New Hampshire Lawmakers Pass Law Allowing Parental Objections To Curriculum

[MeBelle]

I am confused and saddened as to how some people could honestly believe their lack of knowledge is the same as knowledge. Often at the expensive of those who wish to know.

I am stunned that you would be surprised if most parents even knew basic addition. What does that say about 'most parents'?

I see your point, and I raise you this: If the teachers don't know better, what makes you think the parent would know better?

Perhaps the parent is as educated or better educated than some teachers?

I say leave the education to the child.

Are you advocating children self teach?
That is the only true way to determine proper direction.

Guided by a teacher, of course.

A parent is a child's first teacher.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Failed topic.

Of course parents should have a say in their child's education. Least they start teaching ridiculous topics like they do in California. You know like gay history in grade school. Which itself is odd considering most second and third graders don't even know what straight means. Course gay history would only take one afternoon to cover.

 

[Chris]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

 

[Remodeling Maidiac]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

Link or stfu

 

[MeBelle]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

OMG Chris!
This is the second time I have seen you morph into rdean!

 

[Chris]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

Link or stfu

It is no secret that the ranks of scientists and engineers in the United States include dismal numbers of Hispanics and African-Americans, but few have remarked about another significantly underrepresented group: Republicans.

No, this is not the punch line of a joke. A Pew Research Center Poll from July 2009 showed that only around 6 percent of U.S. scientists are Republicans; 55 percent are Democrats, 32 percent are independent, and the rest "don't know" their affiliation.

This immense imbalance has political consequences. When President Obama appears Wednesday on Discovery Channel's Mythbusters (9 p.m. ET), he will be there not just to encourage youngsters to do their science homework but also to reinforce the idea that Democrats are the party of science and rationality. And why not? Most scientists are already on his side. Imagine if George W. Bush had tried such a stunt—every major newspaper in the country would have run an op-ed piece by some Nobel Prize winner asking how the guy who prohibited stem-cell research and denied climate change could have the gall to appear on a program that extols the power of scientific thinking.

Most scientists in this country are Democrats. That's a problem. - Slate Magazine

 

[Chris]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

OMG Chris!
This is the second time I have seen you morph into rdean!

Great minds think alike.

You get the prize for best avatar by the way.

 

[Sundial]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

A friend of mine started a school many years ago. She's a smart and incredibly hard-working woman.

Anyway, I remember one of the things she told me was you never ever let the parents determine the curriculum. They would get parents, she said, who'd want to tell the teachers how to do their jobs. But even through it might make the parents unhappy, they wouldn't compromise the school to make them happy.

Professionals don't do things the way amateurs think they should be done.

If you don't like you electrician, you get another electrician. You don't stand over his shoulder and say, "Don't you think the wire should go HERE?"

 

[Avatar4321]

Yes, lets allow the parents with literally little to no knowledge of the subject matters have control of how it is taught.

Makes absolutely awesome sense to me.

So you think that the parents, most of whom have already graduated high school and beyond, don't know anything?

 

[Unkotare]

I am at a loss for words.

I am confused and saddened as to how some people could honestly believe their lack of knowledge is the same as knowledge. Often at the expensive of those who wish to know.

I am stunned that you would be surprised if most parents even knew basic addition. What does that say about 'most parents'?

Nothing. It only says something about him.

 

[Avatar4321]

Parents don't know basic algebra?

I know, let's just have our children taught 'to the test' and forget the rest.

/sarcasm

I would be surprised if most parents even knew basic addition.

Every time I say "that's the dumbest thing I've seen today" someone goes and lowers the bar further. So I think Ill refrain from saying it right now.

 

[Avatar4321]

I would be surprised if most parents even knew basic addition.

I am at a loss for words.

I am confused and saddened as to how some people could honestly believe their lack of knowledge is the same as knowledge. Often at the expensive of those who wish to know.

And I'm just saddened that anyone thinks that adults who have graduated from our educational system is completely ignorant of what is and should be taught in that system. I know our educational system is a mess, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people who have a degree to have retained some of that knowledge.

 

[Avatar4321]

I think the responsibility of teaching a child about a subject should be someone with actual knowledge of the subject.

Or would you have an electrician teach your child biology?

I think decisions regarding how children are educated, barring obvious abuse or neglect, should be up to their parents.

Liberty cannot be preserved without general knowledge among the people.
-John Adams

So rather than make sure your children are educated, you are going to outsource your responsibilities to others in the hopes that they do what you don't care enough to do yourself?

 

[Againsheila]

So much for the TP being concerned with spending and big gov't. In New Hampshire, parents can now object to school curriculum, forcing the school district to come up with new lesson plans for the children of the parents who file the objection.

Great job, guys. I see you have your priorities in line.

New Hampshire Lawmakers Pass Law Allowing Parental Objections To Curriculum

The Tea Party dominated New Hampshire Legislature on Wednesday overrode the governor's veto to enact a new law allowing parents to object to any part of the school curriculum.

The state House voted 255-112 and Senate 17-5 to enact H.B. 542, which will allow parents to request an alternative school curriculum for any subject to which they register an objection. Gov. John Lynch (D) vetoed the measure in July, saying the bill would harm education quality and give parents control over lesson plans.

"For example, under this bill, parents could object to a teacher's plan to: teach the history of France or the history of the civil or women's rights movements," Lynch wrote in his veto message. "Under this bill, a parent could find 'objectionable' how a teacher instructs on the basics of algebra. In each of those cases, the school district would have to develop an alternative educational plan for the student. Even though the law requires the parents to pay the cost of alternative, the school district will still have to bear the burden of helping develop and approve the alternative. Classrooms will be disrupted by students coming and going, and lacking shared knowledge."

Under the terms of the bill, which was sponsored by state Rep. J.R. Hoell (R-Dunbarton), a parent could object to any curriculum or course material in the classroom. The parent and school district would then determine a new curriculum or texts for the child to meet any state educational requirements for the subject matter. The parent would be responsible for paying the cost of developing the new curriculum. The bill also allows for the parent's name and reason for objection to be sealed by the state.

Great, then kids can go back to multiplying decimals the old fashioned way instead of counting boxes.....

My son was confused about muliplying decimals until I showed him how I did it as a child. He understood that perfectly. He of course flunked because he didn't count the boxes like the teacher wanted him to, didn't matter that he had the right answer and faster than the rest of the kids, nope he had to count those stupid boxes.

And we can go back to teaching our kids phonics instead of site reading.

As bad as our public schools are, I think this could be a good thing. Maybe it'll stop a little of the white flight from our public schools.

 

[Avatar4321]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

rdean, i think you logged into the wrong screen name.

 

[Avatar4321]

Republicans hate science because science involves facts.

Republicans hate facts.

That's why only 6% of scientists are Republicans.

OMG Chris!
This is the second time I have seen you morph into rdean!

Great minds think alike.

You get the prize for best avatar by the way.

You really should finish the quote: Great minds think alike and fools never differ.

 

[Unkotare]

Imagine if George W. Bush had tried such a stunt—every major newspaper in the country would have run an op-ed piece by some Nobel Prize winner asking how the guy who prohibited stem-cell research and denied climate change could have the gall to appear on a program that extols the power of scientific thinking.

Would those same editorials mention the fact that embryonic stem cell research has proven disappointing while adult stem cell research has only grown more promising over time? Would they mention that obama recinded the Bush administration's executive order funding adult stem cell research? Would they note the bias and poor science that has cast doubt upon the climate change agenda in recent years? Woud they recall President Bush requesting - as loudly and publicly as possible - that Congress double funding for scientific research? No, it would probably just be more meaningless partisan bullshit.

 

[Two Thumbs]

Sad thing is, schools are full of utterly useless crap that kids can and sometimes have to take.

It all cost money, lots of money.

 

[editec]

Balkanized lesson plans is a very expensive way to educate our children.

 

[Photonic]

I am at a loss for words.

I am confused and saddened as to how some people could honestly believe their lack of knowledge is the same as knowledge. Often at the expensive of those who wish to know.

And I'm just saddened that anyone thinks that adults who have graduated from our educational system is completely ignorant of what is and should be taught in that system. I know our educational system is a mess, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect people who have a degree to have retained some of that knowledge.

Oh? What is the percentage of parents that have graduated again?

Go on, tell me.