are intelligent enough to be able to have civilized conversation, a decade or so later.

I want to say that I had solid upbringing and wise parents that taught me a lot,

but maybe I was just lucky. And maybe a whole lot of other kids weren't.

I always encourage those who believe the failure is funding to do the research and see just how much of their state budget goes to education. It's a staggering percentage for most states -- generally 40-70%. How much more money does one throw at the problem before beginning to believe there must be another solution?

More lovely quotes for you guys...

1988 Senate Committee on Education - "We beleive that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years, manifesting itself among the laboring classes"

The Rockefeller Education Board (Major provider of funds for the creation of government schools) - "In our dreams, people yeild themselves with perfect docility to our molding hands. The present educational conventions fade from our minds, and unhampered by tradition we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people, or any of their children into philosophers, or men of learning, or men of science. We have not to raise up from among them authors, educators, poets or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians, nor lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians or statesmen, of whom we have an ample supply. The task we set before ourselves is very simple... We will organize children... and teach them to do in a perfect way, the things their fathers and mothers are doing in an imperfect way."

Also of note is to look into the very textbooks our children are being 'educated' out of... take for instance books published by Harcourt Publishing in reference to your bill of rights.

2nd Amendment (as seen in the US Constitution) - A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

2nd Amendment (as seen through Harcourt's filter) - "The second amendment says that states may enlist citizens for a trained militia and provide and train them with weapons"

ZERO on the individuals freedom to own and operate their own for their protection.

10th Amendment (as seen in the US Constitution) - The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

10th Amendment (as seen through Harcourt's filter) - "The tenth amendment says that any powers not given to the federal government may be passed on to the state governments and the people."

Anyone want to tell me how one can pass on something to someone when that something wasn't theirs to begin with?

One last note for those of us who profess to shun socialist behavior yet revel in a state mandated education... the Communist Manifesto contains a 'short list' of required practices to make way for a communist society.

#10 on that list - "Free education for all children in public schools."

Correcting their grammar might hurt their self-esteem. And we all know how important self-esteem is to the government school system. It's all part of dumbing the masses down.

Here in Switzerland, going to a private school is a sign of

a) being someone who can't/won't learn German and is thus enrolled in a private international school

b) someone who was kicked from a public school

The level of education in public schools is very high. When entering college, you have to write entrance exams if you DID NOT attend public school.

In India, we have full-fledged competition among schools. This leads to practices that are contraproductive in an education system, because the school acts in favour of the business than in in favour of the students. The fact that private schools become the only viable solution if you plan on becoming anything only further degrades the status of public schools, which are overflowing and whereafter you're chances of joining a college are grim.

Jonathan Kozol has penned a number of good books on the state of our public education system. Perhaps the best being Savage Inequalities. I read that and got really into him and his ideas around the time I was a Freshman in High School. From there is when I pretty much lost what little faith I had in our public schooling system. But I digress...

At the college newspaper we have a running joke about the local Subway on campus and the employees who ask "Whassyobreaaaaad?" Meaning, what bread would you like?

All one word, usually drawn out to 15 syllables or so.

That's sad :)

Private and charter schools may sometimes have some higher scores on state and federal mandated tests. It's important to know that one reason for some of their success
is a selective process of admission to the school. Example: your daughter (cousin, neighbor) is autistic and needs speech therapy. She needs small classes of significant structure. Her educational needs will be in the public school, not private or charter. Her teachers will belong to a union and have certification up the ying-yang. Everything in their work has a form to complete. They have college loans to repay and are saving to buy a home. It is only their passion that you can see and your daughter can feel.

I remember my International Baccalaureate History class having to take the SOL (Standards of Learning) tests in Virginia the year prior to them being mandatory for high school graduation so we could help our high school's overall score out.

There's nothing like covering 400 years or so of history in 3 hours. :D