More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation

I haven't read this thread through, but I believe what will happen is that corrupt districts like Chicago and Detroit will get zillions of fed dollars to keep crack babies fed and away from their neglectful and abusive parents. And of course it will house the juvenile delinquents who cause havoc in the summer. This has nothing to do with education. It's about keeping kids safe and lining the pockets of corrupt administrators.

NJ gives $5 billion (half our education budget) to 31 "Abbott Schools" (out of 600). They have extended days, swimming pools, and cutting edge technology. The corruption is rampant and test scores have not improved. In fact, violence has gone up as well. But it's NJ's version of slave reparations.

I
CHALLENGING QUESTIONABLE SPENDING
IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS
BY ASSEMBLY REPUBLICAN LEADER ALEX DeCROCE

Through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), Assembly Republicans researched and uncovered a lengthy list of questionable spending decisions by school districts in the state, especially those that are state-operated or classified as Abbott districts. These districts receive billions of dollars in state aid from the Department of Education each year.

School employees and officials are still attending conferences at resorts and stay at pricey hotels in Miami, New Orleans, Orlando and at the site of the largest ski resort in Utah. They dined on gourmet fare such as steak filet and crab cakes and topped off their meals with lush desserts.

We found significant sums of money being spent on questionable learning experiences in Abbott districts that have an unacceptably high number of students who are deficient in basic skills. For instance, taxpayers footed a $25,000 bill for eight students to take flying lessons, paid $1,400 for a "clown arts circus" to teach balancing, juggling and the history of clowning, spent $3,600 for engraved brass apples, and $10,000 to film each episode of a school superintendent's monthly cable television program in a state-operated district.

When people are forsaking vacations and otherwise struggling to make ends meet, it is outrageous that some school officials believe they are entitled to travel to places that most people only dream about.

For several years, officials at the Department of Education have admitted proper oversight was lax in some districts and there were too many examples of wasteful spending. They said it had to stop. Four years later, there is still quite a bit of room for improvement. School officials who sanction such spending need to be called to the State House and asked what were they thinking. It is evident that some school board members and superintendents don't fully understand that the money they spend comes from taxpayers, too many of whom are hurting in this economy.

But it was disheartening to hear the response of Secretary Davy and Democratic legislators when the commissioner was asked about these questionable expenditures at a recent Assembly Budget Committee hearing. They seemed to indicate a big deal was being made out of nothing. Ms. Davy said there was no way the Department of Education will ever be able to oversee every school expenditure and that school superintendents are the ones who should be held accountable, not her. She didn't sound like a supporter of "the-buck-stops-here" style of government.

CHALLENGING QUESTIONABLE SPENDING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS | Assembly Member Alex DeCroce | Assembly Member

Obama and Corzine - perfect together. :confused:
 
Well, it's back in the thread about OK schools. Of course, you can google OK schools social studies framework....like I did.

http://sde.state.ok.us/Curriculum/PASS/Grade/socstud.pdf

Yet only 25% of students can identity Washington as first president? The fault dear Brutus lies in how teachers are teaching
So, how do you manage to blame the teachers if they DID teach that Washington was our first President. I'd like to hear how you spin that one.

normal_epic_fail.jpg
 
http://sde.state.ok.us/Curriculum/PASS/Grade/socstud.pdf

Yet only 25% of students can identity Washington as first president? The fault dear Brutus lies in how teachers are teaching
So, how do you manage to blame the teachers if they DID teach that Washington was our first President. I'd like to hear how you spin that one.

How could they possibly have "taught" it if only 25% of the students get it right?

It's a physical impossibility!

Of course it is possible. How many things do YOU retain from school. Especially if your peers and your family don't emphasize the importance of education?

Or are you saying that teachers have not taught that Washington was our first President? That it never came up, even tho it was in the framework?
 
And, here we have our second lib/Dem who has said the GOP is anti-education. Too fucking funny. :lol:

Sometimes the truth can be funny ha ha....and sometimes funny strange.
Still dodging? Who, other than YOU and now Sarah-something, has said or even remotely implied that they are anti-education?

Your strawman is showing like a cheap slip. I know you have lastworditis, but rest assured, I will keep pointing out the intellectual laziness of your dodging and your strawman. ;)

I'm sure you will...btw "intellectual laziness"....:lol: Good one.
 
My district teaches how to tell time in Kindergarten. And in 1st grade. And in 2nd grade... Half my seniors can't do it. Who's to blame?

Back in the day, if students didn't know their multiplication tables, they weren't promoted to the next grade. Now with the self esteem movement, no "child is left behind". Literally. Kids are passed through without even knowing the basics. It's sad. And scary. OK is not unique.
 
Sometimes the truth can be funny ha ha....and sometimes funny strange.
Still dodging? Who, other than YOU and now Sarah-something, has said or even remotely implied that they are anti-education?

Your strawman is showing like a cheap slip. I know you have lastworditis, but rest assured, I will keep pointing out the intellectual laziness of your dodging and your strawman. ;)

I'm sure you will...btw "intellectual laziness"....:lol: Good one.
Yet, you still have yet to show us who, other than YOU (and since then, SarahG) has said that they were anti-education.

Third request for that. That's a dodge. Dodges are fallacies and intellectually lazy. You own that.

Now, pay attention: Strawmen are words YOU create that no other has said or even impied. Often, those words of YOUR creation are easily argued for or against. Then, YOU argue your own words. Making it easy, while getting out of doing the job at hand is lazy. You own that intellectual laziness as well.

Republicans and those on the right are not only anit-education, they hate puppies, too. :rolleyes: Strawmen are easy to shoot down and only fools and the intellectually lazy continue them. Those who are dishonest do not own up to their idiocy when called on it. You own that as well.

Congratuations on your own marginalizing of your input.
 
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My district teaches how to tell time in Kindergarten. And in 1st grade. And in 2nd grade... Half my seniors can't do it. Who's to blame?

Back in the day, if students didn't know their multiplication tables, they weren't promoted to the next grade. Now with the self esteem movement, no "child is left behind". Literally. Kids are passed through without even knowing the basics. It's sad. And scary. OK is not unique.
And, passing the unqualified through - as you are one who teaches and is familiar with this - do you think that is more a result of federal interference/regulations or parental pressures on local administration?
 
So, how do you manage to blame the teachers if they DID teach that Washington was our first President. I'd like to hear how you spin that one.

How could they possibly have "taught" it if only 25% of the students get it right?

It's a physical impossibility!

Of course it is possible. How many things do YOU retain from school. Especially if your peers and your family don't emphasize the importance of education?

Or are you saying that teachers have not taught that Washington was our first President? That it never came up, even tho it was in the framework?

Only 25% can identity George Washington as the First President! He's On the fucking dollar bill for ChristSake!!!!

The teacher need to get fired for being so totally incompetent!
 
He's right.


Is he? Did you read the article?

Yes. Did you?

"Regardless, there is a strong case for adding time to the school day.

Researcher Tom Loveless of the Brookings Institution looked at math scores in countries that added math instruction time. Scores rose significantly, especially in countries that added minutes to the day, rather than days to the year.

"Ten minutes sounds trivial to a school day, but don't forget, these math periods in the U.S. average 45 minutes," Loveless said. "Percentage-wise, that's a pretty healthy increase."

In the U.S., there are many examples of gains when time is added to the school day.

Charter schools are known for having longer school days or weeks or years. For example, kids in the KIPP network of 82 charter schools across the country go to school from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., more than three hours longer than the typical day. They go to school every other Saturday and for three weeks in the summer. KIPP eighth-grade classes exceed their school district averages on state tests.

In Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative, early results indicate that kids in some schools do better on state tests than do kids at regular public schools. The extra time, which schools can add as hours or days, is for three things: core academics — kids struggling in English, for example, get an extra English class; more time for teachers; and enrichment time for kids.
--------
Summer is a crucial time for kids, especially poorer kids, because poverty is linked to problems that interfere with learning, such as hunger and less involvement by their parents.

That makes poor children almost totally dependent on their learning experience at school, said Karl Alexander, a sociology professor at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University, home of the National Center for Summer Learning.

Disadvantaged kids, on the whole, make no progress in the summer, Alexander said. Some studies suggest they actually fall back. "




So, do you think that the extra time in the KIPP schools is the deciding factor in increasing education scores or could it possibly be the enhanced curriculum and parental involvement?
Look at the fact that our kids are spending more hours in school than the Asian kids that outscore them and maybe you'll see that the root of the problem isn't lack of time.
 
My district teaches how to tell time in Kindergarten. And in 1st grade. And in 2nd grade... Half my seniors can't do it. Who's to blame?

Back in the day, if students didn't know their multiplication tables, they weren't promoted to the next grade. Now with the self esteem movement, no "child is left behind". Literally. Kids are passed through without even knowing the basics. It's sad. And scary. OK is not unique.
And, passing the unqualified through - as you are one who teaches and is familiar with this - do you think that is more a result of federal interference/regulations or parental pressures on local administration?

Parents always have the final say on whether a child is held back or not...but I know that the local school district here has a policy that a child can only be held back once...or else you enc up with 15 year old 7th graders.
 
How could they possibly have "taught" it if only 25% of the students get it right?

It's a physical impossibility!

Of course it is possible. How many things do YOU retain from school. Especially if your peers and your family don't emphasize the importance of education?

Or are you saying that teachers have not taught that Washington was our first President? That it never came up, even tho it was in the framework?

Only 25% can identity George Washington as the First President! He's On the fucking dollar bill for ChristSake!!!!

The teacher need to get fired for being so totally incompetent!

How do you know the teacher didn't teach that George Washington was 1st president.

My brother used to tell of teaching 6th grade and 8th grade physical science. He'd teach the same kids 2 years later and a lot of the material overlapped. The kids would swear they'd never heard of some of the material in 8th grade and he'd saved their tests/papers from 6th grade showing that not only had they been taught it, but they'd done good work on it too.

Kids simply brain dump that which is irrelevant to them. But go ahead and blame the teachers.

When are you going to help solve the problem by becoming a teacher yourself and showing them all how to do it right?
 
My district teaches how to tell time in Kindergarten. And in 1st grade. And in 2nd grade... Half my seniors can't do it. Who's to blame?

Back in the day, if students didn't know their multiplication tables, they weren't promoted to the next grade. Now with the self esteem movement, no "child is left behind". Literally. Kids are passed through without even knowing the basics. It's sad. And scary. OK is not unique.
And, passing the unqualified through - as you are one who teaches and is familiar with this - do you think that is more a result of federal interference/regulations or parental pressures on local administration?

Parents always have the final say on whether a child is held back or not...but I know that the local school district here has a policy that a child can only be held back once...or else you enc up with 15 year old 7th graders.
If they can't get the basics, then there should be 15 yo 7th graders. I'm looking at it from a results stand point. There are too many college freshmen who have no business whatsover even having a high school degree, let alone being in college. They are shocked when they fail, too, and feel rightfully ripped off.
 
And, passing the unqualified through - as you are one who teaches and is familiar with this - do you think that is more a result of federal interference/regulations or parental pressures on local administration?

Parents always have the final say on whether a child is held back or not...but I know that the local school district here has a policy that a child can only be held back once...or else you enc up with 15 year old 7th graders.
If they can't get the basics, then there should be 15 yo 7th graders. I'm looking at it from a results stand point. There are too many college freshmen who have no business whatsover even having a high school degree, let alone being in college. They are shocked when they fail, too, and feel rightfully ripped off.

Again, the parents always have the final say....and as a parent, you would be comfortable with children 2+ years older going to school in the same classes, same PE, etc. with your kid?
 
Parents always have the final say on whether a child is held back or not...but I know that the local school district here has a policy that a child can only be held back once...or else you enc up with 15 year old 7th graders.
If they can't get the basics, then there should be 15 yo 7th graders. I'm looking at it from a results stand point. There are too many college freshmen who have no business whatsover even having a high school degree, let alone being in college. They are shocked when they fail, too, and feel rightfully ripped off.

Again, the parents always have the final say....and as a parent, you would be comfortable with children 2+ years older going to school in the same classes, same PE, etc. with your kid?
I'm not a parent. And, I think allowing the parents the final say in education at a school is not in the best interests of the students.
 
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If they can't get the basics, then there should be 15 yo 7th graders. I'm looking at it from a results stand point. There are too many college freshmen who have no business whatsover even having a high school degree, let alone being in college. They are shocked when they fail, too, and feel rightfully ripped off.

Again, the parents always have the final say....and as a parent, you would be comfortable with children 2+ years older going to school in the same classes, same PE, etc. with your kid?
I'm not a parent. And, I think allowing the parents the final say in education at a school is not in the best interests of the students.

Well, good luck with that one....parents NOT having the final say on their kids' education.
 
Again, the parents always have the final say....and as a parent, you would be comfortable with children 2+ years older going to school in the same classes, same PE, etc. with your kid?
I'm not a parent. And, I think allowing the parents the final say in education at a school is not in the best interests of the students.

Well, good luck with that one....parents NOT having the final say on their kids' education.
I'm getting that impression. It seems way too whiney to me. The educators have a job. If the parents have issues with how they do their job, then the parents can home school or choose a private school. It seems pretty simple to me, but too much politcs are involved, I imagine. And, that's a shame. It's equivalent to demanding less quality in a product, IMO.
 
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