Comments on: Public Education Brainiacs Thrive in Georgia

By: a teacher from another state

a teacher from another state — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:21:17 +0000

There are a lot of paperwork tasks that take away from the time teachers spend teaching. I believe children and teachers are bored with the over-emphasis on the standards. The high stakes testing is frustrating and creates a group of dropouts from the first grade. Those children are funneled into endless tutoring. We are only reaching for the children who perform well on pencil and paper tasks. There is no first grade test for the future auto mechanic who can make a great living with his/ her hands.

My student teaching was done in a great district. There were teacher helpers, parent volunteers and student teachers to reduce the teacher- student ratio. The idiotic thing is to dump 23 mixed ability children in a room with one teacher and expect the outcome to match that of a class with 4-5 adults and 21 students.

If GA education is so bad, ask some of the imported teachers to share the strategies that worked where they came from. Be open minded and implement ideas that will excite students about school. Elementary schools are too large and institutional (prison-like) for me. I would drop out of that situation, too.

By: A Kindergarten Teacher

A Kindergarten Teacher — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:31:26 +0000

Another insightful remark…Thanks Bubba.
“It starts at home. The student must take a participatory role in the learning process. To that end, parents must take a more active participation in the process as well. That’s where it starts. It doesn’t matter if learning is conducted in a public or private setting. If the student’s mind is not an open vessel, if that mind is not encouraged by the family to be opened, then it doesn’t matter under what guise we present the format for education.”

By: A Kindergarten Teacher

A Kindergarten Teacher — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 21:28:48 +0000

What a wonderful comment…
“JF McNamara

July 22nd, 2009
8:42 am
A student’s success isn’t determined by the amount of time spent at school, but by the parental involvement, innate ability, and work ethic. As long as basic discipline is enforced and your child has the ability to gain knowledge unabated from distraction, this won’t matter.”

Thank you!

By: Hillbilly Deluxe

Hillbilly Deluxe — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 00:35:53 +0000

probably those who hatched this plan were themselves the product of Georgia public schools

And who sent you to Congress Bob, your native Iowans?

By: j0n

j0n — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:39:13 +0000

“the British National Health Service is publishing materials explicitly urging teachers to teach students that sex is fun and should be encouraged.”

Please be professional and cite a source and/or provide a link when making statements like the one above.

By: P C

P C — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 18:23:23 +0000

Bob,

Your time would be better spent if you spent more time discussing the impact of the latest total for the year of a 5% cut in salary for GA teachers and administrators who’s pay has not even kept up with the cost of living. Clearly, education is not a priority for this state or country!

By: d

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:45:32 +0000

Just an observation from a high school teacher: the parents who come to parent conferences willingly have students earning As or Bs in my class. Students who have parents who would rather have their teeth pulled than come see me have low Cs, Ds, or Fs. I do tend to see some improvement when I do get those parents in, but by then it’s not enough to guarantee any success on EOCT.

By: GB

GB — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:12:18 +0000

CHRIS:

I can’t comment specifically about Barrow County, but the differences in performance between blacks and whites are very significant and are consistent in the entire United States. You can look at any number of measures. The SAT averages are the most telling. Look up the facts.

By: StJ

StJ — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 00:32:12 +0000

I digress, but I knew I had read this “mandatory birth control” stuff before:

Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Disease in Posterity. dated 14th July 1933
Official gazette of the Third Reich announcing new laws No. 86/part I.

Discussions on the introduction of a sterilization law had already taken place before 1933, but a parliamentary majority in favor of a forced sterilization was not in sight. According to the law dated 14th July 1933, sterilization could be carried out against a person’s will and in case of need with the help of the police. The applications were filed by the public health commissioners or directors and physicians of the institutions, in office since 1934, and the decisions on the applications were taken by the responsible Hereditary Health Courts. From 1934 until 1939, about 400.000 women and men were victims of the Nazi forced sterilization. The victims were said to be “hereditarily diseased”, even though the hereditary character of the diseases in question was still disputed. Many of those having undergone forced sterilization, especially women, died in consequence of the surgical intervention. Others retained serious mental injuries. “Never before in history had a nation propagandized and practiced such a policy of massive contraception, never before had a country taken measures in such a large, violent and efficient manner for purposes opposing fatality.”

Back on topic now…the Teacher has it right…more (or less) money doesn’t mean a thing if the kid isn’t brought up properly.

By: dgroy

dgroy — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 20:25:02 +0000

Thank you Bob Barr, a Great American, for your words. You stated that Murray County is already saving money because their school buses aren’t used as much…..I’ve got a great idea….if it saves that much money, lets do away with school busing entirely and I’m serious. School systems could better manage their budgets, we could go back to neighborhood schools, our obese kids could get some exercise by walking or riding their bikes to school. I know what some of you will say about this idea but, I’m just being realistic. All of the above cost a lot of money…..wake up Sonny….you want to save some money….make some unpopular choices. Save money, save smog, save our kids….makes sense to me.