More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation

[Polk]

If this happens and I wouldn't doubt it a bit if there is a big increase in Home Schooling. Look shortly for the Federal Government to put some heavy mandates on home schooling to try and shut them down. Actually there has been an effort to do just that but more localized areas.

One could make the argument that denying kids an education is a form of child abuse.

How is home schooling your child a form of child abuse? If the child being taught at home learning then show me the abuse? That has been tried in court and failed with many parents.

Teaching kids that Jesus rode around on a dinosaur doesn't constitute an education in any real sense.

 

[Si modo]

One could make the argument that denying kids an education is a form of child abuse.

How is home schooling your child a form of child abuse? If the child being taught at home learning then show me the abuse? That has been tried in court and failed with many parents.

Teaching kids that Jesus rode around on a dinosaur doesn't constitute an education in any real sense.

You are showing your ignorance about home schooling.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

kids should be in school more or all states should adopt california's rotating schedule. american kids are getting dumber and dumber, especially in math and science, and we already have a generation of really dumb parents and the next one is only going to be worse. other countries paren'ts put their kid's education as their highest priority instead of hollywood, sports, tv, and other stupid shit that american parents do

It has more to do with the dumbing down of education not the time spent in school. We have a raft of idiot teachers liberal policies, no history till high school, teaching to dumb tests, not teaching but instructing rather. No hurting feelings, no competition, a raft of ideas regarding no grades just pass fail, as well as to much trouble to actually fail kids and deal with the parents.

Social Studies was the DUMBEST idea to come down the pike, followed closely by teaching to a frigging test. One learns very little when they are simply instructed, NOT taught, how to pass tests. It is an easy process to learn the test then dump the information for the next test you have to take.

Get the Federal Government OUT of class rooms. They do not belong there, they have no authority to be there. It has never been the Federal Governments power or authority to interfere with the individual States on how the schools are run. In fact one can follow the bouncing ball very well, as the Fed crept in further and further the level of education declined further and further.

Some dumb ass in Washington DC has no idea at all what is needed in some town in some State anywhere in this Country in regards class loads, teacher credentials, hiring and firing practices, school curriculum, subjects to be taught and learned, amount of time per day or year to teach those subjects, passing grade requirements, etc etc.

Schools are forced to put more and more teachers in administrative positions to meet all the idiotic paper trail and work required by the Federal Government. EVERY President, including Republicans are wrong when they create mandates and requirements for local schools. Get the Fed out of our schools.

 

[Terry]

One could make the argument that denying kids an education is a form of child abuse.

How is home schooling your child a form of child abuse? If the child being taught at home learning then show me the abuse? That has been tried in court and failed with many parents.

Teaching kids that Jesus rode around on a dinosaur doesn't constitute an education in any real sense.

Now you are just flaming and show no evidence that is the case. Let me tell you from experience that even a bad parent who is home schooling are very well versed in their rights and it has gone to court only for these bad parents to win.

In every situation you will have a few bad apples but on the whole, most parents that home school are doing a great job and they are learning more.

I know of these kids that were outside playing all day long, the local school wanted the parents charged with abuse. Guess what, those parents were home schooling their children in the evening. They were tested and tested well above their grade average. They counter sued and won.

 

[Polk]

O please. The primary motive behind home schooling has always been religious indoctrination. The ultra-orthodox parents are afraid that if their kids learn something around the real world, they won't have the same beliefs, so they try to shelter them from anything that conflicts with their wacked worldview.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

One could make the argument that denying kids an education is a form of child abuse.

How is home schooling your child a form of child abuse? If the child being taught at home learning then show me the abuse? That has been tried in court and failed with many parents.

Teaching kids that Jesus rode around on a dinosaur doesn't constitute an education in any real sense.

You are a retard. Home schooling has set standards that the kids MUST meet. And one of them is NOT biblical knowledge. The kids are tested by the State to ensure they meet minimum requirements as established by the Individual State.

Get a real argument.

 

[Terry]

O please. The primary motive behind home schooling has always been religious indoctrination. The ultra-orthodox parents are afraid that if their kids learn something around the real world, they won't have the same beliefs, so they try to shelter them from anything that conflicts with their wacked worldview.

That is what those against Home Schooling wants you to think dumb ass.

 

[Si modo]

How is home schooling your child a form of child abuse? If the child being taught at home learning then show me the abuse? That has been tried in court and failed with many parents.

Teaching kids that Jesus rode around on a dinosaur doesn't constitute an education in any real sense.

Now you are just flaming and show no evidence that is the case. Let me tell you from experience that even a bad parent who is home schooling are very well versed in their rights and it has gone to court only for these bad parents to win.

In every situation you will have a few bad apples but on the whole, most parents that home school are doing a great job and they are learning more.

I know of these kids that were outside playing all day long, the local school wanted the parents charged with abuse. Guess what, those parents were home schooling their children in the evening. They were tested and tested well above their grade average. They counter sued and won.

Most states have a required curriculum for home school certification as well.

There are many reasons parents will home school, too. Religion is one of many. Some parents want their students to actually learn something, especially if they live in a bad district. Some parents have kids with learning disabilities and take charge of teaching them.

And, in the three years I spent teaching at the college level, ALL (no kidding) of the freshmen students that I had that were home schooled were on my best student list.

When I met my first home schooled kid, I had the same preconceived impression - religious nut. Boy, did I get some reality. Not at all.

 

[Si modo]

O please. The primary motive behind home schooling has always been religious indoctrination. The ultra-orthodox parents are afraid that if their kids learn something around the real world, they won't have the same beliefs, so they try to shelter them from anything that conflicts with their wacked worldview.

Again, you are showing some ignorance in this area. I used to think the same thing. My experience has shown me it is not a reality.

 

[Vel]

O please. The primary motive behind home schooling has always been religious indoctrination. The ultra-orthodox parents are afraid that if their kids learn something around the real world, they won't have the same beliefs, so they try to shelter them from anything that conflicts with their wacked worldview.

Nice sweeping generalization you have there.

 

[Lost Soul]

More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation
By LIBBY QUAID (AP) – 12 hours ago
WASHINGTON — Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.
Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

The Associated Press: More school: Obama would curtail summer vacation


I'm thinking that adding an extra three hours to the school day might just lose the Democrats a little support from the NEA.

I don't think it would...teachers have been saying for a long time that our school year is too short.

Not my wife.

 

[chanel]

Meh ... I wouldn't mind, no more having to deal with other peoples brats on the streets of downtown in the middle of the day on nice days.

Ha Ha. That's the real reason. Many parents don't want to deal with their own brats either.

NJ is trying to change the drop out age to 19. They are starting universal pre-school for 3 year olds. I envision a world where children are indoctrinated from the age of 3 to 21; 12 months a year. And for those parents that can't handle their teens; dormitories.

We have a tourist economy in NJ. I don't think too many people would go for a 12 month school year. It would hurt the whole state.

 

[Si modo]

Meh ... I wouldn't mind, no more having to deal with other peoples brats on the streets of downtown in the middle of the day on nice days.

Ha Ha. That's the real reason. Many parents don't want to deal with their own brats either.

NJ is trying to change the drop out age to 19. They are starting universal pre-school for 3 year olds. I envision a world where children are indoctrinated from the age of 3 to 21; 12 months a year. And for those parents that can't handle their teens; dormitories.

We have a tourist economy in NJ. I don't think too many people would go for a 12 month school year. It would hurt the whole state.

Good point about the tourism. I didn't think about that. Could there be a possibility that the Department of Education could mandate this for all states? I never had to deal with any of the ed depts, so I have little idea how they balance state and fed boundaries in education.

 

[ncarolinadixie]

A year round school year is a good thing IMHO. Kids have a tendency to get bored when they have to much time on their hands. Plus, IMO, kids often times forget what they've learned over the year when they have three to four months of down time at the end of the school year. The boredom factor often times leads to kids getting in trouble or hurt or worse. Someone brought up "tourism" as a reasoning to curtail longer school years. Most vacations are taken on a week to two week time frame so a longer school year in reality wouldn't really hurt major tourism. Most parents aren't able to take more than a week to two weeks off from their jobs every year anyway. So where would a longer school year hurt tourism? As far as teachers not getting paid if the school year is longer I find that extremely hard to believe. Labor laws would dictate that they get paid more for more hours worked. The Federal Govt. DOES need to get out of our schools. That in itself, again IMO, is one of the biggest factors of why the education system in this country has gone to hell. Kids aren't being taught anymore. Things are much much to easy for them. Computers as early as the first and second grade. Kids being caught cheating using their cell phones. NONE of our kids today are learning how to reason or actually do things on their own. Entirely to many of our kids are coming out of school funtionally illiterate. Without a computer to back them up they basically have no clue as to what they learned during all those years in school. I would personally rather see the individual states taking more control of their own school systems as see the Federal Govt. once again step in and mandate something else.

While I'm a big proponent of year round schools I do believe that it should be up to the states to decide if it would benefit their particular state. What may work for some areas may not be a feasible solution for others. I also feel that school uniforms is the best idea to come down the pike in a long time. Take away the constant "need" of kids to compete in who can wear the most designer clothes and you will see more attention being paid to what they're being taught. It would also cut down on the gang related "clothing/accessories" that have become so prevelant in many of our schools. Putting kids on an more equal footing in this area would be a big plus.

 

[Diuretic]

There goes the under-15 vote.

 

[pete]

kids should be in school more or all states should adopt california's rotating schedule. american kids are getting dumber and dumber, especially in math and science, and we already have a generation of really dumb parents and the next one is only going to be worse. other countries paren'ts put their kid's education as their highest priority instead of hollywood, sports, tv, and other stupid shit that american parents do

If we didnt have to keep dropping the standard to accommodate the illiterates there wouldnt be a need.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Barry Knows Best

 

[Smartt33]

kids should be in school more or all states should adopt california's rotating schedule. american kids are getting dumber and dumber, especially in math and science, and we already have a generation of really dumb parents and the next one is only going to be worse. other countries paren'ts put their kid's education as their highest priority instead of hollywood, sports, tv, and other stupid shit that american parents do

I don't think it has anything to do with the amount of time the kids are currently in school. I think it has to do with the large amount of work that is placed on the teachers. They are required to do so much that they cannot find time to concentrate on the lesson plans, and the needs of the students. It is criminal how much they have to do.

I am in the schools everyday, and I see teachers getting burn-out all the time. We need to cut out 50% of extra curricular activities. We need to allow teachers more freedom to discipline students (still have limits of course). We need to have counselous who call and visit the parents rather than the teachers, except on special occassions (Unless it can be required that the parents come to the schools for those visits, during teacher planning time.

Teaching to the test has failed, which means that the standardized tests have failed. They need to be ended immediately. "No student left behind," has not only failed, but it is causing the studentss to fail as well.

Too much government involvement in the schools is wrecking the system. So, again, I don't think it is because of the amount of time the kids are in school.

 

[Smartt33]

A year round school year is a good thing IMHO. Kids have a tendency to get bored when they have to much time on their hands. Plus, IMO, kids often times forget what they've learned over the year when they have three to four months of down time at the end of the school year. The boredom factor often times leads to kids getting in trouble or hurt or worse. Someone brought up "tourism" as a reasoning to curtail longer school years. Most vacations are taken on a week to two week time frame so a longer school year in reality wouldn't really hurt major tourism. Most parents aren't able to take more than a week to two weeks off from their jobs every year anyway. So where would a longer school year hurt tourism? As far as teachers not getting paid if the school year is longer I find that extremely hard to believe. Labor laws would dictate that they get paid more for more hours worked. The Federal Govt. DOES need to get out of our schools. That in itself, again IMO, is one of the biggest factors of why the education system in this country has gone to hell. Kids aren't being taught anymore. Things are much much to easy for them. Computers as early as the first and second grade. Kids being caught cheating using their cell phones. NONE of our kids today are learning how to reason or actually do things on their own. Entirely to many of our kids are coming out of school funtionally illiterate. Without a computer to back them up they basically have no clue as to what they learned during all those years in school. I would personally rather see the individual states taking more control of their own school systems as see the Federal Govt. once again step in and mandate something else.

While I'm a big proponent of year round schools I do believe that it should be up to the states to decide if it would benefit their particular state. What may work for some areas may not be a feasible solution for others. I also feel that school uniforms is the best idea to come down the pike in a long time. Take away the constant "need" of kids to compete in who can wear the most designer clothes and you will see more attention being paid to what they're being taught. It would also cut down on the gang related "clothing/accessories" that have become so prevelant in many of our schools. Putting kids on an more equal footing in this area would be a big plus.

Year around school is not a bad thing, it is just not going to make the kids do better in school if the other varialbles remain the same.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

Kids already spent too much time not learning anything useful. Do you want them spending even MORE hours in a system where 75% of the HS students in OK can't identity the first US President?

If you want to improve education eliminate the Federal Department of Education, like Sonny taking care of Paulie, make that first thing.