Now the we are older, is there anything you are grateful for being a part of?

[The Duke]

There is that broad brush again! All schools, all teachers, and all students! Every single one of them! When did you take the time to visit them all?

Now, now, Captain Salty. It is like that in places and it has not been like that in places.
Communists have taken over the textbook publishing, though.
That affects everywhere.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

Now, now, Captain Salty. It is like that in places and it has not been like that in places.
Communists have taken over the textbook publishing, though.
That affects everywhere.

That tells you how long it was since you were in a school. I stopped teaching from textbooks in about 2005. Even if a class uses a textbook, the textbooks are edited to state standards. They are also on-line. A textbook in KY could not be used in Florida and vice versa. There are mountains of shit that you non-educators apparently just assume and could not be more wrong.

 

[Lisa558]

There is that broad brush again! All schools, all teachers, and all students! Every single one of them! When did you take the time to visit them all?

I never said ALL. But all one needs to do is look at the poor educational attainment of today’s students to know that basic academics is not being stressed. In Baltimore, there wasn’t ONE single student among all 12 of their public high schools who scored a proficient in math.

Teachers in liberal school systems are failing badly. In my hometown, one of the most liberal in the country, only 13% of students in my high school were proficient in math. Fifty years ago, when I went, the math SAT scores were above the National median, and 90% went on to college.

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

I never said ALL. But all one needs to do is look at the poor educational attainment of today’s students to know that basic academics is not being stressed. In Baltimore, there wasn’t ONE single student among all 12 of their public high schools who scored a proficient in math.

Teachers in liberal school systems are failing badly. In my hometown, one of the most liberal in the country, only 13% of students in my high school were proficient in math. Fifty years ago, when I went, the math SAT scores were above the National median, and 90% went on to college.

Students being proficient often has nothing to do with the quality of the instruction. I had military dependents students that were far ahead of some of my rural Kentucky high school students because they had discipline in their souls. What about my rural KY high school with a 96% graduation rate? No Catholic high school I the area and 80% of the students were Catholic. They were expected to graduate from birth by their parents.

You cannot turn students around like that. It is born into them. You cannot make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I was the same instructor in all of those schools.

Blame the liberals who are raising these morons!

 

[HikerGuy83]

It wasnt better when Carter was president. It was when Reagan was elected.

I finally put his stupid ass on ignore.

First, he hijacks the thread. This was about what people were grateful for having come up several decades ago. And from what I could tell, people were sticking with the OP.

Somehow this becomes, well you are better off today than then.

Which many are not in terms of economic metrics and certainly (by their own reconing not by other metrics). Well we measure it better.....but that does not change the claims that things like depression and suicide have climbed dramatically. Things must be fantastic. If they got any better, we'd have natural population control.

And well, what the surgeon general calls and epdicemic of lonliness is not that because our C-suite wanna be asshole knows better. And he cites studies and makes arguments like "Well after studying the price of tea in china, I've concluded that the unit mass of the son is 20 kg/m3. After all, they are so closely connected.

Then says...."I've provided data to show......." Nothing.

What you are talking about is the mood of the country from Carter to Reagan. That's what changed. Carter wasn't a bad president in many ways. And he was a good man. But he was also an arrogant dickhead who didn't know how to communicate and failed to help the country understand what was happening in the late 70's.

Reagan came along (Iran folds and the USA beats Russia in hockey) and the mood changes. We still go into a big recession (thank you LBJ). Reagan figured he was a one-termer headed into 1983. But then things change around and by the time 84 hits, nobody wants to run against him. Why, because they knew they'd get their asses kicked. Mondale was a sacrifice. And Reagan hardly campaigns.....and almost runs the board.

It was all about mood.

Reagan was a good communicator. Reagan could be tough (bring down that wall.....bawling out the Russians over Korea Air 007). He lost the senate and house eventually.....

But he hands bush some momentum. And yest he ran up deficits, but those were on track to disappear if not for GWB.

Bush was a total jackass. Then we have Hope and Change.....what a laugher.

By then the establishment GOP and democrats had pretty much dismissed the conservative arm of the party. And guess what happened.

They found a voice. A rude obnoxious voice that was willing to say a lot of the quiet part out loud.

Who also shoots himself in the foot and ass on a routine basis.....but still a voice.

And it gave voice to a pent-up frustration. And that's been going on ever since. Biden squeaks out a win in 2020 because of one thing...COVID. Left and Right agree that if COVID does not hit, Trump sweeps in 2020.

And Biden screwed it up as bad as Trump (or should I say his puppeteers). And people finally wake up to the fact that what we've been saying for years is no longer deniable (even though they still tried after the debates to deny it).

And they deny democracy in a total ****show. Nominate a clearly underqualified DEI candidate and give her a service animal for a running made (who is as stupid as Biden is/was).

So what happens....Mr. Potty Mouth gets sent back to the WH while Rachael Maddow gets sent to the nuthouse.

And we are supposed to believe that with this idiocy going on since 2000 that WE ARE BETTER OFF?

You can't make this stuff up.

And we are SO MUCH BETTER INFORMED!!!

 

[Lisa558]

Students being proficient often has nothing to do with the quality of the instruction. I had military dependents students that were far ahead of some of my rural Kentucky high school students because they had discipline in their souls. What about my rural KY high school with a 96% graduation rate? No Catholic high school I the area and 80% of the students were Catholic. They were expected to graduate from birth by their parents.

You cannot turn students around like that. It is born into them. You cannot make chicken salad out of chicken shit. I was the same instructor in all of those schools.

Blame the liberals who are raising these morons!

It is BORN into them, you say? So what you are saying is that not a single one of the Baltimore students, in all the Baltimore high schools, could score a proficient in math because they were just born that way?

I say it’s a combination of two factors:

1) The Baltimore school system is full of teens whose mothers have no husband, and who they themselves are about to, if not ALREADY, unwed mothers.

2) The school instruction has been dumbed down. I can’t remember the exact number, but in some colleges, at least 25% of students are taking high school “remedial” classes. I once had to drop off something at a college, and I saw one boy carrying an Algebra I book! These kids should be held back in high school and not just rubber-stamped with a diploma and sent off to college.

 

[Hafar1014]

It is BORN into them, you say? So what you are saying is that not a single one of the Baltimore students, in all the Baltimore high schools, could score a proficient in math because they were just born that way?

I say it’s a combination of two factors:

1) The Baltimore school system is full of teens whose mothers have no husband, and who they themselves are about to, if not ALREADY, unwed mothers.

2) The school instruction has been dumbed down. I can’t remember the exact number, but in some colleges, at least 25% of students are taking high school “remedial” classes. I once had to drop off something at a college, and I saw one boy carrying an Algebra I book! These kids should be held back in high school and not just rubber-stamped with a diploma and sent off to college.

Mean IQ among African Americans is 85

 

[Lisa558]

Mean IQ among African Americans is 85

Still doesn’t explain why NOT A SINGLE ONE of thousands of high school students in Baltimore could not grasp the basics of basic math.

If the mean IQ of African Americans is only 85, that still means that many of the 20,000 high school students have IQs of 100 or more. So why couldn’t even one of them get a proficient?

The other factors I brought up explain it: high rate of single mothers, and dumbed down instruction.

 

[Hafar1014]

Still doesn’t explain why NOT A SINGLE ONE of thousands of high school students in Baltimore could not grasp the basics of basic math.

If the mean IQ of African Americans is only 85, that still means that many of the 20,000 high school students have IQs of 100 or more. So why couldn’t even one of them get a proficient?

The other factors I brought up explain it: high rate of single mothers, and dumbed down instruction.

Allow them to go to private schools and yes single mothers are the foundation of the problem

 

[Lisa558]

Allow them to go to private schools and yes single mothers are the foundation of the problem

Or, go back to tracking, such as we had when I went to school (until the liberals stopped it because it was better for the mediocre students if smarter kids were in the class with them).

BTW, when they eliminated tracking and I was moved into the “general” class in 5th grade, I discovered that what I had learned in 2nd grade (fractions and decimals) was first being introduced.

 

[Hafar1014]

Or, go back to tracking, such as we had when I went to school (until the liberals stopped it because it was better for the mediocre students if smarter kids were in the class with them).

BTW, when they eliminated tracking and I was moved into the “general” class in 5th grade, I discovered that what I had learned in 2nd grade (fractions and decimals) was first being introduced.

Private schools and vouchers are the answer. Public schools dont teach they cover up their failures

 

[Lisa558]

Private schools and vouchers are the answer. Public schools dont teach they cover up their failures

I agree, but the liberals will block it. Let’s go with what we can do NOW to see that our best and brightest reach their full potential.

 

[Hafar1014]

I agree, but the liberals will block it. Let’s go with what we can do NOW to see that our best and brightest reach their full potential.

You cant do anything now unions are in control

 

[DGS49]

The best thing that ever happened to me was being raised in a Catholic family and being forced to attend parochial schools. While it didn't occur to me that we were "excessively" Catholic, we were faithful enough.

As I have posted here on a few occasions, I strongly believe that it is better to be religious than not, even if you don't fervently believe the theological stuff.

 

[g5000]

True.
And nobody cared about boobie sizes either. All boobies are good, IMO.
I do not like artificial ones. Let all the boobies be natural!

And no body piercings and tattoos.

 

[g5000]

The music was better

Absolutely. Except for disco. Disco SUCKS!

But rock and roll was far better than the shit you hear today.

 

[Hafar1014]

The best thing that ever happened to me was being raised in a Catholic family and being forced to attend parochial schools. While it didn't occur to me that we were "excessively" Catholic, we were faithful enough.

As I have posted here on a few occasions, I strongly believe that it is better to be religious than not, even if you don't fervently believe the theological stuff.

True unless youre Muslim

 

[Admiral Rockwell Tory]

It is BORN into them, you say? So what you are saying is that not a single one of the Baltimore students, in all the Baltimore high schools, could score a proficient in math because they were just born that way?

I say it’s a combination of two factors:

1) The Baltimore school system is full of teens whose mothers have no husband, and who they themselves are about to, if not ALREADY, unwed mothers.

2) The school instruction has been dumbed down. I can’t remember the exact number, but in some colleges, at least 25% of students are taking high school “remedial” classes. I once had to drop off something at a college, and I saw one boy carrying an Algebra I book! These kids should be held back in high school and not just rubber-stamped with a diploma and sent off to college.

Maybe I should have said born and bred into them. Would that be better?

The instruction has not been dumbed down. They simply cannot learn because THEY DON"T F-ING CARE!

 

[0311]

One thing I am very gratI eful for is visiting Gettysburg over the July 4th. Weekend of 1975. There was such a stillness that morning. It was like you could hear the rattle of muskets and canteens. I went to see monument dedicated the soldiers from Arkansas, My Great Grandmother lost one of her brothers at Gettysburg.

 

[g5000]

I am grateful for being a part of the armed services for 20+ years. That was a job where you could feel you were really making a difference.