kemmer

I began teaching in 1979, in a classroom with 45 kids, age 10-17, newly arrived from SE Asia; the Lao kids had never been in a school and the Viet kids had been slightly schooled but none of the kids spoke a word of English. I was to teach them English and what academics I could. I remained in that area for the next 34 years, as Hispanics and b****s moved in. In my last years, students I had taught now had their own kids, and their parents requested their children be placed in my class.
I was often visited by former students now active in the professional and business communities, and although there might be a place for specifically-oriented charter schools: performing arts, STEM, and vocational, they will never replace the free, public, neighborhood schools.

Seth

Okay, I tend to agree to some extent, at least where the "free" public schools are concerned.

However, those "free" public schools are not giving much value anymore, especially those in low income neighborhoods, yet as their product declines they eat more and more tax dollars, essentially charging the taxpayer more money for less return.

This is what happens when something is the "only game in town." It's also the way the teachers' unions like it.

They h**e the charter schools and things like voucher programs because their respective products are better educated, college ready young people, so they donate enough to Democrats' campaigns to see that this unwelcome competition is kept to a bare minimum, if not completely crushed.

What's needed is some healthy competition, alternatives that will take away this unionized stranglehold on the futures of these kids. The more space cities provide, the more parents would have the option of getting their children out of a failing system. Unless the "free" public schools began improving their product, they would become increasingly moot.

Hence, they would have to compete. That could get them on the path to our once again having a school system we could be proud of, and to affording inner city kids a good basic education as well.

If we simply leave things the way they are, treating them as an inevitability, we will only continue ripping off young people who deserve the same education we had when we were growing up, leaving them nothing but dead end lives ahead.

From your last post, you sound like a good teacher, so why would you want to go with a failing system, given what's at stake?

And what's your view on the phasing out of Civics and American History in our schools?

kemmer

Since when is that happening? Where are YOU from?

Seth

Have you tried to talk American History with any millennials lately, or do you expect to meet more than a few of them who even know how the government works?

kemmer

Somebody should tell Trump how gov’t works.

Seth

Trump's doing just fine, the Democrats keep inventing new p**********l power parameters that apply only to Trump.

kemmer

No, Trump is still discovering his word isn’t law.

L8erToots

Let's use an analogy, shall we? If you owned say, a Porsche, and your property taxes paid for maintenance/repair, including pick up and delivery service, at the only government mandated and regulated repair shop for your area, which was set up to service a variety of average cars most prevalent in your area, determined by home values.
Now, because there is no competition between repair shops and average standard maintenance is the objective (to make sure all cars on the road are safe) the service isn't that great and your Porch is suffering in performance and finally breaks down. The only way you can get your high performance car to a foreign car repair shop in a town 10 miles away is if you have it towed, at your expense, if they have an "opening"...same goes for maintenance.
You've invested a lot of money in your car, but with the low quality of maintenance in your district, your high end car won't be worth anything within 9 years and no one from the part of town where the high end car owners live will want to have anything to do with it. Your only option is to move sell your home, uproot your family and move to a smaller home in a more expensive neighborhood...even if it's only 5 miles away.
No person would v**e for or put up with that with a $50K+ car, but thinks it's ok for the CHILDREN of America.
That's our "free" public school system as it stands and the choices parents face...shame on those that demand more for their inanimate possessions than (their) children.

Seth

Of course! (Slaps forehead) How remiss of me to forget that like ISIS, Trump is "Junior Varsity," so his presidency doesn't carry the same authority as did B. Hussein Obama's.

Seth

Well put!

L8erToots

So can public schools. In fact, the only kids that receive "special ed" in academics are the kids that score high on the IQ tests - they figure it's a waste of resources if the kid has a low IQ (can't fix stupid). Yes, resource teachers have told me this as if it made perfect sense to them🙄).
Lots of charter schools started because students got kicked out of public schools (for academic reasons, behavior, etc) and they found out that gee, all kids are different and learn differently...imagine that🤔). Teachers are different and have different teaching styles and passions. WTF is a teacher who is passionate about biology and science, enough to get a 6 yr MS degree, being forced to teach math?
Why is a man or woman who has successfully had a career in, say, accounting for 30 years, unable to teach basic accounting and accounting software to high school kids without a 6 year degree?
We have 600,000+ blue collar mfg jobs, paying between $16-$18 per hour to START and not a SINGLE shop class in HS to teach them any kind of sk**ls to get those jobs. We also have millions of 55+ year old displaced mfg workers, most without college degrees, not able to get jobs in industry (because of their age) OR teach high schools kids what they will learn in "community college" 101 classes for $350 for an 8 week class or $6K (after a $10K govt grant) for a 2 yr "certificate".
You know what my parents got for their tax dollars? Between 1973 - 1976 I got 10 semesters of technical drawing (drafting) from a teacher who was a construction worker during the summers and with that "free public education" I was able to work as a drafter/designer for 35 wonderful years, in many different "fields" of engineering. My friends got the sk**ls to get any jobs they were interested in and have been very successful.
What do kids get now for "free" after 12 yrs? Most can't cook anything more complicated than Top Ramen, can't use any business s/w, if they can afford a car they have to take it someplace where illegal Mexicans who have less education than THEY do to change the oil, much less fix them.
Public school unions are the most powerful, corrupt and self-serving organizations in this country. When a kindergarten teacher makes more money than a law enforcement officer does, by holding our children's education hostage by striking during the school year...fuck them...they're no better than c*******ts.
MAGA...starting with schools via free market competition.

L8erToots

L8erToots

And there it is....the condescending, elitist attitude of the "intellectual". My (conservative) SIL was a (Special Ed) math teacher her entire career (MS in biology from Texas A&M) in the roughest school district in Houston. I know many other teachers (mostly conservative) that 1) don't look down their noses at others, 2) don't belittle those without a college degree and 3) couldn't WAIT to retire to get away from the frustrating stranglehold the school district had on them and how it shortchanged students while benefitting administrators.

kemmer

I don’t think you’d recognize a “condescending elitest” attitude if it bit you in the ass, because it certainly wasn’t in my post.

L8erToots

In your posts following the specific post I commented on, I agree. But this specific comment? Please...