TAN: Education Reform Package?
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Zeynep Dilli di...@wam.umd.edu
So waking up this morning with CNN radio news, I listened to Bush presenting the highlights of his proposed education reform package. It went along the lines of "monitor the testing and evaluation of students by schools closer, provide more support to schools whose students are showing improvement after a given period of adjusting, and "punish" schools that aren't improving by taking their support away.
The CNN.com story [1] expands on this by defining the period as three years, and the punishment as breaking apart the support money for those schools and giving it to the parents so that they could transfer the kids to better schools.
I was curious about how this would work. The initial images that the idea invoked for me were students in poor/disadvantaged/whatever schools would be put under a hell of a lot more stress and pressure to succeed, and succeed fast, by the school administration and teacher body. Which might be what the legislation idea is aiming at, but I had a feeling that it would be very, very stressful for the kids. Not to mention the administrators and teachers.
I've been in a case where competition between students is bitter and the pressure on them from the teachers to be better than their best is very high, and it made me stronger, but I'm not sure it promoted my learning. ObOnTopic: It was kind of like the effect Far Madding had on Rand.
But I admit I don't have very clear thoughts and opinions on how such a system would work here, simply because I did not come from the American pre-college schooling system. To get a better idea, I must needs turn to those who have.
Thoughts?
[1] http://www.cnn.com/2001/ALLPOLITICS/stories/01/23/bush.wrap/index.html
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Zeynep Dilli
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kree ...@my-deja.com
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"Rennion" newsgro...@fantasiaspace.com
In my opinion Bush's education plan is crap.
Especially vouchers.
Whoopee! Texas has high test scores.
All the kids know is how to take the test.
So valuble. . .
I'm SO lucky to be in these schools. . .
The Great Gray Skwid sk...@my-deja.com
Apparently not.
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| | |\ | | | ) Theudegisklos "Skwid" Sweinbrothar |/| |\ |/ | |X| ( SKWID, Vulture V4 pilot ( The Humblest Mollusc | | | | | | | ) Evan "Skwid" Langlinais ) on the Net "The Capslock key. The crayons of the internet" -- The Owen
Jeff Walther t...@io.com
It depends on your perspective. Clearly, you can read and write at an acceptable level. You are not the target for these education reforms. There are a disturbing number of schools where students are not being taught to read or write or do arithmetic at anything that you or I would consider a simple level. You can't make high scores on those tests if you can't do the basics.
Those tests don't demonstrate erudite philosophy or a great grasp of the mythic elements of literature. They do demonstrate that the test takers have the very basic skills that are a gateway to any additional education. That's pretty much all they demonstrate, but that has (sadly) become essential, because in so many places those basic skills are not being effectively taught.
kree ...@my-deja.com
Deja error on my previous post (or I was just distracted because I'm at work): Typically, money does not go directly to parents of children in failing schools. Instead, a parent will inform the State that she will remove her child from a certain school and enroll the child in a new school.
The State responds by reducing the grant/stipend of the first school by the per-pupil expenditure amount and adding that amount to the grant/stipend of the new school. By keeping the money out of the hands of individuals, the possibility of fraud is reduced.
Note: The per-pupil expenditure for the Washington DC Public School District is actually greater than the tuition amount of any DC area private school. I can go get the actual numbers if you need them. This is a large part of the reason why the vast majority (over 80%) of parents in the District want school choice.
The goal is to get as many schools as possible involved in the program.
Current public schools are required to join and private (charter, religious and cultural) schools are invited to join. All schools in the program are required to accept any qualifying student without prejudience (racial, sexual, religious) up to the enrollment limit. An exception might be added to allow for the creation of single-sex schools (which I personally consider a bad idea).
This would allow the parent to choose from a variety of educational environments; from schools-without-walls create-your-own-curriculum to didactic learn-by-rote parochialism. The parent recieves a copy of the child's results from the annual standardized tests and, of course, is involved on a daily basis, gaining an understanding of whether her child is actually learning.
The objection that all the schools would simply teach-the-test seems rather heartless since so many American schools are not even teaching that much as it is. Teaching-the-test would at least get our national literacy level up and we might even be able, as a nation, to do algebra.
I was going to add a few horror stories of what I've witnessed in American public schools both as a student and as the son of a teacher, but maybe later when my manager isn't around.
One last thing, many American teachers sincerely believe that they are experts and better know what is in the best interest of children than their own parents. It is this attitude that leads them to oppose competition among educational styles. They think they already embody the best and that any doubt of that is nothing more than a show of ignorance.
Kreeg Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Jeff Walther t...@io.com
It is possible that the school adults might react by putting the student body under pressure, but let's use some perspective here. The tests that Bush's plan are talking about are not entrance exams to Harvard or MIT. They are tests of basic skills. Students don't have to stress out to learn those simple skills. They just need to put in some reasonable efforts and have teachers who can teach in an environment where learning is possible.
Now I have my worries about taking resources away from schools that are already doing a poor job. That seems like it might be counter-productive. But as a former substitute teacher I think the problem is bad enough to warrant it. There are a lot of schools and teachers out there who just aren't doing their jobs. Often the reasons are external (dumb administration or whatever) but the result is the same. And the schools (for whatever reason) are not changing to address the problems.
Now, when someone isn't doing their job, the first thing you should do, I think, is try to help them. We spend more money on education than most other industrialized countries. More money is not solving these problems. And if you examine the problems, most fo them are not monetary, they are institutional. You don't need a beautiful school building with a big gym to teach effectively. Any reasonably not uncomfortable environment will do.
Schools just are not willing to make the changes needed to fix the problems. So we have a horrible problem and the people responsible aren't willing (or able) to fix it. So as a last resort, you take away their students and their money. Either the problem schools will change or they'll evaporate and cease to exist as institutions.
That is the kind of environment you find in a high achieving academic environment. It is not necessary to the teaching of basic skills. This education bill is designed to address the failures at hte low achieving end of the educational system, not increase the pressure at the high end. If you've been in those kinds of environments and survived, you will find the tests that Bush is proposing to be ridiculously easy to p***.
Yet teachers unions complain when their members are asked to p*** tests that any seventh grader should be able to p***. Sigh. This topic could use up a news group all on its own.
I'll leave you with three random thoughts. 1) Studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between the percentage of a schools system budget spent on administration and the quality of education.
2) Teacher's Unions are one of the biggest obstacles to changes that would improve education (not to say they've never done any good). Their main characteristic seems to be obstructionism.
3) Often our school district has justified raising taxes by crying about how little teachers are paid. But once they've tricked the citizenry into accepting the increased taxes, they never actually use that money to raise teacher salaries. Where does it all go?
bevellemel ...@earthlink.net
I dunno...somehoe I can't trust an education package from such an obvious idiot.
Bevel Lemelisk My favorite skit of Bush is during the debates SNL did a mock debate...The moderator asked Bush to sum up his campaign in one word and he said, "strategery." Hilarious Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
bevellemel ...@earthlink.net
> > Zeynep Dilli wrote:
> > > I was curious about how this would work. The initial images that
> > > the idea invoked for me were students in poor/disadvantaged/whatever Christ...you gotta hate a spelling error you don't pick up til you hit send. Especially in a post where you call someone else an idiot. Damn it all.
Bevel Lemelisk Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Mrs. Skwid (Tina) sk...@my-deja.com
Hey all, It's Mrs. Skwid, Tina, as those who know and loathe me may address me. I've been a teacher in George W. Bush country (Texas) for three years, and I couldn't p*** up an opportunity to put my two cents worth in regarding the hot topic of the Renaissance Republicans: In article <3A6E03D6.33D73...@io.com>, t...@io.com says...
I couldn't agree more, Jeff. May I call you Jeff, or would you prefer Bubba? Let's examine exactly what "accountability" (the buzz word around Washington) might mean to Bush, Jr. and his cronies. Every February, I come face to face with the nemesis to quality public education. Its name is TAAS (Texas ***essment of Academic Skills). An approximately 500 question scantron test divided into three, and at some levels four parts, that tests (say for purposes of example, eighth graders) in reading comprehension, written English mechanics, persuasive and cl***ificatory writing, and intermediate algebra. As an English teacher, I feel myself unfit to comment on the math portion. The reading portion tests for abilities as far as the third level of Bloom's Taxonomy (Application), and a writing level that requires a five paragraph, well elaborated essay about something as inane as whether we should shorten the school day by 15 minutes or not. I call it my nemesis because it allows legislators (read: wealthy businessmen who haven't set foot inside a cl***room since their mothers blew the Senior English Prof, guaranteeing them a p***, or their fathers bought off the calculus prof with savings bonds from WWII, likewise guaranteeing them a p***) to ***ess my ability to teach, train, nurture, (who am I kidding?) bitch-slap the average Johnny IQ 100 into responding in a manner that is anything but typical 14 yr. old. As a result, frustrated educators do the worst thing they could in their position. They teach to the test. They teach to the lowest ****ing denominator until that measly one underneath the multitude of langouring successes has no choice but to give up in the futility of the public education system, and learns to p*** the test, not because he/she (let's be politically correct at all costs) can understand the problems, but in the case of severe learning disabilities, (which are tested at some level or they do not receive a standard diploma) are taught to memorize a common testing pattern of B or C and sometimes A in desperation. Yes, kids should put forth more effort. And of course, teachers should learn how to teach. What the hell were we thinking?
For a moment, I began to have real hope for you, Bubba. The schools George W.'s program would deprive (in Texas at least) are inner city schools, swarmed with immigrants. The legislature, with the encouragement of our esteemed former governor, recently p***ed legislation that demanded that immigrants be tested according to TAAS standards within six months of crossing the border. This means a young Hispanic girl who left Chihuahua seven months ago, illiterate in her native tongue, will stare at a lined, blank piece of paper for two hours next week while we test her to see if she can write the above mentioned five paragraph, fully elaborated persuasive essay over lengthening the school day by 15 minutes. I expect she'll do what students in the same situation for the past two years have done. She'll raise her hand, (not knowing enough English) she'll sign out that she needs to go to the restroom, and she'll vomit the nice breakfast tax payers paid for her to eat just that morning. How ungrateful of Ibette.
Her scores will count more heavily than any other student's when in June our school's "accountability" ranking comes out. You see, in Texas, you are ranked not by the average student performance, (which at my school has been 97% p***ing on all tests for the past three years) but by the lowest score of any subpopulation. Ibette falls into our subpopulation of newly immigrating Hispanics, leaving us with a p*** rate of 55%. Under new state legislation, our funding would be yanked, and TEA (Texas Education Agency) representatives would take over the schools, instituting an all TAAS all the time policy until Ibette and people like her can learn to bubble those damn scantrons correctly. I'm sorry I did not acknowledge your expertise earlier. Between spit wads, and the poorly written lesson plans of influenza-ed teachers, you must have really suffered. As a teacher, I hate to bust your bubble, but you got as close to real education as "The Brady Bunch" to reality. Remember how you used to treat subs when you were a kid? (You know the one that kept picking and eating his boogers when he thought you weren't watching?) And do you really think any responsible teacher is going to leave legitimate learning materials for her students when she/he is relying on a basically itinerant worker who may or may not speak the language to carry them out? Puh-lease. Like I said, in Texas, you don't shape up, you get shipped out literally. The teacher turn-over rate (before they leave the profession, not the school!) is two years. I've beaten it by one measly year.
Couldn't agree more, Bubba. I do hope you don't mind that nickname. But you have to look at where the money is going. In Texas, it funds our test machines. (No, Bubba, I don't mean the scantron reader.) I mean a test machine in the way Ozzie meant War Pigs. TAAS development, implementation, production, and evaluation are close to one billion. That kind of money doesn't do a damn bit of good.
Unfortunately, if you enter any low-achieving school in Texas, you will find this level of pressure. It doesn't foster learning. It fosters results on a piece of paper that 50% of the students who helped earn that result cannot read. George W. decided in 1994 he preferred nice statistics to real learning. As a person committed to doing my job, I have striven to give him just that. These are his results. The soaring illiteracy rate and lack of faith in the education system are George W.'s legacy in Texas. You'll never find me defending the Texas ExCET, or "teacher test" on grounds of elementary rigor. I p***ed in the 99th percentile. However, if you've watched the news, you know that Teacher's Unions haven't complained about this since the early to mid eighties.
Sigh.
Agree.
Whoa, now, good Bubba. Of course they don't appear to do anything but get in the way of legistlators and the general media. I don't belong to one because as a Texas educator I am de facto forbidden to. They fight for some pretty petty things sometimes. But fair compensation, whether it be a starting salary over 30K or health insurance that doesn't cost $750.00 a month (the price for some new teachers making 30k a year in Dallas ISD for the 2000-2001 school year), some of their causes make sense from an employer's stand point. Believe it or not, we don't all do this out of a sense of charity, or because we couldn't get a job in the esteemed "real" world.
I agree. And as an experienced educator who has studied this system to the point where Prozac and Zoloft can no longer help, I tell you they go into the glorious testing systems that George W. supports with every elephantine bone in his body. May the Test Pigs march on. They'll have one less teacher to march over next year.
Tina
Kenneth G. Cavness kcavn...@proxicom.com
Foolishly giving up the right to remain silent, Just to throw out my non-credentials, my mother and father were teachers in the public school system in a small little town in Texas where teachers unions were a dirty word for approximately 15 years, and as I got to sit in the teachers' lounge a lot, I got to listen in on their politicking. This automatically, of course, makes me an expert.
[snip] Unfortunately for your point, TAAS is the unholy love child of Mark White, a rather ineffectual (and that's saying a lot for Texas) Democratic governor and Ross Perot. It started out, I believe, as TABS, and went through about four or five other names before they finally found a name that wasn't trademarked. Though TAAS always makes me think of PAAS, the egg decorator stuff you dye eggs with in Easter...
It's a *bipartisan* idiocy.
The other wonderful, lovely thing that Mark White and Ross Perot slammed into place was the "No P***, No Play" rule that said that unless you p***ed for your six weeks in every single course, you didn't get to participate in any extracurricular activities.
Now, this primarily affected sports.
So, I got to watch as I grew up an ***ortment of yahoos sleep their way to Cs, Bs, and As in cl***es I had to work hard to get into and p*** myself because they played football or basketball.
Nice idea, shitty execution.
Damn. I used to remember that thing, but all I can remember now is that the mnemonic had elephants in it.
[snip] Yes. They do. In my ****ing honors and AP courses, all the way up to Junior High, we'd spend one six weeks just learning how to beat the test. And this was in a well-funded school district.
[snip] [snip] My mother took the TECAT (I'm not sure if it's called that any longer; it was the teacher's ***essment test) and barely p***ed a couple of the subjects; I took it at the age of 12 and didn't do too badly.
And despite what you say here, my experience ran much more to the "tenured" teacher rule. Teachers were given what seemed to me a great deal of latitude in their suckiness.
[snip: Teachers' Unions] Eh? My debate teacher in San Antonio's Northside School District was the president of the Teacher's Union in Texas. When were unions outlawed?
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Kenneth G. Cavness http://stargoat.dynip.com/ (usually) UIN: 3504847, AOL IM: kcavness2
bevellemel ...@my-deja.com
[snip 3 pages of posts! wow] This TAAS dealie reminded me of those standardized tests they gave me in Hisgh School in every subject Called the GSE (Golden State Exam).
It was a foolish little test designed to see my aptitude in the subject in question. My mom was and is extremely upset because when the GSE was first introduced, p***ing with Honors or High Honors would be noted as a seal on the person's diploma. My diploma was a 4x4 piece of shit. Needless to say I warranted a few of those seals, hence her anger. But thats neither here nor there.
What it reminded me of was this stupid test for English where they asked us at the beginning of the year to talk about some stupid shit..I dunno, our summer vacation it was one year. Well, during the middle of the year they told us that all tests that were taken in the first semester were invalidated and we had to take them again. I scored High Honors or something on that one so I was kinda annoyed, you only go down from there :). I'm not sure how you cheat on a random essay but I guess someone did. I wrote for my second essay 10 full pages on how much I hated the GSE and how incredibly wasteful and irresponsible it was for them to invalidate my GSE test because someone screwed up, cheated or whatever. It was a good rant, no cussing or name calling..I tried to keep it an even-keel emotionally while still giving them hell for taking away from my one period of sleep. Guess what? I failed completely. I went from as high as you can go to as low as you can go in 4 months. I know that speaking with my brother and his friends as well as people from school had degraded my vocabulary some, thanks to rap and the colloquial used therein, but not to that degree. I wasn't mad, I went home to laugh about how I'd get one less seal on my diploma (heh, I got none), and I found out my dad the English major failed many standardized tests in High School for the same crap.
Bevel Lemelisk Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
jdastock ...@lis-a.com (Jeff Stockwin)
Much better, however, just to let it go than to quote your entire 100+ lines just to point it out. There was too much quoting in the first post, then to get it all again... just too much.
And besides, it could be worse. A few weeks ago I found a spelling error in this .sig I had been using for more than a year.
--
Jeff Stockwin "If only we were all wiener dogs, then our jdastockwin @ lis-a.com problems would be solved!" - Jon Lovitz as The Radio
Sarah Coit sc...@hsph.harvard.edu
[SACAIGAP] I was reading an article about Bush's #@%*!*# policy on family planning in the NYT yesterday. Someone wrote that Bush had "enunciated clearly" his policy throughout his campaign. When was anything Bush said *ever* clearly enunciated?
-Sarah
kree ...@my-deja.com
Let me start by saying thank you for taking on one of the toughest jobs in America. It's something that I haven't done and I feel somewhat ashamed that I haven't. However, I have to point out that you seem to be missing the point of school choice/vouchers.
School choice will allow parents to determine the best education environment for their children. If a particular school system or teacher only "teaches the test" and parents want more than that, they can move their children to another school. If parents want at least a basic literacy for their children (this is what most immigrant parents are desperately seeking from our educational system), than teaching the test is a good place to begin.
As for you contention that a student can p*** a test by memorizing B or C and sometimes A, we both know the statistical impossibility of that.
I basic understanding of the knowledge being tested must still be gained for a student to p*** even a scantron test.
Most teachers I've met (literally hundreds due to my work with disabled children) sincerely believe that they are experts who know better what is in a child's best interest that the child's own parents. They have told be that educational choice is a bad idea since alternate methods of teaching have already been tried in the past and have been abandoned by professional teachers. I would accept that as a valid argument if American education was improving rather than crumbling.
Please don't take this personally, but major decisions about education should not be made primarily by teachers since educators are part of the problem that our nation is trying to solve. Since teachers don't see themselves as part of the problem, they don't understand why they are not trusted to solve the problem on their own.
Kreeg Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Kenneth G. Cavness kcavn...@proxicom.com
Foolishly giving up the right to remain silent, Kenneth G. Cavness <kcavn...@proxicom.com> wrote on Wed, 24 Jan 2001 00:06:49 -0600 the following...
Make that "my Junior year of High School". The TAAS exit test.
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Kenneth G. Cavness http://stargoat.dynip.com/ (Actual site coming soon!)
jimh ...@swcp.com (Jim Hill)
Mrs. Skwid (Tina) wrote: I love you.
Platonically, of course, but you've written the kind of rant from the inside that should be writ large 'cross the sky whenever anyone proposes "reform" of the system. This "test, test, test" mentality and the mailed fist of consequence that comes with poor performance leads to a dead stop in every state where it's implemented. Yes, it's nice to know _before_ we put Jack and Jill out into the world with freshly-printed diplomas that neither of them can read or identify the location of Canada on a map of North America, but once you begin "teaching the test" you stop teaching course material.
Another datum: the state of Missouri, and the Missouri ***essment Program, also known as the "MAP" test. MAP replaces the Basic Educational Skills Test because, well, their BEST wasn't good enough.
MAP is actually a collection of tests, math, science, language, social studies, etta setta rah. The MAP science test covers physics, chemistry, earth science, biology -- the usual array of stuff taught to high school seniors. It would actually make a pretty good exit exam, which is why it's taken at the beginning of the sophomore year.
According to state law, schools are required to improve their average score from one year to the next. Two successive years of failing-to-surp*** and the school can be taken over by the state since the locals are doing a rotten job. Schools that instructed their students to tank it the first year (when the bar was set) bought themselves a grace period because beating that was easy. Schools that didn't do this are faced with the realization that the not-statistically-unlikely chance of years N+1 and N+2 being less that that of year N could be The End. As a result, they are frantically devoting cl*** time to the art of doing well on standardized tests: when to guess, how to guess, what kind of essay paragraph is considered "good", and the like. They are devoting cl*** time to the basics of everything that could be tested. Again referring to the science exam, the biology teachers are covering basic physics and basic chemistry once they finish with basic biology. The physics teachers are teaching basic chemistry and basic biology once they finish with basic physics. The chemistry teachers are following the drill. There is effectively one cl***, "P***ing the MAP", taught with many names: "Biology", "Physics", "Chemistry", "Botany", and on and on and on.
Oh, and did I mention that the state in its majesty has decided that it can minimize pressure on the students by not testing them all at once?
To keep them from freaking too badly, they are tested on science, then a couple of weeks later, math, then social studies, then English and so on. The Need to Succeed felt by the schools is such that when a MAP is coming up, teachers in other areas are expected to do little more than tread water. If Miss Physlab is teaching how you should guess if you can identify two answers as definitely false, then Mr. Languagelab needs to hold off on "Animal Farm". Miss Physlab is expected to reciprocate in a few weeks when Mr. Languagelab teaches how you should guess if you can identify two answers as definitely false. By the time this foolishness is all said and done, it's nearly Thanksgiving and only then do the districts get down to the business of teaching the material which they've already been tested on.
The solution to the educational mess to is recognize the inherent wisdom of Judge Smails' words: the world needs ditch-diggers, too. Not every kid is going to be able to solve a differential equation with his left hand and titrate with his right while reciting the Prologue to the Canterbury Tales in the original Middle English. Stop putting kids in cl***es they can't handle. Get them out when they sink if you've missed the first cut. Put a ****ing bullet between the eyes of every juvie judge who thinks the best thing to do with the teen who just beat someone half to death is to "sentence him to school, or else." Give teachers the authority to say "Get out" and have it be for more than "until tomorrow". Stop counting the hydrocephalic who rides the short bus as par with the Westinghouse winner when the SAT scores come back.
Reward actual achievement; not everyone is a Winner! and kids know when they're being shined on. Refrain from telling them that only losers use drugs when the coolest kids are the ones who throw parties during parental business trips. No more coddling: if Timmy won't sit his *** down and listen quietly when told to, ADD/HDAD/Tourette's/whatever is not an excuse. Learn or go home.
Give the teachers freedom to experiment and the resources to support it.
If the biology teacher wants to take the cl*** out to a forest so kids can see how all the pieces fit together (e.g., a forest is more than a lot of trees) or if the English teacher wants the kids to see Shakespeare on a stage instead of a videotape on a 13" color TV with chronic flicker then Make It So, goddammit. Back them up when they have to tell a parent "I'm sorry your child is failing, but it's because you don't discipline him and really, he's not that smart to begin with." Accord them the respect they deserve: believe it or not, many of them _could_ be doing something else but _choose_ to teach.
I better stop before I get too spastic to work this afternoon. Plus I have to save my carpal tunnels for typing the long letters to my elected officials telling them that Dubya's proposal should be DOA in both chambers.
Jim
--
"I like you, Betty."
"Marty Rhea" mr...@qwest.net
just need to put in some reasonable learning is possible.
enough to warrant it.
Tina, "Bubba", and Kenn primarily, but anyone may know-
I am going to copy your posts respectively, minus names, to several congressmen and to the White House as well. Why, you ask? Because, as a parent whose children are, at least in part, a product of the Texas educational system, and as an expatriate Texan, this matter is very important to me. I think the points brought up in this thread, particularly Tina's reply to 'Bubba', are some very candid, intelligent, and 'inside' snapshots of a very crucial issue. Since George W. has made education reform a national issue, I think ...
wseitz wse...@bbn.com
Federal Education Reform sounds nice, but federal funds only account for around 5% of a school's budget. The rest is from the state. The plan to screw the "worst" schools will, of course, hit the poorest schools. These schools will probably be forced to continue because there isn't capacity for the students elsewhere. So the state and county will simply have a little less money.
The Bush plan really is based on the idea that the failing schools are filled with lazy teachers who aren't trying to do their jobs. Theoretically by threatening these shiftless people with money removal you can get them to actually do their jobs and perform better. I have a friend who teaches in a really bad school and while he notes teacher incompetence he says the main problem is lack of parental involvement.
Private schools getting voucher money are largely unaccountable to anyone.
For example, public school teachers need to take a test or obtain some form of accreditation. Private school teachers do not. Parents can move their kids in and out of these schools, but if you can't see the potential for abuse you have a very undevious mind.
Jeff Walther t...@io.com
You emphatically do not have my permission to quote any part of my posting in such a letter. In the first place, my name is not Bubba. I do not, nor have I ever resembled a redneck. I grew up within spitting distance of Washington DC. In the second place I do not wish to have my prose ***ociated with the rantings of Tina. In the third and most dispositive place, I wrote my thoughts for a Usenet discussion. They would be composed differently if I wished to communicate with a legislator.
"Marty Rhea" mr...@qwest.net
OK. If that's the way you feel about it. No further comment.
Marty
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"I have questions; I have lots and lots of questions". me
Mrs. Skwid (Tina) sk...@my-deja.com
Dear, adorable Kenn, et al., In response to your following statements: [snip] I knew it was reminding me of something slightly sinister from my troubled past. And you are absolutely right. The Texas Accountability System has its roots in Ross Perot's complaint to Texas Legislators that he could find no literate professionals to hire in Texas, and therefore, the system was to be overhauled. I focus my anger over this system on Bush because legislation under his regime has created the monster out of the testing molehill. It was a sane idea in its infancy. It has matured into an educational nightmare.
With regards to our "No P***/No Play" Policy: [snip] Agreed. And get the latest addition: Athletes who take Pre-AP courses or AP courses (My district's name for "honors" credit) can play even if they fail the course. This came about because coaches were discouraging athletes from taking rigorous courses for fear they would fail. However, instead of protecting the athletes' rights to a higher education, in most cases we have coaches shoveling athletes into Honors courses left and right so that even with failing grades, they can still use the star quarterback.
I have to remind myself that this is a national forum, and that not all states worship athletes as we do in Texas. Talk about a funding-sucking black hole . . .
Its not the test that gets them. The ExCET as it has become is relatively simple if you take standardized tests well. The average college graduate could p*** it with no problems. What gets them is the stress. Its what's getting me. And its not stress over discipline, contrary to what most lay people may beleive. I've loved every moment with the kids. (Okay, maybe that's smaltzy exagerration.) It's the growing realization that no amount of coaxing, bribing, tutoring, begging, and yes, teaching my ****ing heart out can produce the results our current legislature is demanding. You are left with an abiding sense of failure that no amount of fuzzy warm moments with the kiddos can soften. Oh, I never meant to deny their existence. What do you think has the school districts across the nation so panicked about the teacher shortage? These folks are retiring. We lose the very good Baby Boomer Teachers with the pick-the-lint-from-my-***-while-cl***-designs-stink-
bombs baby boomer teachers. And those baby boomer teachers, good, bad,and real ugly, make up 40% of the teaching population. The more disturbing fact is, turnover is high among motivated, young teachers. And the teachers who would have become the future butt pickers don't even last a year. Is this an acceptable level of loss? Perhaps. It sounds to me like we're throwing the baby out with the bath water. At twenty-five (barely), and three years experience, I am third seniority in my department of ten. And we are the most stable in the school. So much for a wealth of experience. Bottom line, Texas is not doing enough to retain the new teachers it hires in abundance each fall. It's like going out to Dilliard's, buying a bunch of Anna Sui suits, spilling ketchup on them the first week, and instead of dry cleaning them, throwing them out and heading back to Dilliards. In the next ten years, I can look forward to shouldering more of my benefits costs, and seeing my salaray rise from 32k to 38k. Teachers don't get promotions. We get added responsibilities. The only way up is out. Read: De facto-- maintaining control in reality while not formally established in law Unions aren't outlawed. But at the district I work for its a surefire way to not have your contract renewed. I personally like the idea of unions, but I get most of the same benefits through a professional ***ociation that my school won't fire me for joining.
Egads, I ramble!
Tina
jimh ...@swcp.com (Jim Hill)
Whereas federal mandates consume well over 50%.
Beautifully summed up, and in a single sentence to boot!
Said accreditation almost always begins with "has a degree in education from a real live Kollidge". Meaningful education reform requires that a system which would have prevented Richard Feynman from teaching high school physics be scrapped. And for God's sake, when you scrape up some money for reform, don't turn around and give it to the very people who got us into this shitty mess.
The potential for abuse is more than offset by the ability for parents to put the kids in the best school versus the closest.
Jim
--
"I like you, Betty."
Kenneth G. Cavness kcavn...@proxicom.com
Foolishly giving up the right to remain silent, Jim Hill <jimh...@swcp.com> wrote on 24 Jan 2001 17:42:21 -0700 the following...
Good god! Do you have a cite for this? That number's *huge*.
(I'm not saying you lie; I just want to see the breakdown...)
--
Kenneth G. Cavness http://stargoat.dynip.com/ (Actual site coming soon!)
jimh ...@swcp.com (Jim Hill)
Mrs. Skwid (Tina) wrote: ObLeTourneau: Have you tried ****ing your teaching heart out?
Jim
--
"I like you, Betty."
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