Obama has lost his marbles

[jillian]

That's a stretch. I can't say I know of a single private school that pays less than a public school.

They do at the elementary school level. Also if your kid goes to a parochial school, the teachers are paid less and don't get the same benefit packages.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I don't believe the President has the direct authority to raise or lower a teachers salary.

HE can lobby the congress to add funds to the dept of ed which will be disbursed to states who put teachers salary above a certain level.

He might be able to defund a bit of cash to the states as well. I'm not sure of that.

But, doing it himself? Nah.

He also can not dictate where the funds get spent. Congress can not dictate to States what pay the States will provide to teachers. They can illegally provide our tax dollars to States in grants for education and they can even ear mark part of the funds to be used for "salaries" But they can not dictate the pay levels nor how the states decide who gets any supposed raise.

In fact Federal funds tend to be counter productive and just encourage States to create bigger and more bloated "admin" positions rather than actual rank and file teachers.

I am not even sure all States even have standard pay scales for State wide school teachers. Generally that falls to the local Districts based on available tax base and available budget constraints. Any Federal Funds for "salaries" to such States would be useless since there is no standard salary to begin with. That is why those funds end up making more "admin" types and usually at the State not the local level.

 

[CharlestonChad]

I don't believe the President has the direct authority to raise or lower a teachers salary.

HE can lobby the congress to add funds to the dept of ed which will be disbursed to states who put teachers salary above a certain level.

He might be able to defund a bit of cash to the states as well. I'm not sure of that.

But, doing it himself? Nah.

You're right in that the districts are the ones that set the pay for teachers. But that does not mean the president doesn't have a the ability to change the quality of education.

One of my biggest complaints of bush is his no-child-left-behind bull shit. I went to highschool during the bush admin (yup, I'm still pretty young) and I've seen first hand the failure of the system. I went to a public high school in rural south carolina. Our test scores were one of the worst of any HS in the state, and our state is second worst in the nation on education. So instead of trying to motivate kids by teaching them of the opportunities and value of knowledge, they based the curriculum off of the standardized test scores. The NCLB act caused my classes to no longer focus on practical knowledge, but it became more important that student A who skipped class half the time could pass the standardized exams, then it did to help student B go from a high school graduate to a college student. The bar was significantly lowered, and our rate of diploma to college students dropped. The teachers HAD to lower the bar for everyone to the point that we were only taught what might be on a standardized exam. They had to do this because if they didn't, and us students didn't do as well on the exams, the school would lose funding and have budget cuts, aka, they would have to hire even less qualified teachers. It is currently a viscous circle, and I'm pretty sure if you talk to any teacher at a less than stellar public school they would be glad to voice their opinion on the issue.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

You're right in that the districts are the ones that set the pay for teachers. But that does not mean the president doesn't have a the ability to change the quality of education.

One of my biggest complaints of bush is his no-child-left-behind bull shit. I went to highschool during the bush admin (yup, I'm still pretty young) and I've seen first hand the failure of the system. I went to a public high school in rural south carolina. Our test scores were one of the worst of any HS in the state, and our state is second worst in the nation on education. So instead of trying to motivate kids by teaching them of the opportunities and value of knowledge, they based the curriculum off of the standardized test scores. The NCLB act caused my classes to no longer focus on practical knowledge, but it became more important that student A who skipped class half the time could pass the standardized exams, then it did to help student B go from a high school graduate to a college student. The bar was significantly lowered, and our rate of diploma to college students dropped. The teachers HAD to lower the bar for everyone to the point that we were only taught what might be on a standardized exam. They had to do this because if they didn't, and us students didn't do as well on the exams, the school would lose funding and have budget cuts, aka, they would have to hire even less qualified teachers. It is currently a viscous circle, and I'm pretty sure if you talk to any teacher at a less than stellar public school they would be glad to voice their opinion on the issue.

Which is exactly why the Federal Government should have no say in Public education. It is not a power granted to the Federal Government and it is not a function that can be uniform across the Country.

As for Standard tests, hate to tell you but Bush did not think them up. The liberals have been playing with our education system since at least the 60's. Unions have created teachers that can not be fired even for gross incompetence. More and more "admin" positions have been created sucking teachers out of class rooms to deal with the myriad documentation and other none educational requirements foisted on our schools by Districts, Counties, States and the Federal Government.

 

[pegwinn]

to the fire, the Parents suck.

I've actually seen parents who will verbally assault a teacher who has the audacity to post a standard, and then apply it to thier lil darling.

If Mom won't back the teacher, all hope is gone.

 

[CharlestonChad]

Which is exactly why the Federal Government should have no say in Public education. It is not a power granted to the Federal Government and it is not a function that can be uniform across the Country.

As for Standard tests, hate to tell you but Bush did not think them up. The liberals have been playing with our education system since at least the 60's. Unions have created teachers that can not be fired even for gross incompetence. More and more "admin" positions have been created sucking teachers out of class rooms to deal with the myriad documentation and other none educational requirements foisted on our schools by Districts, Counties, States and the Federal Government.

Always gotta blame the liberals. Liberals this, liberals that. It's all the liberals fault with your type. No self responsibility, EVER.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Always gotta blame the liberals. Liberals this, liberals that. It's all the liberals fault with your type. No self responsibility, EVER.

So in your little bubble our education system went to hell in just 6 short years? You are aware of course that the democrats controlled Congress from 1952 until 1994? Or did that little fact slip your pea brain?

 

[CharlestonChad]

So in your little bubble our education system went to hell in just 6 short years? You are aware of course that the democrats controlled Congress from 1952 until 1994? Or did that little fact slip your pea brain?

hahahahahahahahahahaha

We used to be producing the best students in the world. Now we are not.


Nice try tho, old man. Keep on shifting the blame and not taking responsibility for anything.

 

[Steerpike]

That's a stretch. I can't say I know of a single private school that pays less than a public school.

I don't know how it is in Charleston, but out here I know a few teachers who went to private schools and took a pay cut, and other who didn't go because of the pay cuts.

 

[CharlestonChad]

I don't know how it is in Charleston, but out here I know a few teachers who went to private schools and took a pay cut, and other who didn't go because of the pay cuts.

Where are you? SC and the rest of the southern states have public schools that are vastly underfunded compared to private schools.

 

[Steerpike]

Where are you? SC and the rest of the southern states have public schools that are vastly underfunded compared to private schools.

I'm in Missouri. The teachers I'm talking about are in the St. Louis area.

Actually, I think the need for more funding is a myth. I saw a study a couple years ago that looked at per-student spending at a successful private school in New York and compared it to per-student spending at an not-so-successful public school in the same area. The private school per-student spending was much lower. The difference? The private school was also much less top-heavy. Less administration.