The proposal would dismantle "No Child Left Behind", because it's not fair to punish schools who can't produce educated children. It's not fair, I tell you! Wahhh!
Using reading and writing as measuring sticks will no longer be the sole criteria. Other subjects will also be measured, such as art. Johnny's inability to read and write will be offset by his ability to draw a stick man. And there's more!
In the proposed dismantling of the No Child Left Behind law, education officials would move away from punishing schools that don't meet benchmarks and focus on rewarding schools for progress, particularly with poor and minority students. Obama intends to send a rewrite to Congress on Monday of the law.
With this, Obama pitches high and to the outside to the powerful teacher's union, and we can expect the union to hit the ball out of the park. He's doing no favors for minorities. Instead of holding teachers accountable for abysmal job performance, the kids will be given a "pass" if they can cobble together a crayon picture.
Note to Obama: students will NEVER be ready for college or a career if they can't read and write. Diminished expectations is racism, and this plan is loaded with exactly that.
The cost for this steaming pile of merde? Glad you asked!
And, for the first time in 45 years, the White House is proposing a $4 billion increase in federal education spending, most of which would go to increase the competition among states for grant money and move away from formula-based funding.
With this ugly plan, the kids of today will be dragged down to the lowest common denominator, the taxpayers of today will be forced to get a third job to pay for all those art supplies and incompetent teachers, and the taxpayers of tomorrow will be supporting yet another generation of illiterate leeches.
Thanks Obama!
Please forgive me all the baseball analogies. It's spring. ;D
ReplyDeleteAlso notice that he's sending the rewrite to Congress tomorrow. I don't expect this legislation to get stuck in committee, or to be debated in any meaningful way.
ReplyDeletePrediction: this will be rammed through so fast our heads will spin.
Recall, if you will, that this man's primary experience is as a "community organizer." He will always make exceptions for problems for which he has no solution. He has no solution involving creativity or building anything, so why would anyone expect more of him? The suit is empty.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to blame it all on him, but our educatinal system has been back sliding for decades IMO. He's merely acting to institutionalize it.
There will still be exceptional students who turn out to be exceptional people in the USA. However, they will have no power, especially political power. They will succeed however, earning the privledge of high taxation.
Once our system reaches the critical mass of 51% of the electorate populaiton paying essentially no income tax, the job will be compelte and we'll have a single party system. The lucky 51% will never realize they're being screwed even harder by consumption taxes, fees, increased material costs incumbant on "fee" systems, and will thus perpetuate their own dilema...to crap or just fall asleep on the pot.
This view is cynical as hell, so someone please tell me I'm just in a bad mood.
I am continually reminded of my experience with people from other nations who seem to know more about the US of A than the average high school senior here. Koreans, Vietnamese, Chinese, Germans, Austrians, French, Swiss, et al (the later few mostly ski racers, many farm kids or craftsman family kids, not university Phd's) who spoke 3 or more languages and were better versed in things American than any of my daughter's friends in high school, save one or two, ever will be. When I went to school the entire 4 year curriculum fit on one 8.5x11 sheet a paper; 4 years of plain hard science, literature, history, math, only 2-4 years of foreign language, sports, and elective arts. Never again?
Aridog, when this becomes the law of the land and ALL of our schools (instead of many) are reduced to crap factories, do you think we'll see more home schooling?
ReplyDeleteEspecially by a family's older generations, who WERE taught physics, chemistry, calculus, Plato, languages, and even basic Latin?
The educational equation might shift in a way that the Obama-ites have not anticipated.
As I wrote the prior comment I recalled a young man, 20 something, who was an Austrian ski instructor teachng in the USA while earning his way through university in Vienna...one year teachng skiing in USA and New Zeeland, a year of university, and so on. Anyway, on one of my ski trips in 1984 I essentially hired him to ski with me all day every day for 3 weeks because once in a while I did that to improve my own skiing, although expert, there is always somebody better and he was that.
ReplyDeleteWhat amazed me is the breadth of knowledge he had of history and science, as a college freshman equivlalent,that I observed on long chair lift ride conversations, and his multiple language capability. The other thing was his overall birght and positive demeanor...it was contagious.
As I grew to know his whole contingent of student-instructors, I discovered they were all like that. I was going through a hard time emotionally due to extended family issues (the reason for the extended get-away ski trip ... which I mostly kept to myself) and their company was like a breath of fresh air, uplifting would be the word. When I remarked that I'd always wanted one of the Austrian State Ski Federation's technique manuals (they were all Austrian State certified instructors), a few minutes later my guy produced his copy from his room...a slightly dog eared English edition, and gave it to me!
At the time I was 42 years old. And I was still learning things, like how to ski smoothy through the trees ("glades") in deep snow making smooth turns around trees...damn, it was harder than slalom (trees don't fall down if you hit them & there can be big holes near their base to fallin to), not my favorite event in the first place, but it was a ball to do just for fun following or alongside an expert.
At the end of my stay, I presume as a way of saying thanks, by flattery, for the time and conversations each day and night (from which I learned far more than they did), the ones who'd been teaching some aspiring NASTAR racers (a non-pro-senior mostly 30 something group in those days) asked me to forerun the final Giant Slalom course they'd set up for their students to compete upon. Flattery will get you every where, I only hope I didn't embarass them too much. I'd not run a gate of any kind for over 15 years.
Nearly 30 years later I still can "see" those young bright happy faces so intense with their questions and answers. I'd like to find that a common facet here one day.
Don't look at me - I homeschool. And I homeschool because of this utter crap in school regulations.
ReplyDeleteI test my kids every year, and yes I damn well do teach to the test AS A BASE. Because, duh, a kid that can pass a reading test (without cheating) is a kid that can read.
Then once my kids have those skills down we move on. Their field trip list is usually in the 30s every year - and places like Mount Vernon, Monticello, The National Museum of American History, Ford's Theater, etc. So the negatives of"teaching to the test" is a ridiculous argument. The test is the base of knowledge a kid needs to have.
Translated to Maslow-ese for the touchy-feely who believe that all ideas that look good on paper will work in real life: The test knowledge would be the base of the pyramid. Without the base, the pyramid falls down.
Also, I'm feeling crotchety and cranky today. I HATE spring forward. With a passion. And I can't even have some coffee to get me through the day.
Poo.
Lady Red....perhaps more home schooling, but there are less and less of those educated in the old way to do so, even boomers are hitting retirement shortly. That and I expect there will be an institutional backlash by school systems as their turf is threatened more and more.
ReplyDeleteMy other concern about home schooling is the lack of day in day out social skill assimilation except in unusual cases. I was lucky (or cursed, take your pick) because I went to high school in a very small co-ed private school in the far northern boon docks (no TV, just academics and sports, plus a pretty good library)...my parents sacrificed to send me in order to prevent me from turning in to "Fonzi"...who I looked more and more like at the time...plus to enable me to ski as a sport...in those days no exactly a "Detroit" thing.
In short, at 13 years of age, and ever more, I was gone from home 10-11 months of the year more or less. I had to learn to cohabit with my peers, from all over the country, first and foremost. I'm not sure how that could be accomplished in a home school environment.
"do you think we'll see more home schooling?"
ReplyDeletePossibly, in the very short term. Until it is realized that the home-schooled have an unfair advantage due to actually having learned something useful.
At that time, home-schooling will be painted as harmful to the children who are not 'socialized' properly, and home-schooling will be outlawed.
Ari - socialization is really not the big issue that many make it out to be (there are extreme cases, of course).
ReplyDeleteMy kids have never had a problem with it - lots of the people posting have met them in person and they really are where they should be socially (and ahead academically).
Of course, I'm basically a bus system at this point as we juggle Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, CCD, Boxing, Swimming, and Gymnastics...
We might be cutting out Girl Scouts, too. Much to my chagrin. The local organization is usually much separated from the weirdo freak national organization, but THIS may be too much for me to reconcile:
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2010/03/sigh_1.html
Airforcewife...you DO know you are one of those "exceptions" I mentioned in my comment on home schooling. Right? I mean, you are one dynamic individual, along with AFG, who can make the home school work....your kids are anything but cloistered.
ReplyDeleteI admit I don't know much about it these days, but my question about social assimilation stands for the few I've met around here.
Aww, thanks Ari! I feel like I'm pretty average and normal, though. Really - I do!
ReplyDeleteMaybe kind of a smart-ass. Okay, probably a smart ass. Whatever.
:P
You raise good points about social skills, aridog. Some families can turn to their churches, but for many others this will be a real problem.
ReplyDeleteAs homeschooling becomes more widespread, perhaps we'll see communities, or even individual neighborhoods, band together to provide the social integration kids need.
AFW, I admire you for homeschooling all of your kids. You're leading the way for other families.
AFW...yes, socialization is a big issue, a core issue...but in your case, and I'd hope the majority, as you imply, handle it as a core part of overall education and growth...as you are doing with the outside activites. I don't gather from our acquantiance that you coddle or give the kidlets much choice but to be oit going. It doesn't always work, but not truying never works. My concern is how many parents, well intentioned, do not have your energy and drive.
ReplyDeleteBut I will take your word for it.
You want to see an highly educated but seriously unsocialized individual...look no further than the White House.
Lady Red said: "perhaps we'll see communities, or even individual neighborhoods, band together to provide the social integration kids need"
ReplyDeleteIn the olden days, we used to call that "school"...community schools focused on learning, even the one room numbers. Maybe they will band together in the future to provide composite teaching in the home school manner but in a collective environment? Back to the future?
I should add that to accomplish what I jsut said, they grip of the instituionalized administrators must be broken and the power returned to parents, who must themselves sustain involvement.
ReplyDeleteIt is not impossible.
"Note to Obama: students will NEVER be ready for college or a career if they can't read and write."
ReplyDeleteThat is the point of this whole exercise. They want a society of people who are unable to think or provide for themselves. Such people, while eating crumbs, will forever vote to keep "the elite", who will be eating caviar, in power. I used to be concerned with the socialization of home-schooled children. Then I saw the social skills of the kids my son went to school with. Can't do any worse than that.
But, but, but...it will keep them voting Democrat for their hand-outs!
ReplyDeleteYou know it's a problem when they announce it on a Saturday.
That's OK by me, just adds more people to the NO list for Obamacare. Rahm is supposed to be such a political genius but these recent moves wiill be a death knell for the slim chance it has to pass.
Gawd forbid we actually expect students to learn and teachers to perform!
And I like the baseball analogies, lady red :-)
I'd love to blame it all on him, but our educatinal system has been back sliding for decades IMO. He's merely acting to institutionalize it.
ReplyDeleteGood point.
"And I like the baseball analogies, lady red :-)"
ReplyDeleteAnd if somebody posts this again, we can say the the chicken went "Balk balk balk balk."
OMG afw! I couldn't believe what I was reading. Well, there's another organization that I loved going down the PC toilet.
ReplyDeleteSad and pathetic.
And if somebody posts this again, we can say the the chicken went "Balk balk balk balk."
ReplyDeleteG-R-O-A-N
img:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/dancingdems2.gif"
AFW / Florrie.....re: VC Link...
ReplyDeleteWhoa!!...that is pure unadulterated Masters & Johnson bullshit.
Re-sized & Re-dux...I just had to see what slick Willie was doin', eh?
ReplyDeleteimgw:"http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/floranista/dancingdems2.gif"
"And if somebody posts this again, we can say the the chicken went "Balk balk balk balk."
ReplyDeleteimg:"http://i627.photobucket.com/albums/tt358/redhawkclan/rofl.jpg"
AFW, I just read your link. Now I want to move somewhere far far away. Mars, even.
ReplyDeleteFlorrie, your dancing Hillary is very cute. :)
Lady REd....Hillary only wishes she had Jim Carey's legs :-))
ReplyDeleteThe story about the Girl Scouts being co-opted (more like 'exploited') by the UN does not surprise me, I am sorry to say.
ReplyDeleteRemember we aer talking about an organization that has engaged in child-sex in almost every place their 'peace-keepers' are sent.
Nonetheless, I am horrified.
I was in process of making a fake ad for the Dems during the last election.
ReplyDeleteThe tag line was 'The Less You Know, The Better We Do. We're Democrats.'
But it was overcome by complete depression as BarryO's numbers continued to increase, even though that truly proved the premise of the ad.
Sorry - misremembered - the actual final tag line was;
ReplyDelete'The Less You Know, The More We Like It - We're The Democrats.'
Hey, good job, Aridog! I'm still not too good at resizing the graphics...when I posted it I THOUGHT there were more people in the pic, lol!
ReplyDeleteFlorrie....
ReplyDeleteFor now, according to Lewy...if orignal is 350 or less use ... img:"url"
If over 350, use ... imgw:"url"
The "sizing" is automatic.
Shit...it's trying to show an image...
ReplyDeletelet's try plain old English:
Add a "w" to the "img" to make it "imgw" when original image is over 350 wide...then the colon and quotation marks around the url...no spaces between the img or imgw and the colon or the 1st quatation mark.
Sigh...I know only enough to be dangerous.
The Girl Scout thing is grotesque. I've been talking to a few other moms in my area and we're pulling our girls out next year. It's a hard decision, because on the local level the GS are awesome, but Nationally... There's only so long you can ignore what they're doing when they're 180 degrees from your own beliefs.
ReplyDeleteThe homeschooled kids I've known (lots, because we homeschool) are all a lot more sociable than the public school kids in our area.
ReplyDeleteI mean, how many kids in elementary and junior high school LIKE to sit and have conversations on real topics with adults?
Homeschooled kids often do - they can mix with any age group with no difficulty. Even kids that are naturally shy seem to be able to handle themselves in a wide range of social situations, where the majority of public school kids over the age of 12 are at a loss the moment they are talking to anyone over the age of 18.
It's even easier for the homeschooled kids to take up speech and debate. They are more used to elevated conversation and haven't learned to be perpetually embarrassed about who they are and what they look like.
That's another nice aspect of homeschooling - if the parents aren't complete jerks, the kids are just more WHOLE than kids that have lived with the peer pressure, abuse, and shame heaped on a lot of institutionally educated kids.
Since I am on an "I have imagined" track tonight, here is another:
ReplyDeleteIf I won lotto, I would love to set up a school that teaches the basics on a level on which they used to be taught.
Maybe we should get together and develop a curriculum. I nominate AFW as Principal.
re: the girlscout link - wtf? "and Hot!"... and Hot?
ReplyDeleteIf there is a place for this kind of "education", maybe it's the barbizon school of modeling... but the girlscouts?