Public Education (1st through 12th grade)

[xotoxi]

Discuss.

 

[Metternich]

"I like public school."

Where'd you learn to like public school?

"...Uh... Public school."

The reverse argument works as well, either way; most people just hate school, private vs. public or classroom vs. home is just... Redundant. At least, in my opinion. Yet even I can be redundant at times - public school sucks, never go to it... Never send your children to them unless you secretly hate them.

 

[Diuretic]

It has a fascinating history around the world.

Oh and

And then the whining school-boy, with his satchel
And shining morning face, creeping like snail
Unwillingly to school.

 

[random3434]

We don't need no education.
We don't need no thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher, leave those kids alone.
Hey, Teacher, leave those kids alone!

 

[Toro]

Public education is critical to the development of the economy and society. The more educated a society, the better. There aren't many who say "Look at that guy. It's a good thing he didn't get much education."

Now, the distribution of public education is a different matter.

 

[Big Black Dog]

I began my school "career" way back in 1957. Things have taken a real turn since then. It used to be you could get a decent education in this country. These days all you tend to get in school is some liberal teacher's opinion of the way the world ought to be, birth control and gay/lesbian orientation classes, and anything and everything except for the 3 R's. We are dumbing down our kids and not holding teachers accountable for doing good work. Our parents are also not paying any attention to the kids in school and are using the education system more as a day care center than a place of learning. Our school system is pretty sad... We're falling way behind the rest of the world. But that's ok. Soon we will be one of the most educated Third World Countries!

 

[random3434]

I am so glad I have the summer off. I sure get tired making sure my students are locked and loaded, and teaching them the joys of homosexual sex. Plus, making sure all the girls birth control pills are up to date, and the boys have plenty of condoms stocked up. Then of course, there are my lesson plans, it's not easy brainwashing these kids for the indoctrination of Marxism.


Every teachers main plan, from the very start, is to turn the students into sheep, to get ready for the New World Order, since the USA is turning into a Third World Country.

 

[Valerie]

I am so glad I have the summer off. I sure get tired making sure my students are locked and loaded, and teaching them the joys of homosexual sex. Plus, making sure all the girls birth control pills are up to date, and the boys have plenty of condoms stocked up. Then of course, there are my lesson plans, it's not easy brainwashing these kids for the indoctrination of Marxism.


Every teachers main plan, from the very start, is to turn the students into sheep, to get ready for the New World Order, since the USA is turning into a Third World Country.

 

[Oddball]

Public education is critical to the development of the economy and society. The more educated a society, the better. There aren't many who say "Look at that guy. It's a good thing he didn't get much education."

PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!
PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!
PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!
PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!

 

[jgbkab]

I have a child in public school and a child in private school and I can't say that I see a real difference. I'm sure that my five year old son received more attention because his class size was 10 student including him. He went from not being able to read at all to reading on a third grade level in one school year. I'm debating whether to send my daughter to private school next year.

 

[Valerie]

Public education is critical to the development of the economy and society. The more educated a society, the better. There aren't many who say "Look at that guy. It's a good thing he didn't get much education."

PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!
PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!
PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!
PLATITUDE OVERLOAD!!!

Who needs all that fancy book learnin'?

 

[xotoxi]

...teaching them the joys of homosexual sex.

Are you in one of those conservative states that require you to remain clothed while teaching?

 

[Oddball]

Who needs all that fancy book learnin'?

Yeah...Who needs to recognize them long haired "book learning" concepts, like vapid platitudes, when you seen them??

 

[xotoxi]

Who needs all that fancy book learnin'?

Fancy books?

I wouldn't have considered them "fancy"...but maybe that's why the teachers were so adamant about us making paper bag book covers by the end of the first week...or we'd be punished with detention.

 

[del]

my wife works at a public school as an aide to special needs kids (among other things). this is one of her students. school, like most things in life, is what the individual makes of it.

Wellesley College 2009 Student Commencement Speaker Mona Minkara

 

[Valerie]

Who needs all that fancy book learnin'?

Fancy books?

I wouldn't have considered them "fancy"...but maybe that's why the teachers were so adamant about us making paper bag book covers by the end of the first week...or we'd be punished with detention.

Remember that? First night's homework assignment was to cover your {fancy} textbooks!

 

[Valerie]

my wife works at a public school as an aide to special needs kids (among other things). this is one of her students. school, like most things in life, is what the individual makes of it.

Wellesley College 2009 Student Commencement Speaker Mona Minkara

Nice!

Mona Minkara, 21, of Hingham, Mass., served as the student commencement speaker, a tradition at Wellesley since 1969 when Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed her fellow seniors. Minkara, who is legally blind, broke barriers in her goal to study chemistry. She succeeded in her goal, including earning a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to do research in computational chemistry this summer at Wellesley.

Minkara encouraged her classmates to consider kindness and empathy as hallmarks of an excellent education.

 

[del]

my wife works at a public school as an aide to special needs kids (among other things). this is one of her students. school, like most things in life, is what the individual makes of it.

Wellesley College 2009 Student Commencement Speaker Mona Minkara

Nice!

Mona Minkara, 21, of Hingham, Mass., served as the student commencement speaker, a tradition at Wellesley since 1969 when Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed her fellow seniors. Minkara, who is legally blind, broke barriers in her goal to study chemistry. She succeeded in her goal, including earning a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to do research in computational chemistry this summer at Wellesley.

Minkara encouraged her classmates to consider kindness and empathy as hallmarks of an excellent education.

she's a great kid. she doesn't recognize her limits and therefore has none.

 

[Valerie]

my wife works at a public school as an aide to special needs kids (among other things). this is one of her students. school, like most things in life, is what the individual makes of it.

Wellesley College 2009 Student Commencement Speaker Mona Minkara

Nice!

Mona Minkara, 21, of Hingham, Mass., served as the student commencement speaker, a tradition at Wellesley since 1969 when Hillary Rodham Clinton addressed her fellow seniors. Minkara, who is legally blind, broke barriers in her goal to study chemistry. She succeeded in her goal, including earning a Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant to do research in computational chemistry this summer at Wellesley.

Minkara encouraged her classmates to consider kindness and empathy as hallmarks of an excellent education.

she's a great kid. she doesn't recognize her limits and therefore has none.

Great lesson of self determination and cool that your wife was a part of it!

 

[Annie]

I went to public school for kindergarten and loved school. I'd entered already being able to read Dr. Seuss books and even Nancy Drew. That was in 1960.

1st through 6th grades I was in parochial school, I was abused by the nuns. 2 months in I became a selective mute.

My parents pulled me out for public in jr. high, I thrived. Loved it, though they'd taken all my grades and lowered them 2 points, meaning I fell into low classes. I got strait A's and had a counselor that protested my placement, he was reassigned. My placement was not changed, nor did my grades.

High school was a nightmare. School capacity was exceeded by over 100%. I was in all honors and AP courses, though my middle school classes couldn't support it in math or science. I ditched over 180 days in my jr. and sr. years.

Having sworn I'd never place my kids in parochial schools, they started off in public. Well they actually started off their education in Montessori preschools at age of 2. At age 3, full day. The youngest I pulled out at age 3, when he bit the headmistress in the leg, requiring stitches. Anyhow, the oldest did well in kindergarten, until the end of the year, when her 'standardized' scores came no where near achievement level. She was slated for gifted, but her scores showed huge deficits. Yes, she had serious disabilities, which I'd already tried to broach with teacher. She struggled through 8 years of parochial education, then 4 years of public high school. It was the jr college that helped her cope with disabilities. She graduated college last December.

Then came the middle child, way smart. Unfortunately for him, he was in kindergarten class of 32, one of which was a Down's syndrome child, age 7, whose Iranian parents wanted in regular class. There were also 2 other ADHD kids in class, on top of mine.
I'd warned the teacher, her daughters and mine were in soccer together. While my daughter was LD, I knew that, though the teacher couldn't accept it, I also knew my son was smart, but hyper. She recommended in February that he be placed in BD. Though he'd never been in a fight or done anything aggressive.

At that point I looked at parochial. I talked to the principal and told her my concerns. She said, we could work it out. We did for that son, well sort of. Well I'll say it seems like he escaped one horror for another. At the age of 23, he seemed to find himself. I don't know that one can blame the schools, public or private. Some of it was the kid with an IQ of over 160 and some would be home. Some might be schools.

Then came my youngest, he'd who'd bitten the preschool teacher, enough for stitches. He ended up at 'cooperative preschool,' where I was at every other week. By the time he started kindergarten, the marriage was on the rocks. He was at the parochial school. By the middle of 2nd grade, the principal was like, 'the older kids are adjusted for the most part, this one? No. He is dangerous and needs more than we have support for. I'll contact the public school." To her credit, she told the principal at the public school, that he was a kid with many traumas, and very smart. They just didn't have the support services and the parents were not in agreement with what was to come.

To the credit of the public schools, the principal asked for both my ex and myself to come in. I did, the ex didn't. But I did refer him to the psychiatrist that was treating my son. He also talked to my son for over an hour. He put him into the gifted program, not BD. Even though the next year my son managed to organize a shoplifting ring with 'gifted students', the school still kept him in the mainstream.

It was in high school that he finally was turned around, thanks to the cross country coaches.

I just reread what I've written. It's so confusing! 2 of my kids were 'gifted' and 2 had learning disabilities. That's out of three kids. But I wrote it for those parents of younger children that are looking for 'what to do.' Be your child's or children's advocate. Don't apologize, but don't ignore the warning signs. Be there for them.