Theses Senators who voted against Betsy DeVos, send their kids to private schools, not public....

[Oldstyle]

I also find it remarkable that as an administrator you didn't deal with Common Core issues mandated by the Federal Government.

 

[Oldstyle]

I assume that you simply ignored the Federal Government's regulations on Transgender bathrooms?

 

[Markle]

National Education Association General Counsel Bob Chanin stated in July 2009.

Chanin: "It is not because we care about children. And it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power. And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues...."



Says it all, does it not?

He's a lawyer! That is his J-O-B!

Glad you agree! Thanks!

He is not an educator, dumbass!

WOW! You must be a teacher to have put that together!

I'm simply pointing out the problems. You wish to disagree with the facts. That's your problem.

What problem are you pointing out? The problem is that you are clueless. The facts are that he is a lawyer not an educator. He is not a member of the union, Why not just admit that and we can move on?

Where is your head?

He's one of the union bosses.

Helloooo?

 

[Markle]

What is it exactly that you DO for those 80 plus hours a week?

Why should I bother telling you? Honestly, you know so very little about what goes on in education, you would not understand anyway. But here is my typical week.

I arrive at school at 7 am at the absolute latest every day. Class starts at 8 and I teach until 3pm. That's 40 hours a week right there. I tutor three days a week after school for my students. That's 43 hours. I grade papers for at least 2 hours each day, sometimes staying at school until after 6 pm. We'll be generous and say that I don't stay late on Fridays, so we will add another 8 hours, so we are up to 51. Each night I write my lesson plans and that takes about 2-3 hours because I teach 3 separate classes. Because we have no textbooks, I write SmartBoard presentations, edit worksheets for their classwork/homework, and then make up handouts containing notes and formulas we use. We'll go conservative and add another 10 hours. That's 61 hours. I also have to do a book study for my new teacher orientation classes because I am new to this district, despite having taught 20 years. That's a few hours a week, We'll add three for that so we are up to 64 hours. On Sundays, I have to watch professional development videos to get my required 24 hours in this year, so we'll add another 2 for that. That's a total of 66 hours. Oh, BTW, because my district held their professional development in the summer before I was hired, I paid nearly $200 out of pocket for the video courses that I am using.

I also sell tickets for sports events at school as part of my other assigned duties. I watch the restrooms between classes, which is about the only time I get to use those facilities. I do not have my own classroom because we are building a new school on-site and I am the new kid on the block. I push a cart with all of my instructional materials to 4 different classrooms throughout the day. Our teachers lounge contains two copiers, a refrigerator, a microwave (donated by yours truly) and our mailboxes. There are no chairs or desks. My planning period has me sitting at my desk/cart near an electrical outlet in a hallway so I can use my printer (bought and paid for by yours truly).

That's as a teacher. Now imagine being an administrator and having to supervise all of the after school sports and other activities,

Now, how about those apples?

So even exaggerating the ever loving shit out of everything you do...you only got it up to 66 hours? That's after claiming to work 80 hour plus weeks. So let me guess...you're not teaching math...are you, Admiral?

You need remedial reading. I said I worked 80 hours a week as an administrator in response to those who accused administrators of being hired to do nothing.

Then the subject was then turned to what teachers work. I responded with my current situation Try reading it again and see if you can't figure it out. If not find a 10 year-old to read it to you!

You've not worked 80 hrs a week in your life. On the other hand, I have, for many decades though most were 60-70 hours. I loved every minute.

 

[EverCurious]

Because they will actually be paid more, have more control over their teaching methods and have better benefits......you have no idea how competition works because you have been inside the government education system so long, you don't understand how the customer having freedom of choice increases quality and lowers cost......

How are they going to get paid more?

The charter and private schools will not be in any financial condition to pay higher salaries. Why can't you see that?

Those schools will have to do much more with less because they will have costs for facilities that public schools already have in place.

You amateurs just cannot see the big picture.

No...they won't be wasting money the way government controlled schools do...the waste in the public school system is massive....the voucher schools will concentrate on educating children...not hiring more and more administrators who do nothing.....

If the government was in charge of supplying cell phones we would still have brick phones.....the magic of the customer having the freedom to choose and go to another school will make all schools better.....how you can't see that is pretty amazing.

Having been an administrator in the schools, let me tell you about the 16 hour days I put in at least 5 days a week and sometimes again on Saturday..

My current school has three administrators. They are usually the first to arrive and the last to leave.

You are completely clueless and that makes your ignorance all the more dangerous.

Sorry....I am well informed on the state of education in Chicago public city schools.....they waste money, and don't teach children...they do get lots of tax dollars that gets laundered back to the democrat party here in Illinois.

What about all of the other thousands of school districts in this country?

Don't screw up my district because you cannot run yours!

I'd say that if your district is working well then vouchers won't have an effect, the parents will just give them to the school that's working well.

For example, Birchwood ABC in Alaska will most likely /expand/ their funding under vouchers because they'll have money from more parents. There's a HUGE lottery to get into Birchwood every year, I've had people try to buy my kids slots there, and other parents are super jealous I won the lottery.

Talk about School District abuses: Birchwood ABC used to be a K-12 but the school district siphoned off their funding to build a concert hall at Chugiak High School so they lost their "Jr High" level teacher and thus school district "authority" or "permission" to teach 7-12 classes - even though the kids coming out of Birchwood K-6 are doing High School level academics. All three of my kids graduated K-6 from Birchwood and had to go over shit they already knew for redundant years in JR High and HS. The decision to take away Birchwoods K-12 status had nothing at all to do with "educating" the kids, it has to do with money for the other schools.

EDIT - I have to take part of that back, my first son in Birchwood did K-7, the teacher was in a car accident mid year and they lost the district approval for grade 8 so he had to go to Jr High for one year.

 

[EverCurious]

As an addendum for the above - My middle son decided to move in with his dad for HS, the difference in quality teaching for two HS's 40 miles apart is so huge that my second son dropped out and got his GED because he was so bored and wasn't learning shit; said it was a waste of his time (something I understand well as I only did 2 years in HS before I said fuck this, though admittedly there were some personal conflicts for me in that my councilor had accused me of telling a friend to commit suicide based on a song I told him to listen too, then later became the principle.)

By contrast, my youngest could have graduated in his third year, but decided to /continue/ going for the extra year to take advantage of specialty field related classes through the career center.

 

[RealDave]

Yes...the democrats will condemn minority kids to hell holes for schools.......and happily send their own kids to private schools...from the salaries we pay them....

Well, well, well........the fake indian princess sent her kids to private schools....

Senators Opposed Vouchers Backer DeVos, Send THEIR Kids To Posh Private School

Sen. Al Franken, a Democrat representing Minnesota who was once an unfunny comedian with bit parts on “Saturday Night Live,” has two children who attend The Dalton School in New York City — 1,018 miles from Minneapolis and 226 miles from Washington, D.C.

The cost of a single year of tuition for students in kindergarten through 12th grade at Dalton is $44,640. This amount, which represents slightly more than the average household income in the state of Alabama, is “among the lowest of our peer schools,” the posh Upper East Side school trumpets. On Friday, lunch at Dalton scrumptiously featured sustainable green tea salmon, anasazi bean salad, fresh organic papaya yogurt and a pasta bar with both marinara sauce and puttanesca sauce.

Dalton is most famous because its administration called off this year’s ice-skating party after a large group of parents refused to send their children to the Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park for political reasons. (RELATED: ‘Liberal Moms’ Make Fancypants Manhattan Prep School Cancel Ice Skating Party At Trump Rink)

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat representing Massachusetts, has a granddaughter who rubs shoulders with the children of movie stars at the trendy Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, California. Tuition at Harvard-Westlake costs $35,900 each year. There’s also a $2,000 fee for new students.

Harvard-Westlake offers a bevy of amazing opportunities for students including study-abroad programs in Spain, France, China, Italy and India. There’s also the Mountain School, “an independent semester program that provides high school juniors the opportunity to live and work on an organic farm in rural Vermont.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat representing Rhode Island and himself a private boarding school product, has two children. His daughter attended the Wheeler School, a coed day school in Providence where a single year of tuition for sixth grade through 12th grade currently costs $35,215.

Sixth graders at Wheeler spend a segment of the school year romping around at a 120-acre farm owned by the school. The “unique, place-based experience” includes “vigorous scientific leaf studies” and “examinations of poetry, art, and mathematical models deepened through the context of” the school-owned farm.

Whitehouse, who has owned stock in a for-profit charter school company, also sent his son to a St. George’s School, a private boarding school in a gorgeous hamlet on the seaside.

Annual tuition at St. George’s is currently $39,900. Boarding students pay $58,000.

St. George’s offers a special program which allows students to sail around the world for several week on a 69-foot sailboat “traveling in a grand loop from Rhode Island across to the Azores and Spain, through the Mediterranean to Italy and Greece, back to the Canary Islands and Puerto Rico.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat representing New York and herself an alumna of the tony Emma Willard School, sends her two school-age children to Capitol Hill Day School, according to The Washington Post. Tuition at the private, progressive bastion currently runs $30,300.00 per year for sixth through eighth grades, $28,700.00 per year for first through fifth grades and $28,000.00 per year for preschoolers.

Instruction in French and Spanish begins in preschool at Capitol Hill Day School. Also, performing arts is a big deal. There are “operas based on children’s books,” for example, and the sixth graders put on a musical theater production.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat representing Connecticut, sent one of his four children to Brunswick School, a private, all-boys day school in Greenwich, according to the Connecticut Post. A year of high school tuition at Brunswick currently costs $40,450. Tuition for preschoolers costs $30,930 per year.

On Tuesday, grade school kids at Brunswick will enjoy a delicious lunch of barbecue antibiotic-free chicken sandwiches on Texas rolls.

Blumenthal sent another one of his kids to Greenwich Academy, an all-girls day school where high school tuition currently runs $41,890. A single year of prekindergarten at the private institution costs $37,470.

Tuesday’s lunch at Greenwich Academy includes potato leek soup, baked macaroni and cheese and braised red cabbage.

Sen. Maggie Hassan, a Democrat representing New Hampshire, has two children. Her daughter attended Phillips Exeter Academy, one of the most notable fancypants private schools in the United States. Hassan’s husband, Thomas, was the principal of Phillips Exeter at the time. The cost for a year of tuition and fees at Phillips Exeter is currently $37,875. Boarding students pay $48,550.

The lunch menu at Phillips Exeter features “authentic recipes from around the world” and “more than 5,000 recipes in regular rotation.” Dinner selections for boarders include “grilled steak tips, fettuccine alfredo, palak paneer or quinoa with nuts.” Also, all dining staffers — “from chefs to dishwashers” receive “training in food allergens.”

Sen. Bob Casey, a Democrat representing Pennsylvania, sent his daughters to Scranton Preparatory School, a private Jesuit school where a year of tuition costs $13,400. Casey is also an alumnus of Scranton Prep.

Every classroom at Scranton Prep offers cutting-edge technology and contains “the very latest in interactive instructional technology.” There’s also a very impressive 34,000-square-foot building dedicated to the arts and sciences which features “state-of-the-art science classrooms and laboratories as well as a magnificent theater that seats 875 people.”



Read more: Senators Opposed Vouchers Backer DeVos, Send THEIR Kids To Posh Private School

They pay.

That s the difference dumbass.

They aren't whining & wanting me to pay.

DeVos wants me to pay for your sniveling brat to go to private school. I say fuck that.

I pay for public school.

Use it or lose it.

I don't get your objection.

You are already paying for schools. Why would you be angry that these education dollars are going to a good school rather than a failing one?

I am paying for a public school that accepts & is available to each & every kid. Fix the schools.

Don't siphon off money to give it to schools that choose their students & ignore those that don't fit their agenda.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I was in a school of over 3000 kids. Use your imagination.

Are you reluctant to tell us what it is that you did because you'd have to admit that you spent most of your days having to "feed the beast" that the Department of Education has become in this country, Admiral?

I did NOTHING that was required by the Department of Education. There were no impacts on my daily routine because of federal rules.

I find that remarkable, Admiral! Does your school of over 3000 kids not have a school lunch program?

The school lunch program is not a concern for individual schools. See how little you know?

Yet my aunt did inspections of individual school's school lunch programs for the better part of forty years! Who knew that wasn't a "concern" for individual schools!

You just prove your ignorance at every opportunity! School lunch programs are run by the district offices. My district in Florida had 127,000 students. My district where I currently teach has about the same number of students in the county as the high school from which I graduated. I have taught in two states and for the Department of Defense and in a total of seven school districts. They are all run the same.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

He's a lawyer! That is his J-O-B!

Glad you agree! Thanks!

He is not an educator, dumbass!

WOW! You must be a teacher to have put that together!

I'm simply pointing out the problems. You wish to disagree with the facts. That's your problem.

What problem are you pointing out? The problem is that you are clueless. The facts are that he is a lawyer not an educator. He is not a member of the union, Why not just admit that and we can move on?

Where is your head?

He's one of the union bosses.

Helloooo?

No. He is their lawyer. You do know what a general counsel is?

He is not an educator. Learn and you appear less ignorant to the world.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

How are they going to get paid more?

The charter and private schools will not be in any financial condition to pay higher salaries. Why can't you see that?

Those schools will have to do much more with less because they will have costs for facilities that public schools already have in place.

You amateurs just cannot see the big picture.

No...they won't be wasting money the way government controlled schools do...the waste in the public school system is massive....the voucher schools will concentrate on educating children...not hiring more and more administrators who do nothing.....

If the government was in charge of supplying cell phones we would still have brick phones.....the magic of the customer having the freedom to choose and go to another school will make all schools better.....how you can't see that is pretty amazing.

Having been an administrator in the schools, let me tell you about the 16 hour days I put in at least 5 days a week and sometimes again on Saturday..

My current school has three administrators. They are usually the first to arrive and the last to leave.

You are completely clueless and that makes your ignorance all the more dangerous.

Sorry....I am well informed on the state of education in Chicago public city schools.....they waste money, and don't teach children...they do get lots of tax dollars that gets laundered back to the democrat party here in Illinois.

What about all of the other thousands of school districts in this country?

Don't screw up my district because you cannot run yours!

I'd say that if your district is working well then vouchers won't have an effect, the parents will just give them to the school that's working well.

For example, Birchwood ABC in Alaska will most likely /expand/ their funding under vouchers because they'll have money from more parents. There's a HUGE lottery to get into Birchwood every year, I've had people try to buy my kids slots there, and other parents are super jealous I won the lottery.

Talk about School District abuses: Birchwood ABC used to be a K-12 but the school district siphoned off their funding to build a concert hall at Chugiak High School so they lost their "Jr High" level teacher and thus school district "authority" or "permission" to teach 7-12 classes - even though the kids coming out of Birchwood K-6 are doing High School level academics. All three of my kids graduated K-6 from Birchwood and had to go over shit they already knew for redundant years in JR High and HS. The decision to take away Birchwoods K-12 status had nothing at all to do with "educating" the kids, it has to do with money for the other schools.

EDIT - I have to take part of that back, my first son in Birchwood did K-7, the teacher was in a car accident mid year and they lost the district approval for grade 8 so he had to go to Jr High for one year.

Once again, you don't get it. In most of America, there are no private schools, nor are there any other public schools.

In my county there is one high school and that is the one where I teach and EVERY student in grades 9-12 attends. School "choice" is that there is no "choice", so why bother shouting from the rooftops about changes that will not take place except at the LOCAL level.

I'm sorry you schools are hosed, but you need to fix them, not the federal government.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

What is it exactly that you DO for those 80 plus hours a week?

Why should I bother telling you? Honestly, you know so very little about what goes on in education, you would not understand anyway. But here is my typical week.

I arrive at school at 7 am at the absolute latest every day. Class starts at 8 and I teach until 3pm. That's 40 hours a week right there. I tutor three days a week after school for my students. That's 43 hours. I grade papers for at least 2 hours each day, sometimes staying at school until after 6 pm. We'll be generous and say that I don't stay late on Fridays, so we will add another 8 hours, so we are up to 51. Each night I write my lesson plans and that takes about 2-3 hours because I teach 3 separate classes. Because we have no textbooks, I write SmartBoard presentations, edit worksheets for their classwork/homework, and then make up handouts containing notes and formulas we use. We'll go conservative and add another 10 hours. That's 61 hours. I also have to do a book study for my new teacher orientation classes because I am new to this district, despite having taught 20 years. That's a few hours a week, We'll add three for that so we are up to 64 hours. On Sundays, I have to watch professional development videos to get my required 24 hours in this year, so we'll add another 2 for that. That's a total of 66 hours. Oh, BTW, because my district held their professional development in the summer before I was hired, I paid nearly $200 out of pocket for the video courses that I am using.

I also sell tickets for sports events at school as part of my other assigned duties. I watch the restrooms between classes, which is about the only time I get to use those facilities. I do not have my own classroom because we are building a new school on-site and I am the new kid on the block. I push a cart with all of my instructional materials to 4 different classrooms throughout the day. Our teachers lounge contains two copiers, a refrigerator, a microwave (donated by yours truly) and our mailboxes. There are no chairs or desks. My planning period has me sitting at my desk/cart near an electrical outlet in a hallway so I can use my printer (bought and paid for by yours truly).

That's as a teacher. Now imagine being an administrator and having to supervise all of the after school sports and other activities,

Now, how about those apples?

So even exaggerating the ever loving shit out of everything you do...you only got it up to 66 hours? That's after claiming to work 80 hour plus weeks. So let me guess...you're not teaching math...are you, Admiral?

You need remedial reading. I said I worked 80 hours a week as an administrator in response to those who accused administrators of being hired to do nothing.

Then the subject was then turned to what teachers work. I responded with my current situation Try reading it again and see if you can't figure it out. If not find a 10 year-old to read it to you!

You've not worked 80 hrs a week in your life. On the other hand, I have, for many decades though most were 60-70 hours. I loved every minute.

Can I have your contact information so that I can have you arrested for stalking? That is the only way you would know. Your statement indicates that you are simply pissed off because the truth hurts!

Don't forget! I also served in the military where an 80 hour week was like being on vacation.

 

[Oldstyle]

Are you reluctant to tell us what it is that you did because you'd have to admit that you spent most of your days having to "feed the beast" that the Department of Education has become in this country, Admiral?

I did NOTHING that was required by the Department of Education. There were no impacts on my daily routine because of federal rules.

I find that remarkable, Admiral! Does your school of over 3000 kids not have a school lunch program?

The school lunch program is not a concern for individual schools. See how little you know?

Yet my aunt did inspections of individual school's school lunch programs for the better part of forty years! Who knew that wasn't a "concern" for individual schools!

You just prove your ignorance at every opportunity! School lunch programs are run by the district offices. My district in Florida had 127,000 students. My district where I currently teach has about the same number of students in the county as the high school from which I graduated. I have taught in two states and for the Department of Defense and in a total of seven school districts. They are all run the same.

Really? So the National School Lunch Program doesn't exist? The USDA spent over 12 billion dollars in 2014 on school lunches yet you claim the Federal Government doesn't impose requirements for those monies? If you really ARE a public school administrator you'd know that. Who cares how many students are in your district or how many places you've taught! If your school system receives Federal money for school lunches...then you're filling out forms to get that money...and you're being visited by school lunch inspectors from the USDA.

 

[EverCurious]

In Alaska we spend $35K+ per student. We get some Federal funding, idk how much, but I do know we've increased our property taxes many many times in order to put more into the schools. I can't even look at how much the district wastes on admin or lobby cause I'll get pissed off over it I'm sure... Our teachers average $70k a year because the teachers union up here wasn't happy with the generous salary we offered, and Murkowski is in bed with them so for like idk fifteen, twenty years the union has been raking us over the coals for more and more and more. It's irritating.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

What is it exactly that you DO for those 80 plus hours a week?

Why should I bother telling you? Honestly, you know so very little about what goes on in education, you would not understand anyway. But here is my typical week.

I arrive at school at 7 am at the absolute latest every day. Class starts at 8 and I teach until 3pm. That's 40 hours a week right there. I tutor three days a week after school for my students. That's 43 hours. I grade papers for at least 2 hours each day, sometimes staying at school until after 6 pm. We'll be generous and say that I don't stay late on Fridays, so we will add another 8 hours, so we are up to 51. Each night I write my lesson plans and that takes about 2-3 hours because I teach 3 separate classes. Because we have no textbooks, I write SmartBoard presentations, edit worksheets for their classwork/homework, and then make up handouts containing notes and formulas we use. We'll go conservative and add another 10 hours. That's 61 hours. I also have to do a book study for my new teacher orientation classes because I am new to this district, despite having taught 20 years. That's a few hours a week, We'll add three for that so we are up to 64 hours. On Sundays, I have to watch professional development videos to get my required 24 hours in this year, so we'll add another 2 for that. That's a total of 66 hours. Oh, BTW, because my district held their professional development in the summer before I was hired, I paid nearly $200 out of pocket for the video courses that I am using.

I also sell tickets for sports events at school as part of my other assigned duties. I watch the restrooms between classes, which is about the only time I get to use those facilities. I do not have my own classroom because we are building a new school on-site and I am the new kid on the block. I push a cart with all of my instructional materials to 4 different classrooms throughout the day. Our teachers lounge contains two copiers, a refrigerator, a microwave (donated by yours truly) and our mailboxes. There are no chairs or desks. My planning period has me sitting at my desk/cart near an electrical outlet in a hallway so I can use my printer (bought and paid for by yours truly).

That's as a teacher. Now imagine being an administrator and having to supervise all of the after school sports and other activities,

Now, how about those apples?

You knew all that you are whining about the day you decided to teach in a government school.

You made the choice to ignore all of the sacrifices that teachers make, dismissing them as union pawns who don't care about their students. I find your ignorance of reality very disturbing.

You're wrong.

I have great respect for teachers in government schools. I have no respect when they start whining and belly aching about how hard they have it when they KNEW, GOING IN, DAY ONE, what they were signing up to do.

I empathize with them that their job and responsibilities are miles away from what they were fifty years ago. Nonetheless, they know this going in which is why I hold them responsible for doing the same thing expecting a different result.

Primarily the government, teachers unions, and local school districts are responsible for the massive failure.

The only problem I have with my job is the abuse I take from wannabees like you that could not last five minutes, much less a year in a classroom. You think it is so easy? Be part of the solution instead of the chorus of know-nothings. You are no better than the liberals who want nothing better than to destroy rather than build.

You blame the government? How about Catholic Charities that houses large numbers of refugees in one school so that the vast majority of the students don't speak English? How about parents of students who do not want them held accountable for their behavior?

Teacher's unions are the education basher's scapegoats. You don't even begin to understand their purpose, much less the fact that that have almost zero impact on the educational process.

Local school districts are part of the problem, so why don't you concentrate on fixing those problems and leave the rest of us who are out there very day, fighting the good fight, and doing the best job we can making chicken salad out of the chicken shit that often walks through the doors. The local districts water down school discipline so that it is impossible to expel students unless they commit murder. They assault teachers with impunity and you wonder why we have unions?

Let's face it. You have no solutions other than tactics that have been tried before and failed. Because you know nothing of the educational process your ability to think of new ideas is wallowing in a mire of your ignorance.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

In Alaska we spend $35K+ per student. We get some Federal funding, idk how much, but I do know we've increased our property taxes many many times in order to put more into the schools. I can't even look at how much the district wastes on admin or lobby cause I'll get pissed off over it I'm sure... Our teachers average $70k a year because the teachers union up here wasn't happy with the generous salary we offered, and Murkowski is in bed with them so for like idk fifteen, twenty years the union has been raking us over the coals for more and more and more. It's irritating.

A wage of $70,000 in Alaska would not tempt me in the slightest. Your weather sucks. It is dark for half the year and no one in their right mind would want to live there for a few thousand bucks more a year.

BTW, your exaggeration is noted. Alaska is number three in per pupil expenditure behind NY and DC, and only NY cracks above $20,000 a year.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I did NOTHING that was required by the Department of Education. There were no impacts on my daily routine because of federal rules.

I find that remarkable, Admiral! Does your school of over 3000 kids not have a school lunch program?

The school lunch program is not a concern for individual schools. See how little you know?

Yet my aunt did inspections of individual school's school lunch programs for the better part of forty years! Who knew that wasn't a "concern" for individual schools!

You just prove your ignorance at every opportunity! School lunch programs are run by the district offices. My district in Florida had 127,000 students. My district where I currently teach has about the same number of students in the county as the high school from which I graduated. I have taught in two states and for the Department of Defense and in a total of seven school districts. They are all run the same.

Really? So the National School Lunch Program doesn't exist? The USDA spent over 12 billion dollars in 2014 on school lunches yet you claim the Federal Government doesn't impose requirements for those monies? If you really ARE a public school administrator you'd know that. Who cares how many students are in your district or how many places you've taught! If your school system receives Federal money for school lunches...then you're filling out forms to get that money...and you're being visited by school lunch inspectors from the USDA.

Listen up, and maybe this will penetrate your thick head. I said that there were no federal programs that impacted my daily duties. The school lunch program is not handled by school administrators. We don't fill out forms and we don't hold inspectors hands. Those are the facts. Don't like the truth? Sorry!

Embrace the suck and learn to read. Either that or volunteer in a school so ,maybe you will learn how they really work and not what you dream up after a few cocktails.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

For someone in education, Admiral...your word comprehension skills are a bit off! I didn't say my brother told me he didn't have teachers working more than 40 hours a week...i said that nobody in his school system works 80 plus hours a week. Care to try again?

So, you are admitting your brother is a clueless? I guarantee there are multiple people who work that many hours. If not, they are in a lousy school putting out a lousy product. I have never worked less than 50 hours a week and I have been a teacher for 20 years.

Well, that's not 80, is it......

You didn't pay attention either. Quote the post where I said that and you will find that the subject was changed from administrators to teachers. I was an administrator but no more, It was not worth the stress of the job and the expenditure of money to get licensed in another state.

 

[Unkotare]

I would love to live in Alaska - if I were living alone. I couldn't drag the fam there long-term at this point.

 

[Oldstyle]

I find that remarkable, Admiral! Does your school of over 3000 kids not have a school lunch program?

The school lunch program is not a concern for individual schools. See how little you know?

Yet my aunt did inspections of individual school's school lunch programs for the better part of forty years! Who knew that wasn't a "concern" for individual schools!

You just prove your ignorance at every opportunity! School lunch programs are run by the district offices. My district in Florida had 127,000 students. My district where I currently teach has about the same number of students in the county as the high school from which I graduated. I have taught in two states and for the Department of Defense and in a total of seven school districts. They are all run the same.

Really? So the National School Lunch Program doesn't exist? The USDA spent over 12 billion dollars in 2014 on school lunches yet you claim the Federal Government doesn't impose requirements for those monies? If you really ARE a public school administrator you'd know that. Who cares how many students are in your district or how many places you've taught! If your school system receives Federal money for school lunches...then you're filling out forms to get that money...and you're being visited by school lunch inspectors from the USDA.

Listen up, and maybe this will penetrate your thick head. I said that there were no federal programs that impacted my daily duties. The school lunch program is not handled by school administrators. We don't fill out forms and we don't hold inspectors hands. Those are the facts. Don't like the truth? Sorry!

Embrace the suck and learn to read. Either that or volunteer in a school so ,maybe you will learn how they really work and not what you dream up after a few cocktails.

Who exactly WOULD fill out the forms and hold the inspector's hands? Let me guess...one of your school lunch ladies?

Oh and by the way Admiral...my undergraduate degree is in history. My reading comprehension is just fine! I even taught for a semester at an alternative high school after I graduated from UMass.

 

[EverCurious]

Yeah it's rough getting teachers out to villages that have no road access, not to mention their "traditional" teaching emphasis - not that I knock Alaska Native Culture it serves them quite well in the Bush, but reading/writing English and to some points Math is largely useless to these folks who live quite similarly to how they did some hundreds of years ago and quite frankly feel "infringed upon" by modern American ways. While I understand that lower 48'ers only look at the numbers, the reality is that modernization is actually destroying these communities, a lot of the kids end up wanting to leave their families and their villages, abandon their traditional culture to join the "modern" world. It's a grass is always greener situation, life in a village is perhaps harder; living at the whim of mother nature can be hairy at times, but I think many could also appreciate the unity of a tight knit community that is family (often literally)

It is really little wonder that the elders of these communities feel some resentment toward the well-meaning attempts to "modernize" their small slices of the world. A slice that quite often is only even accessible by plane for 4 months out of the year. As such it's true that Alaska suffers from extreme difficulty meeting the educational "standards" of lower 48ers who have a) absolutely no clue what they are talking about when they sling insults about intelligence and b) would rather "colonize" our Alaska Native's than to offer a compromise between preservation of their heritages and modern education that serves little purpose in their lives. As such the testing standards used in Alaska are not comparable to lower 48 school districts, a fact the USED has repeatedly recognized even while some forum users may not wish to do so.

That said, my local schools score quite well and I am in general very pleased with them (and I like to think that I had something to do with it since I have been active in my kids PTA boards out here for the past couple decades.) Proficiency rates for last two years of Alaska Participation in US standards (2012-2013 & 2013-2014) at Chugiak High: Reading 86%, Writing 85%, Math 76%, Science 83%. 94% of our core classes are taught by highly qualified teachers and our attendance rate of 93%, graduation rate of 90% and dropout rate of a mere 1% clearly reflect the high standards of Eagle River-Chugiak residents - Report Card: 2013-2014 Chugiak High School, Anchorage School District ( The other local area school is Eagle River High which has similar ratings, though I cannot claim much credit but for the students that came out of Birchwood ABC Elementary heh - Report Card: 2013-2014 Eagle River High School, Anchorage School District )



As to the complaints about Alaskan climate, that sounds like a personal preference which has zip-zero-zilch to do with the state of the public education system. I have lived up here for 43 years and have very little desire to live anywhere else; I enjoy the wildlife, the trees, and the peace and quiet.