The business of education: Is the trend troubling you?

Thanks to Maureen for alerting us to this meeting and its consequences. Is this the education you hope your kids get?

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Well Mr. Smagorinski, the question that needs to be answered is could it be any worse than the education our children receive today?

Survey says,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Probably not,,,,,,,, SAD FACE

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“I’m not convinced anyone in the conversation wants to do harm to kids. But I am convinced that all of this is being driven by dollars.”
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When the bottom line in educating children becomes the dollar, whether the intent to “harm the kids” is present or not, ultimately the “kids” will be harmed because they will have been used to serve the mercenary interests of businessmen and women, instead of having public servants serve their (the students’) interests. This is why we must continue to rally support for public education.

Let me remind all, once again, that one of the primary goals of ALEC has been to dismantle public education for private education by having corporations work with state legislators throughout the nation, to accomplish this end. Notice the numbers of corporations who want, now, to invest in education. Interesting, don’t you think? Students used for profit, and teachers viewed as commodities.

As I just wrote in the last thread, “I believe every American has the right to a good public education, adequate health care, and the security of Social Security in his or her old age. This is what FDR believed, also, and these are reasons why I remain an FDR Democrat. I, also, believe that by supporting and securing these human rights for all Americans, we insure that America will remain a humane nation in which to live and raise our young.”

When the bottom line in America becomes the dollar, even in arenas in which public servants have previously prevailed, America, herself, is in danger of becoming less humane in her vision and in her consciousness.

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While the politicians and businessmen continue their quest to “standardize” all our classrooms through their “accountability” and “teacher quality” initiatives, they are flushing our kids’ education right down the toilet. Teachers know and understand the importance of relationships with children they teach. All this techno-babble by the politicians will not lead to better performance from our children. Technology is simply a tool, not the means.

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Using the link to the education summit provided by Maureen above, I clicked on the summit tab and scrolled through the list of “presenting companies” and read their brief descriptions. Wow! Look how many businesses have their hands out…ahem, meant to say, are striving to help teachers and students.

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I will focus on the state of GA. We are getting what we pay for. The few (very few) counties that supplement their education budgets, elect board of ed members who value kids’ education, support meaningful staff development and make decisions based on the needs of the kids send those kids to post-secondary schools where they are successful and subsequently enter the job market prepared. The rest do not. Look at what goes on in the counties that do not and you will understand why GA is a perennial low educational achiever nationally.

But now, the infection is beginning to spread. Look at the announcement from Gwinnett about Louise Radloff considering not running for the board of ed again, she cites one of the reasons to be the demographics shift in her zone as a result of GOP redistricting. There isn’t a more dedicated nor formidable proponent of kids’ education that I know of. She has spent 40 years helping develop Gwinnett become one of the few educationally sound systems in this state. So why was she redistricted? Maybe because she makes educational decisions based on sound educational research and not the political rhetoric du jour.

What say you GA, are you ready to stand up and fight for what is best for your kids? Or will you continue to listen to those who just want to pick your pockets in the disguised name of increased profits?

Maureen, please email me about something you should look into that is happening in another county. It reeks.

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Mr. Richardson,

With all due respect, “all this is being driven by the dollars” has been true of GAPubEd for all the years I’ve been worked in and have otherwise been involved with it.

The money-grubbing GA educracy didn’t sprout Athena-like from the heads of GA taxpayers last week. Money-grubbing involving public schools is nothing new to The Peach State.

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MISTAKE: Line 3- delete “worked.”

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I wonder where the CEO’s of the K-12 online learning companies send their kids? I would bet it isn’t the public schools they are targeting, but rather a traditional private school.

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Is the trend troubling you?

Yes.

I’m sharing this link from my small union cubicle *ahem*. (A little Sunday AM humor for those who still have a sense of humor)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vn-SfH15e70&context=C4ef23eeADvjVQa1PpcFPvgDec91xMp6kT4xfZRSGtparb4MpkpGs

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Correction: “whatever their grade levels happen to be”

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@ Mary Elizabeth,

we’d love to deal with the students at individual levels.
we can’t.

students, our “customers” are the smokescreen we use for shameless
self promotion and social engineering.

unless an individual student happens to be a 1/3 black, 1/3 latino (preferrabley illegal), 1/3 US Indian who is in a wheelchair, blind, gay, with a male pattern baldness, transgender, who wants to play in the NAB.

then, maybe, we’ll treat them as individuals.

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or, of course, if they can run the ball for 100 yeards a game. make them ‘dawg worthy and they transend individual and become royalty

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@Slob, re “…the question that needs to be answered is could it be any worse than the education our children receive today? Survey says…Probably not…SAD FACE”

As a parent who sent one child through public and the other through private, that’s what many public education advocates fail to realize, a significant percentage of public schools are providing an inferior service. And in doing so, they are handing the proponents of privatization a cause on a silver platter.
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Folks, the Brown vs Board and subsequent integration decisions sealed the fate of American public schools. The idea of equal outcomes for two disparate ability groups was doomed from the start. Add to that the mainstreaming of SPED students and you have a recipe for disaster.

The solution would be to group by achievement level and provide instruction at a pace and level commensurate with each groups level. But, the politically correct pathogens will never allow this. To do so would illustrate the differences between the ethnic groups and that is considered the third rail of political correctness.

I’m saving money to put the grandkids in private school. Y’all can do what you want.

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For those who are interested….This site provides hundreds of links to articles throughout the country regarding Common Core (she is not a proponent), Business/Ed reform, Duncan, NCLB/RttT, etc.

Sign up for her newsletter. Whether you agree or disagree with her ideas, she does an exceptional job of covering pertinent education news across the U.S. When you read what is happening in other states and compare it to GA, you realize this is a well orchestrated movement…

http://susanohanian.org/index.php

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@scienceteacher671 –”I don’t know where your children go to school, but what I’ve found is that the education children receive in my area depends upon 3 things: (#1) the quality of the schools/teachers, (#2) the motivation of the student, and to the extent that it influences #1 and #2, (#3) parental involvement. ”
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Exactly. I am a university professor in a science department. The success there really is not that much different for students. The problem is that the best and brightest do not go into education for a number of reasons including discipline in the classroom (not a s great a problem in college/grad classes), salary and unfortunately, prestige. Educators at any level are not held in high regard and in fact are denigrated (see most bloggers on this page daily).

Our greatest economic asset in the US is that countries send their best and brightest HERE to receive college and especially graduate degrees. This asset, however, is sinking fast as the students are returning to their home countries where increasingly strong universities are being built.

The US graduation rates are pathetic. The student preparation for the work force, college and post secondary degrees continues to be less that than of students in other countries (where they have government run institutions as well, so you can’t fault that as the problem here). The problem… parents really don’t care about their students education. It’s all about them (the parents), acquisition of wealth and new toys, many of which they rain on their kids to their own detriment (computer games, obsessions with tweeting, texting etc from smart phones etc).

The students from foreign countries coming here and first generation high school and college students make our own look pathetic. Why? Because their parents put education above the toys, above the sports and other extracurricular activities.

Sorry for the rant… it bothers me every single day… multiple times…..

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Traditional public schools will still be there for the underclass as trade schools for hardworking, thrifty poor. See Charles Dickens. Real reason. The educ. busn. will go where the money.

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“:The students from foreign countries coming here and first generation high school and college students make our own look pathetic. Why? Because their parents put education above the toys, above the sports and other extracurricular activities.”

I think for many education is a priority, but it’s that nagging 20-40% that move the achievement needle up and down that we just haven’t found a way to reach yet. I’ve said many times on this blog that when we can find a way to make education as much a necessity as food, clothing, and shelter (and electronics these days!), the numbers will move up. All the “education reform” in the world, whether public or private, can’t fix that problem.

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This is my biggest fear as an educator. I work in a county where we are on the “cutting edge” of technology use. I have no idea how much taxpayer money has been spent or who is responsible for making the decisions about what is purchased, but wow. What a lot of unnecessary spending.

For example, we have a program that will grade essays! Doesn’t that sound remarkable? It isn’t…a student can write the same paragraph 5 times and earn high marks if their repeated paragraph is free of grammatical errors. We are expected to use this regularly because the county bought and paid for it, apparently without discovering this nasty little glitch. What a joke.

The more that we descend down the rabbit hole, the clearer the picture becomes. The teacher is seen less and less as the subject area expert or authority, and more and more as the “facilitator” of learning through technology. I’m not sure this has to be a bad thing, but the current trend is not looking positive.

And PLEASE. Follow the money! I find it very telling that the shift to a national curriculum has the Gates Foundation at the helm.

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The education establishment is in the unfavorable situation Will Richardson admits to because parents and taxpayers see a telling stagnation in test scores—and tests remain the only truly objective measure of academic progress.

Profess to hate them to your heart’s content—but that ITBS results envelope is STILL the one you rush to open when your own child’s test scores arrive home.

An education establishment responding to continuing failures with stubborn denial, legerdemain, excuse-making and the relabeled education delivery gimmicks of yesteryear … are no more likely to win over over a skeptical public than your own adolescent is to fool YOU with his/her homework excuses.

And why the war on capitalism and competition in this blog? Do some imagine themselves as laughably pathetic Occupy Wall Street losers?

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@ Dr. John Trotter,
I agree. Outsiders don’t have clue. Most educators(these are the top level admin people who decide for your children) do not negotiate. The companies tell them how much something will be and guess what…the bill is paid. It’s just that easy folks. What company wouldn’t want to do business with any school system?

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last I checked, U of Phoenix, the poster child for profit higher ed, has a nasty habit of leaving students profoundly in debt.

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(sorry, accidentally hit send)

we, the rank and file, have zero control over who we buy from and limited control over who we can bid from.

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Bootney, I know all of this. You’re not telling me anything I don’t already know. Teachers have no control over what they can use in the classroom, are underpaid, improperly evaluated, and given insufficient levels of professional development. That’s part of the “systemic” problem.

But don’t go screaming that more technology is bad. It’s time we fixed a more than 100 year old system and started motivating students. With the graduation rates as pathetic as they are, especially in APS, we need to take drastic action so we don’t lose an entire generation of kids to the welfare system, and possibly, the penal system.

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all the technology in the world ain’t gonna fix APS.

their issue is one of a corrupt culture run amok.

and frankly, the current generation of APS kids was lost before they
ever set foot into 1st grade

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Inertia and misdirected partisan loyalty is all that’s saving the monopolistic public school system from a long overdue top-to-bottom revamp at this point.

That and the cash union bosses are overtly and covertly using to frustrate progress.

Whatever more competitive system replaces the “the blob” of K-12 education—it will rightly face the same scrutiny too many of you bloggers with vested interests now shamelessly defame.

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@Jane W “And why the war on capitalism and competition in this blog?”

It isn’t a “war on capitalism and competition”. It is the recognition that some aspects of society are better served by a different approach than “capitalism and competition.” Not EVERYTHING in this country needs to be driven by the engines of C&C. It was decided, some years ago, to move to a C&C approach to health care – and look where that has gotten us. Education should not have profit as a bottom line. Teachers aren’t motivated by C&C…and WE are the ones serving the children. I am sickened by the increasing number of people making a profit off the work *I* do, while my take home pay gets less and less, and my students suffer from top down mandates that have much more to do with lining someone’s pockets than actually educating our youth!

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sorry, “error”

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bootney,

You took my post on individualizing instsruction in public education too personally. My post was intended as much for those at the state and country district office levels – who set curriculum that is standardized for every student (regardless of instructional level need) – as for classroom teachers.

Once an “illness” is correctly diagnosed, then the proper medication can be prescribed, but until the problem is diagnosed correctly, the prescription will be off, and the problem will not be solved. Individualizing instruction to student need remains a primary key toward achieving a more improved public educational system, as well as a primary “cure” for a very high drop out rate.

Several teachers who have posted on this blog, including “teacher&mom” and “Ron F,” have previously written excellent posts which indicated how they have individualized instruction within their classrooms – in spite of conditions that have not been that supportive to its occurring.

I post often regarding the need for individualizing instruction so that many will not fail to see this very important key to improving public education. My writing, hopefully, will be of help to classroom teachers, ultimately. I had spent most of my 35 year educational career as a classroom teacher and I have only been fully retired for five years.

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From Mary Elizabeth’s comment:

Several teachers who have posted on this blog, including “teacher&mom” and “Ron F,” have previously written excellent posts which indicated how they have individualized instruction within their classrooms – in spite of conditions that have not been that supportive to its occurring.
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Ron F: I have read your last comment and it’s clear that you are a dedicated and probably wonderful teacher.
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The point that I would like to challenge you on is the appropriateness of “If we truly teach to children’s needs”.

Is the point of public education an individualized study plan for each child? Do we have the money/resources for such efforts? I’m sure it helps the individual child, but is there a large measurable effect?

If we used “technology” such as video instead of teachers to impart basic generalized knowledge on a subject (European History), wouldn’t that free up teachers from teaching the same basics of a subject over and over again? Why do we need 40 teachers in a school system to teach the same European History basics? Frankly, when I was in school, I didn’t see much difference from listening to a teacher or simply reading the textbook. Video/computer presentations can include very rich multi-media experiences for students. Would I rather read about the Nazi’s in WWII or see the abuses of prisoners in the concentration camps and soldiers dying on the shores of Normandy? Not all teachers are of the same quality, but every teacher could contribute ideas or delivery of material on a video/computer presentation that can be used by students at their leisure. Assign video/computer labs and provide time (study halls) where students can bring their questions to individual teachers. Feedback can then be used to improve the presentation of the subject.

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@Ron F. From what I see above (and your previous posts) couldn’t you be rightly classified as peerless among the naysayers?

“Standardized testing that doesn’t really give anyone a whit of real information about what a child has learned or knows?” Are you trying out, Ron, for the Olympics of Hyperbole? Do you/would you toss out—without even opening—your own child’s ITBS results envelope??

I didn’t think so.

Teachers are blamed for MUCH they have no control over. We all accept that. But those among them who doggedly refuse to consider that decades of failure call for a much more robust approach to innovation and reform … do parents and their children a great and lasting disservice.

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@ Rick,

that kind of use of technology is done all the time.

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@ jane,

for all the support for testing you seem to have, a question:

we’ve been doing what you wish for a long time now. are you
happy with the results?

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@bootney farnsworth, 1:35 pm

“mary elizabeth,
I’m not a fan of trying force square pegs into round holes at all.
from my perspective we’ve got too many major issues ahead of individualizing instruction to even consider it right now.”
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Bootney,

I think that you may have some preconceived ideas about what “individualizing instruction” means, from my words. I do not mean by “individualizing instruction” that every student must be taught on a one-on-one basis. That would be humanly impossible for almost any teacher. For example, most teachers of high school biology classes, with 150 students altogether, would find one-on-one instruction for every student impossible to achieve, especially when classes are only 50 to 55 minutes each. However, if several of a teacher’s high school biology students are reading on 5th grade level, and the teacher does not address this fact, he or she can be fairly certain that those students will do poorly in his or her class, and perhaps even fail the class. If no teacher in high school addresses those students’ reading deficiencies, those students may easily become high school drop-out statistics.

I can think of no greater problem to solve in education than that of rectifying the problem of masses of students who are dropping out of school. Please read, below, the true story of one high school student who was reading on an elementary level, and of what happened in his life, as a result.

http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2012/04/01/roberts-story-love-never-fails/
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NOTE for RON F:

Ron, this is an example of where I think standardized test scores can be helpful to teachers. Standardized test scores will give grade level equivalents for each student’s reading comprehension and vocabulary scores (as well as for mathematics’ scores). If curriculum teachers simply use those scores for no other purpose than to inform them of their students’ overall reading scores, those standardized test scores will have served a useful instructional purpose. Better, at least, to be aware of that rudimentary knowledge of each student’s functioning, than have no objective test analysis through which to confirm reasons for students’ dysfunction in school.

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@Ron F. From what I see above (and your previous posts) couldn’t you be rightly classified as peerless among the naysayers?

“Standardized testing that doesn’t really give anyone a whit of real information about what a child has learned or knows?” Are you trying out, Ron, for the Olympics of Hyperbole? Do you/would you toss out—without even opening—your own child’s ITBS results envelope??

I didn’t think so.

Teachers are blamed for MUCH they have no control over. We all accept that. But those among them who doggedly refuse to consider that decades of failure call for a much more robust approach to innovation and reform … do parents and their children a great and lasting disservice.

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Sooner or later technology will come to education—many teachers/aides may be able to be replaced due to that–not as many as most people think but still there will be a need for less teachers as technology is advanced–especially if used appropriately. The main problem with overspending in education is the same with most areas of government—too many chiefs and not enough indians. Just look at the past couple of years AJC articles concerning the salaries and staff of Ga. superintendents,asst. supt, vice supt, principals, vice principals, etc. Hopefully the lady in Dekalb will start a trend to downsize and streamline Ga. public schools administration which may lead to a better level of class room teacher. time will tell.

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@Love/HateTeaching. Here’s a thought: Why not join with like-minded teachers and open your own charter school?

Put in practice those innovative teaching techniques you’ve come up with but have been prevented from fully utilizing. And for good measure—insist on making no “evil” profits.

What’s stopping you?

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Half of new graduates are jobless or underemployed:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/story/2012-04-22/college-grads-jobless/54473426/1

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IN the future, a parent will have to talk to some customer service rep in some far off country in order to find out what issue their student needs addressed. I can’t wait!! Hey Georgia, we get what we pay for!! We Rank at the bottom of government spending per a resident. soon these technology companies and bio tech companies will realize tax breaks and not enough smart people is a poor bussiness decision. They will move out of Georgia.

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I’m more worried about Richardson’s writing ability. His blog appears almost incoherent.

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“The point that I would like to challenge you on is the appropriateness of “If we truly teach to children’s needs”.

Is the point of public education an individualized study plan for each child? Do we have the money/resources for such efforts? I’m sure it helps the individual child, but is there a large measurable effect?”

Sorry to take so long getting back- had family stuff to do. Honestly, it doesn’t take an individualized “plan” to understand each child’s needs. I’m lucky to have small enough classes that I can keep track of who’s learning and who’s not. Some days they all get it and I can move on fairly quickly. Some days I have to individualize, and a little time and some good grouping decisions allows me the time. It takes willingness to forego the prescribed plan for the day if it isn’t working. To me, it’s more about equipping teachers with the right understanding of what their job is and encouraging them to do it. They have to keep track and adjust as they go. I know what you mean about listening to the lecture vs. reading the text book. For kids who can do that well on their own, I move them on to something or have them read for pleasure while I catch everyone else up. I think if teachers were better prepared and trained to do that, we would be able to do better. Like most things in education though, the educrats muck it up with paperwork and some big package “program” that’s supposed to take the place of common sense. And we see the results of decades of that don’t we?

“But those among them who doggedly refuse to consider that decades of failure call for a much more robust approach to innovation and reform … do parents and their children a great and lasting disservice.”

Jane- I can only offer my apologies if my passion for education comes across as dogged refusal. As I’ve said numerous times, I’m not against innovation and reform, but you have to realize that rushing headlong into anything is never wise. “Fools rush in…” as they say. I’ve seen quite a few “innovations” that sounded good, and might have been, had they been fully implemented and given time to work. What many want, and I’m certainly not pointing fingers here, is immediate and foolproof change, and that isn’t going to happen. The best education reform, without careful study and a long-term commitment to it, isn’t going to completely work. Part of the problem, and this is just my opinion for the 2 cents it’s worth, is that we have spent the last 2-3 decades innovating and changing, and the results are lukewarm at best. Just look at how reading curriculum changes. Program after program proves to work for some and not for others. Whatever form schools take in the coming years, we’re going to have to equip teachers with the skills to use a variety of techniques and make sure they have the desire and willingness to use all those tools as needed. Then we might see some positive changes. Will we reach 100%? Nope, not in an imperfect world, but we could see some positive growth if all the folks involved get together and discuss it rationally. As a teacher, I’m not feeling like part of the team right now, and it does get to me at times.

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@ I love teaching, 2:11

“However, creating a competitive environment which pits teacher against teacher in order to procure funding or pay will undermine the rich cooperative spirit which defines good teaching practices. Furthermore, jumping on the technology bandwagon without some in depth analysis of whether the technology actually supports student learning is also not a viable solution for anyone but those profiting from selling said “technology” miracle.”
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Very well expressed. I completely agree with those words of yours, above.

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@Jane W “Put in practice those innovative teaching techniques you’ve come up with but have been prevented from fully utilizing. And for good measure—insist on making no “evil” profits.

What’s stopping you?”

Believe me, would love to open my own school – but lack the funding to do so, and am not willing to sell my soul to some outside corporation to underwrite my school and then take control. I am a realist, not an idealist.

As for ‘evil’ profits, if that is what you managed to glean from my comments, then we obviously are not communicating. Profit, per se, are not evil. Profits won through exploitation of children and deceit of the public? Hmmm, more problematic.

We spend billions and billions of tax dollars on standardized testing each year – and for what? Have we created a better educated society? Do we now have superior teachers in the classroom? Are students reaching their full individual, creative potential? Or have we merely raised a generation of test takers who learn to regurgitate discrete bits of knowledge but are severely lacking in higher order thinking skills?

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Oops. Those “billions” probably should have been “millions”. Got a bit over zealous there.

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@Anonmom: There are those who believe Gov. Jindal is simply following ALEC’s protocol and not the will of the people. Below is a quote from a recent article (link posted below).

“The governor is doing the job of ALEC,” she said. “They are doing an overhaul of the entire state. It is a scripted ALEC overhaul.”

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/bobby-jindal-recall-education-reform_n_1424351.html

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RonF, MaryEliz, tchr&mom: Jeez, get a hotel room! (A single room will do—as most readers have probably already guessed.)

And I take it the NEA has officially declared war on ALEC and issued orders to its minions? Well, I’ve made a mental note to myself to write ALEC a donation check in the morning …

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“And I take it the NEA has officially declared war on ALEC and issued orders to its minions? Well, I’ve made a mental note to myself to write ALEC a donation check in the morning …”

You know, I really thought you did well on this thread and made some interesting points. For goodness sakes, I actually agreed with you a time or two. I guess several of us must have made a good point or two you didn’t want to hear- you couldn’t come up with a better response than to be childish? I honestly hope in the ongoing discussion of education reform that you can recognize when someone has a point, even if you don’t agree with it. Your disagreement could be truly productive if you would engage in intelligent debate. I was hoping for that, as I truly believe the only way we’re going to make substantive, lasting progress in education is to debate, as adults, with careful consideration for all points of view. I’m trying- could you participate in that? I’m hopeful!!

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@JaneW: “Profess to hate them to your heart’s content—but that ITBS results envelope is STILL the one you rush to open when your own child’s test scores arrive home.”

I can’t say I “rushed” to open my children’s test scores. I did look at them with interest and almost 99% of the time, the scores confirmed what I already knew about my child’s academic progress. In other words, I didn’t need a standardized test score as proof.

Why?

Because I monitored their progress each week. I looked through their writing samples, math pages, and portfolios. We discussed the books they were reading in class. Most parents, especially educated parents, can tell if their child is progressing. If you did nothing BUT read their writing samples, you would have a fairly accurate picture of whether or not they are learning.

When my son was in fourth grade, his ITBS score indicated a 12th grade reading level, I knew better. He was a bright and enthusiastic student but he certainly was not ready for 12th grade reading materials. However, I would often hear other mothers bragging about their child’s ITBS scores.

Which is the reason so many parents desperately cling to standardized testing. It offers them a false sense of security.

The current business trend in education is to feed your insecurity and lure you into believing they offer the perfect solution for your child.

It seems to be working.

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@Ron F,

‘The (standardized) test score is certainly useful for classroom teachers as a basic piece of information, and I like your idea of listing it in the gradebook. I plan to use that next year!’
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So glad that that will be a helpful suggestion to you next year. I used to place their individual standardized reading comprehension scores – for my 150 Advanced Reading students – to the right of their last names in my alphabetical listing of each student’s name per class period. That way I could know, at a glance, who might struggle more with the advanced SAT/college prep vocabulary words I was teaching them daily. When I gave the students their weekly list of vocabulary words on Mondays (75 words per week, or 15 words per day), I would have an asterisk placed beside only 10 of the words, so that those students who were behind others in reading skills would only have to learn 10 words per day or 50 words per week instead of the maximum 75 words taught. I also told all students that, if they learned simply the 10 words per day, they would be guaranteed a grade of 90 on my weekly vocabulary tests, given on Fridays, instead of the 100 that was guaranteed if they learned all 75 words per week. That did not take much extra work for me to place an asterisk by those 10 words or to design the weekly vocabulary tests so that, if students learned 10 words daily, they would score at least a 90 on my weekly tests. Moreover, I stored – under lock and key – my weekly vocabulary tests and overhead projector sheets on which I had written the vocabulary words so that I did not have to “reinvent the wheel” every year, which saved me time and effort.

Btw, I had placed the vocabulary words on an overhead projector sheet with the asterisks already “burned” into the overhead projector sheets from which the students copied the vocabulary words, daily, before I began instruction on the words, by first breaking the long words into prefixes, suffixes, syllables and then by giving their meanings through examples in various sentences from their experiences, synonyms with shades of meaning variances, and antonyms for the words. Students had homework assignments for developing their own sentences, using the words taught for the day. After the vocabulary part of the lesson, we moved to SAT strategies and reading comprehension skills from college level reading material.

When I observed that a given student had scored low on the reading comprehension standardized test score (which I had placed beside the student’s name) in my gradebook, I did not automatically move that student from my Advanced Reading course to a Personalized Reading course, with his counselor and parent. I would wait to see how the student actually functioned in my class and if the student could cope, pass, and learn, I let him or her remain in Advanced Reading whatever his standardized reading comprehension score had been. But at least, I had had a “baseline” alert, as you say, Ron, for the fact that there might be a forthcoming problem for that student in Advanced Reading and I would know the probable source of that student’s problem, and I could make a course change for proper placement for the student, if necessary. That way few of my students failed Advanced Reading. If they did fail, I knew that it was because they did not put forth the effort and not because they had been misplaced, but that lack of effort on the student’s part was very rare. Correct placement and instruction was the key. “Knowledge is power.” (Teachers should realize, and I am sure that most do, that some students do not try on standardized tests and that is a reason some will not score on grade level, so one must always factor that possibility into one’s assessment of a given student’s correct placement and performance possiblity.)

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@teacher&mom,

Thank you so much for keeping the public aware about the destructiveness that ALEC has wielded to public education (as well as to other arenas of our society). I am going to post below part of the information from your excellent link for any who may not have taken the time to read your link. Keep up the excellent work!
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From this link, provided by “teacher&mom”: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/13/bobby-jindal-recall-education-reform_n_1424351.html

“Angie Bonvillain and Brenda Romero, teachers in Calcasieu Parish, have launched recalls for both over the education reform policies recently passed by the legislature. The policies include relaxing teacher tenure rules, increased power for school administrators to fire teachers, tying test scores to teacher performance and the promotion of school vouchers, along with the creation of new charter schools.

‘This is not education reform,’ Bonvillain said. ‘It will gut public schools in a lot of ways. We do not feel like this will help education.’

Bonvillain and Romero said that Jindal’s policies, which were enacted in recent weeks by legislators, convinced them there is a need to change the state’s leadership. The move comes less than a year after Jindal was reelected to a second term by 49 points over a little known Democratic opponent, teacher Tara Hollis.

The two said the policies pushed by Jindal will be destructive to public schools, moving money toward private schools and relying on test scores to gauge teacher performance. Romero noted that the group also is looking at Jindal’s plans for the state’s retirement system and his efforts to privatize state prisons to galvanize support.”

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@teacher&mom: maybe if NEA actually reads this, and really would offer us a cushy job, then we could just meet at the water cooler every morning!! LOL Nice to be lumped into good company, regardless of the nomenclature used!

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@Rick in Grayson: If the GA HS graduation rate is closer to 65%…when I attended HS, 65% was barely a passing grade. Shouldn’t the educational system (administrators and teachers) be villified?

Not necessarily. What was the graduation rate when you attended high school, and why?

Georgia’s high school curriculum supposedly prepares all graduates for college. While all graduates are NOT ready for college, other countries recognize that not all students are college material, and so after a basic education, some students go to work and some go to trade schools.

The 35% of Georgia students who “drop out” include those who do not have the intellectual capacity to master high school level work, those who are not interested in school and so “flunk out” or drop out, those who get GEDs instead of diplomas, and those who take more than 4 years to complete high school.

So far as using student test scores to judge teacher quality, how are you going to do that? My students take a standardized test, but I teach “at risk” students – those who are at risk of dropping out due to low skill levels, low intellectual ability, or low motivation. My scores aren’t bad, but they aren’t nearly as high as those of the teacher who teaches the gifted students. Is she a better teacher since her students’ scores are higher?

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If ALEC has been so benign in its intent and purposes, why has it found it necessary to wield powerful corporate influence over state legislators for almost 40 in, essentially, secretive ways? That question cannot be denied, even as ALEC – now that its manueverings have become common knowledge – attempts to “reinvent” itself. ALEC has been supportive of the interests of few of power and wealth over the interests of the masses of Americans – not a concept upon which this nation was founded.

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… And then rent the film “Waiting for Superman.”

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It’s so true. It’s like educators discourage kids from becoming plumbers and carpenters even though they can make more money than most educators.

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Econometrics. Meteormetrics. Educametrics? UC-Berkeley, if memory serves me correctly, just received a $10M grant to address the problem of determining the suitability of student, teacher and other educational data for academic achievement-prediction.

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So what can we, as parents, do? I’m sick and tired of all the standardized testing, and I fully support taking back our schools so that the teachers can teach and our students can learn. I want our kids to enjoy school, to learn to be critical thinkers, and NOT be “taught to the test”. I’m ready for action as a parent, but what do I do?

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“The only warranted apologies should be emanating from the mouths of fellow educators who haven’t been ranting and working to reform our too-numerous schools which graduate young folk unprepared for adult life.”

A little perspective here is important Dr. Spinks. Look at who’s making the decisions about curriculum, teaching method, standards, etc. Classroom teachers, by design, can do little to affect the decision making that goes on as to what we do and how we do it. I think, from my experience (for what it’s worth), that most teachers do care and are trying their best given the conditions politicians and those in non-school decision-making roles set for us. While we share part of the blame, ours is the last voice heard as vital policies are set, yet we are increasingly held accountable for implementing those policies. Just making sure we all keep in mind who’s who and where the power lies. We can’t organize ourselves to have a real voice lest we be called a “union.”

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“We can’t organize ourselves to have a real voice lest we be called a ‘union.’ ”
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Teachers, since your voice and your interests (which directly effect your students’ interests) are so little respected and listened to in Georgia, perhaps the time has come for you to consider advocating for the right to join a teacher’s union in Georgia.

Until that is possible by law, I urge all of Georgia’s public school teachers to voice your collective will by joining the National Education Association (NEA) and its Georgia branch, the Georgia Association of Educators (GAE), as I did 40 years ago.

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Ron F.,

Power is something we teachers have for too-long been reticent to take.

Please e-mail me at craigspinks@aol.com with a summary of your ideas about critical problems facing GAPubEd and how to solve them. I’ll put them to use.

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We need to focus on what we are teaching, which should be basic principles and the logical conclusions, not rote. Here are a couple of books:

Rational Thinking, Government Policies, Science, and Living

Teaching and Helping Students Think and Do Better.

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To the Education majors monitoring this blog as part of your classwork: Public education is a battleground. And not just between those with differing ideas on methodology.

The teachers’ unions—and especially the National Education Association—have a great deal invested in battling change that goes beyond higher taxes and ever more money wasted on the status quo in education. Real education reform would threaten the revenue chain of union bosses.

Parental choice, especially.

Union bosses don’t send their kids to unionized public schools. But they live in abject fear of the day when less affluent parents will have that same option! More kids in private or charter schools means fewer union jobs means lower union revenues. It’s that basic.

And so that’s why many of the characters on this daily blog sound like the same person, day after day backing the same “no change!” agenda—and promptly showing up to back each other’s uniform point of view. They in fact ARE the same 1-2 people, sitting in some cubicle at union headquarters pretending online to be frustrated teachers. Or concerned moms. Or assorted education “experts.”

They’re from the same union crowd that seeks to intimidate YOU when you voice contrary opinions in the college classroom—the ones who hold up the Georgia Association of Educators as a “savior” to education in Georgia, while playing down the fact that GAE is, first and foremost, a cash-cow the NEA depends on for funds to fight against meaningful education reform.

So don’t be fooled.

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As an Education major, Jane W, I would call the on-campus union recruitment tactics INTIMIDATION rather than persuasion. But thanks for reminding us we’re not alone!

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“They in fact ARE the same 1-2 people, sitting in some cubicle at union headquarters pretending online to be frustrated teachers. Or concerned moms. Or assorted education “experts.”

Prove it, Jane. I challenge you, I implore you to prove it or stop saying it. It really isn’t making your case any better and only lowers the expectation for intelligent, thoughtful debate. I’m getting tired of the accusations without proof. Prove it.

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Dr Spinks: I will e-mail this evening or tomorrow. I’m trying to be as succinct as possible in listing concerns.

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@ Jane W., April 23, 10:03 am: “To the Education majors monitoring this blog as part of your classwork…” Weird idea of college education to think that reading anonymous blogs would be part of classwork, rather than scholarly sources. You also inflate mightily your own role as blogger here.

“…They in fact ARE the same 1-2 people, sitting in some cubicle at union headquarters pretending online to be frustrated teachers. Or concerned moms. Or assorted education ‘experts.’ ” Now this truly DOES fit the definition of paranoia as “characterized by delusions of persecution or of grandeur, strenuously defended by the afflicted with apparent logic or reason” (American Heritage Dictionary). I myself have long thought that you, Don H., and EduKtr are one and the same person; for you all say the same things over and over about the supposed teachers unions of Georgia using the same language.

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@Jane. Who keeps track of union campaign spending? That’s what I want to know!

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Dr. Spinks:

Can I say this: these reformers are counting and have been winning on teachers’ silence. But the other side of that is that everyday teachers are fighting to keep their heads above water, fulfill administrative paperwork and duties, reach out to parents, and stay on top of improving themselves as professionals. They are burned out.

As I’ve stated before, my husband is a special ed teacher. As his wife, I stay on top of changes like Common Core, Rttt, pay for perfomance, etc. I brief him because honestly…he doesn’t have the time. He then spreads the word to his peers. Cohesive voice is really the problem. Even PAGE and GAE do a poor job of getting the information out until it’s too late.

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One fundamental problem is that, as so often, the education establishment reacts to change at a snail’s pace. Tech companies are much more limber. It’s time for educators themselves to frame the debate and shape the software of the future. We have meekly allowed publishers to saddle us with overpriced textbooks and companies like Blackboard to sell us online learning programs that are clumsy and, of course, expensive. While a few academic journals are going electronic with not-for-profit publications, The Economist reports that the companies that control the most prestigious journals earn a 37% profit. Makes big oil and big pharma look like wimps. We can do better for ourselves. Apache, the software that runs most Web servers, was designed by an open community of programmers. Check out Eric Raymond’s essay, “The Cathedral and the Bazaar.”

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@C Jae of EAV, 11:45 am & 12:06 pm, 4/23/12

“@Mary Elizabeth 4/22 9:01am – You commentary stikes upon some clear contructive points that would help manifest progressive change.”
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“More rigorous courses? Yes, in the context referenced by @Mary Elizabeth et al, with regard to tailoring instruction to the learning style and level of the student so that we’re striving toward mastery of the content being the driving for next level advancement.”
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Thank you for your comments, C Jae. I must emphasize that, in the zeal for “more rigorous courses,”
educators must never misplace students. Of primary importance is that students are taught where they are individually functioning – for maximum growth of each student to occur.

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“I think I may enjoy watching Mr. Gates do to you what you do to our children.”

And that will fix things how exactly? The children you speak of will be the only victims in the all out war on education. It needs reform, and whatever form it takes will need dedicated teachers. When you and Mr. Gates get through maligning even the good teachers among us now, and that is clearly the intent, then what? If you read all the comments here, you know as well as anyone that many teachers are, in fact, dedicated to the profession. If you round up all the accused cheaters in the state, you’d still be at less than 1% of the total. Is it justifiable sacrifice to take out the entire population to get those you deem unworthy in the new order? Reform isn’t going to work if there aren’t enough of us willing to work with you to make it happen. I guess Mr. Gates will have a new robot or enough recorded lessons to cover that though.

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@Tonya C., Thank you! Unfortunately, that “cohesive voice” (which I completely agree is necessary–100%) is discouraged if not outright denied to us educators as public employees in this state. I am surprised every single day when these things are discussed amongst the teachers I work with–we are all overworked, overtired, and overstressed, leading to many (MANY) who don’t have the time (or haven’t taken it) to think critically about these issues before exercising their civil duty of voting on the issues (yes, teachers are citizens who vote, too). It is up to those of us with the energy or time to spread the word.

Of course, that supposedly makes me a “paid union shill” like Ron F., teacher&mom, et al, so apparently I should just sit down and shut up.

@Jane W., Are you ever going to answer teacher&mom’s questions? She has posted them repeatedly (and respectfully) at least three times in the past month or so, but you have not given her the same respect by answering her thoughtful questions. I, too, would love to hear your answers and I am certain that many who follow this blog would find them enlightening. You claim to have all the answers so educate us all on what elements make up the perfect school for your child(ren).

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Anonmom, you’re correct. The resources that you mention are available but normally not utilized by district schools. There is nothing wrong with a vendor making a profit on materials sold to a school, however, often these purchases are not put out for competitive bids, but simply purchased from a supplier that has had an agreement with the school system for decades.

If the Charter amendment passes this fall, not only will it offer a government alternative to standard district schools, but also require more competition at the supplier level.

While there are others who disagree about the effectiveness of the Charter School movement and it being the Trojan horse used to “dismantle” traditional public/government schools, I see them as a potential motivator to district schools. Improve your service/product or see your customers disappear.

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Yep, the ability to vote with your feet and using the exit door has a tremendous effect on a service provider that until this November had a virtual monopoly on public/government education. I think you’re going to see fewer administrative and compliance staff and more money spent on program applications that directly affect students.

Further, schools need to get out of the transportation business. Many county school systems spend millions per year on transportation. These are dollars that could and should be spent in the classroom.

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If you support allowing students to be used, directly, for the profit motives of those in business, then you will have no problem supporting the “free market” taking over education. Fortunately, many of us do not want to see students used in this manner. There was a reason Thomas Jefferson supported public education, which he wrote should be paid for by taxes on the general public.

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@Ronin. You’ll find the union crowd totally uninterested in parental choice, competition among delivery systems, or innovation that involves anything other than higher taxes & more bloated public school budgets.

The results they value bear scant resemblance yours as a parent or taxpayer.

But you’re also right that experimentation will yield varied results. The marketplace will then works its magic in pointing out a better way or ways.

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Ronin: A few questions if I may. Please don’t take any hostility in my asking. I’m honestly trying to learn here, even though I am still very unsure about free market takeover of education.

If we do away with transportation depts., how do we get kids to school then? How do we get teams/bands to competitions? How do we do field trips? Even private schools have buses for events as needed. I work in a small county with one high school. We have kids traveling as far as 15 miles or so who don’t have transportation due to parents’ work schedules. What is the alternative?

“they are run by local parent groups or corporations”

While that sounds good in theory, and I actually do see some merit to having parent groups have more say in a local school, think about the problems. We currently have boards elected by citizens…when they actually get out and vote. Those elections generally don’t draw large numbers of voters, and look at the myriad examples we’ve had in the last ten years of the total lunacy of the boards many ended up with. I’ll give you an argument against that any day of the week! That said, how will these parent boards insure that some of the same ridiculousness isn’t repeated? How will they be accountable to the end consumer? I know, if you don’t like it, just take your money elsewhere. I see the potential for a lot of wasted money and frustrations as kids move from school to school and schools have to constantly adjust staff numbers, etc. Will there be any reasonable limits on how freely parents can move their kids and the money that follows them?

Finally, the problems with schools/systems go much, much deeper than just the teachers/admins/BOE folks. We have a big problem within our country that education isn’t important to a large percentage. I have kids at all socio-economic levels and from varying racial backgrounds who just don’t care. How do we make education a priority again? How do we convince the already disengaged that they have to get involved? I jus think we have far greater social issues we need to deal with, and we can’t just say “oh well, I got my kid out, so who cares?” That’s a dangerous attitude and I see it motivating a lot of the reform movements.

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school boards are already run by parents. they’re called VOTERS.
the same people who get us into this mess. and you want to put them directly in charge?

here’s where that will lead you:
a school with zero arts, little humanities, and the best football team money can buy.

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As the author and several observers point out, we don’t wish harm upon anyone, much less kids who we are prone to label as “the future”. However, let’s make one undeniable fact clear: whatever we think, say, or do…NOTHING will come of NOTHING until: STANDARDS are established AND enforced. There can be no leniency on this.

My last forray into the classroom was about 15 years ago. When I realized that kids, with grades indicative of geniuses, could not pass simple math tests…no, make that arithmetic tests…I questioned their regular teacher…”How could (ostensibly) A/B students fail (fail miserably) a test on material which had been covered only days before”? The answer (from one of those award-winning teacher-of-this-that-or-the-other recipients): “I GIVE THEM CREDIT FOR TRYING”. What kind of bull was that? More of this psuedo self-esteem nonsense which only serves to poison kids/poison an entire generation which has become steeped in the expectation of maximum returns for minimum efforts. THIS is where the attentions should be directed.

In the military, the training dogma was based on the philosophy “Sweat more in training; bleed less in battle”. Well, as much as we all like to present the world, to these kids, as sweet-smelling and rosey, we have to/we MUST let them know that IT’S A BATTLE. As adults, we (should) know this; the ONLY way to let these kids know this; prepare for this, and have any chance of becoming viable, is to…MAKE EM SWEAT…Insist on standards with no deviation. Anything else, and all we’re doing is fooling ourselves and, worse of all, those kids.

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“Further, there will always be a district type school system for which you are an advocate, but it is going to change. A lot.”
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Yes, I am aware that with the present ideological movement toward private schools and other schools of choice, as described by Big Bill at 7:41 pm, traditional public schools may be altered significantly in the future. One of the ways that traditional public schools will change is that their populations will shrink and, thus, their resources will become more depleted for those poorer students who will remain after other students, who have greater financial resources within their families, have transferred to private schools or charter schools. I think that there is a danger, when that happens, that we will have inadvertently resegregated our schools and our society, but this time by class and by wealth instead of simply by race. Below are Big Bill’s words, restated, for emphasis:

“There is a new documentary film titled ‘Koch Brothers Exposed,’ It is a Robert Greenwald Film from the Brave New Foundation. Go to ‘Koch Brothers Exposed.com’ to see the trailer plus more information. I have only seen the trailer but one quote in it states that the Koch Brothers want to re-segregate the public schools. This new documentary is a must-see film for anyone concerned about the survival of our representative form of government. The plutocracy envisioned by the Koch Brothers does not include a public education system that promotes intelligent, educated citizens who can think for themselves.”

Also, I wish to emphasize that I do not object to having my taxes used for the public education of our young. In fact, I support that taxing, of all, for public education, as did Jefferson. I want to emphasize that I have, gladly, paid taxes for more than 40 years to that end, and although I am now a senior citizen who has not had a child in a pulbic school for over a dozen years, I have continued to gladly pay taxes on my home to support public education of our young. After all, I am a retired public school teacher.

By mentioning my thoughts on my taxes, I was trying to show the irony of taxing people to support the common good of all when, in fact, their taxes may end up being used to support private entrepreneurs who will be using government funds (our common taxes) for their private profit interests. If one advocates having tax money “follow the student,” even into private enterprise schools, then, logically, only those citizens who have children in those private schools should be taxed to send their children there. (See my analogy, below, for a more detailed explanation.)

By analgoy, just as all citizens are not taxed to support a private resort on Jekyll Island that caters only to the few of privilege, but all citizens are taxed to support a state park, such as Unicoi State Park, which serves the common recreational interests of all of Georgia’s citizens, only those who patron the Jekyll Island private resort should be expected to pay money to patron that private resort. Likewise, why should a taxpayer (particularly one without a child in public schools) be expected to pay taxes for another family’s choice to send their children to a more exclusive private school (where their tax monies will end up in the hands of private for-profit entrepreneurs), instead of to a traditional public school which was designed to serve all children within the district, equally? That is a debatable question that all citizens need to ponder in the days ahead, in my humble opinion.

Regarding competition and a “survival of the fittest” approach in education, some may care to read my blog entry entitled, “Competition vs. Cooperation,” on my personal blog. Link below:

http://maryelizabethsings.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/competition-vs-cooperation/

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“Equality in education (or in life) has never existed in the history of man and will not for the foreseeable future.”
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I am certainly glad that our forefathers did not hold this point of view. “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.” -Thomas Jefferson, author of the American Declaration of Independence.

Without an attempt to build a more egalitarian world, no progress in that direction will be made. Our forefathers believed that the attempt was worth the effort. MLKJr: “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”

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Big Bill & Others – instead of being petrified about big money and racists that might come out of any new “system” that competition might bring — why don’t we look at what is currently happneing? Mary Elizabeth — you like to reference Thomas Jefferson… I love Thomas Jefferson. I greatly admire him. He would be flat out appalled at what our public ed system has become. If you were to read Gattos’ books you’d understand why. Carnegie and Rockefeller changed Jefferson’s idea of public ed to make the children into “robots” to fulfil the needs of the huge corporations and government. But it’s not working. All you have to do is look at the “product” coming out of the schools. The proposal is to return to what Jefferson taught which is to allow the children to learn in the best environnemts for each of them… not in some “robotic” formula that the government deems best for them to turn them out in some set way. It isn’t working!!!! The kis are coming out unable to do basic math and unable to read and it’s costing society multiple billions of dollars a year. The rich folk are taking care of themselves. They have choice. They have already segregated themselvse. This is a way for the “rest” to gain that level of education so that they can compete in the world. When parents and teachers tell students from a very early age that it’s okay to just “try” or that there are no consequences for actions and “no zeros” when they are little, that’s the paradigm they learn. Then when they hit the teen years, there really are consequences for actions — like paiting on street corners or buildings or forcing yourself on a girl who doesn’t want sex or taking something from someone when it’s not yours (rather than the communual pile in kindergarten) — there are “rules” of society” that our schools are not teaching young and elementary and middle school aged kids and then, as you can see from other blog posts, they can lead to jail when the kid hits 16 and 17 and doesn’t realize that there really can be consequences to actions. OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE ALREADY FAILING ARE CHILDREN – CURRENLTLY AND TAXPAYERS ARE FUNDING IT AT BILLIONS OF DOLLARS A YEAR!!! Wake up!!! THis is a poresent crime. The situation is horrible.

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I alos think that, in general, people don’t value what you’re given … you value what you work for. I think that, in general this is what is a problem with our entitlement programs. I think this is what is meant by the expression that it is better to teach someone to fish than to give him the fish and by the comparison in some countries where the poor (including in places like rural Africa and Asia) where the poor scrimp and save every penny so kids can sit on dirt floors without plumbing to get their educations to get out of real poverty and in America where there are schools for everyone, with working in-door plumbing (okay in DCSS it doesn’t always work…), the kids are not the least bit interested in their education — it’s not valued becuase it’s really easy to get.

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if it costs the same amount per person toeither educate or incarcerate and the teacher to inmate ratio is higher, what do you think the next step will be…..build more prisons.

Prisons will continue to increase across the nation…..

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Teacher Reader, you’ve got the experience…the practical day-to-day experience…of plying your profession both within and outside the unionized environment…you, it would appear, are best-qualified to assess the current state of education as it may, or may not prosper within a good solid (if that exists) union. I, personally, have never toiled within the structure of a union. My experience, as a manager and as an engineer, in dealing with unionized personel has not been favorable. However, I am aware of the differences between professional unions and low-skilled trade unions…my experience (I do not want to insult all trade unions, for I know there are some/many whose memberships comprise a highly trained/highly skilled memberships.

Due to the apparent inability of local, state and federal leaderships to forge an effective educational house, it becomes incumbent that those in the know…the certified teachers of this state and of the country…take a leadership stance in forming the best educational systems possible. Of this, there can be absolutely no compromise, for the future of those kids, this country; civilization as we have come to enjoy it are all at stake.

Throughout my often-piercing blogs, I have been unrelenting in reminding the teacher corps that, despite their (ostensibly) devotion to youth, they have been far less than successful, in fact, downright failures, in demonstrating this devotion, simply because they have failed to TAKE COMMAND of the profession they have worked so hard to enter.

So what’s your take on this? Are teachers well-advised to pursue unionization, or do the downsides (as I am quite certain some exist) advise against such action?

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teacher reader is describing the environment I’m finding in my fancy private school… I really think that vouchers would allow more kids to have access to these environments.

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M.E. :
” Without an attempt to build a more egalitarian world, no progress in that direction will be made. Our forefathers believed that the attempt was worth the effort”**********************************************************************************************************

Evolution is a process that is subject to time more so than effort or “attempt”. While the “vision” is a noble one, it has been 236 years and yet we are far from the egalitarianism society that many have drawn on paper for years.

That’s why I made the comment, it will not be so for the foreseeable future. That’s a fact, it’s real and the evidence shows it to be true. One can wish for an egalitarianism society, as a model of how things should be. However, look at Darfur and South Africa, also areas of the Middle East to see how things really are.

Teacher Reader at 4:31, that is an interesting summation on why children, “pass the test”, but are basically ignorant when they graduate from high school. That is EXACTLY the reason that education needs another option, rather than teach to the test. Thanks for the info.

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It is not a matter of “bash(ing) the wealthy because they have too much money and power.” I have no problem with others having money and power, if they so wish. I do have a problem with allowing the voices of the many to be less than the voices of the few, especially in America with the tenets upon which our nation was founded. Below are a couple of posts that I, initially, posted on Jay Bookman’s blog, earlier this month, which may explain my thoughts on egalitarianism in greater depth. It may take, not simply decades, but centuries more, for the world to evolve as fully as possible in the direction of egalitarianism. After all, the Magna Carta was signed in the year 1215.

On 4/12/12, I posted the following:

“My interpretation is consistent with yours, but with a differing slant, if you will. I have written often on this blog that I believe that the world is moving toward a more egalitarian consciousness from an older, hierarchial consciousness, as evidenced through the formation of America herself, based on the premise that ‘all are created equal,’ the end of slavery, the end of Jim Crow, the right of women to vote and have rights equal to men, the creation of the United Nations, the break up of the Soviet Union into smaller, relatively self-determining states, the end of apartheid in South Africa, the Gay, Bisexual and Transexual Liberation Movement, and the Arab Spring, among many other illustrations.

In the numbers given above, the same demographic groups who were in support of John Kerry in 2000 have widened their margins in their support for Obama in 2012. This change – or evolution as I see it – is more than simply another choice between two men, such as Kerry and Bush or Obama and Romney. It is the result of the continuing progression toward a greater egalitarian consciousness throughout American and the world. The last demographic group to break from a hierarchial view of others is the American white male of middle years and older. Many white males, of that age bracket, throughout the world praise Obama as the U. S. President and they agree with his vision. I know firsthand from having had conversations with male family relatives who are French natives.

Why do American white older males continue to hold strongly to their increasingly anachronistic hierarchial views of power and, thus, do not support Obama for attempting to transcend that vision? The answer is obvious to many. White males in America have been at the top of the ‘power chain’ since our nation was formed, and power does not relinquish itself, easily. Hierarchy and power go hand-in-hand. Equality and egalitarianism go hand-in-hand. The world is changing. Our Founding Fathers were men of extraordinary vision. They knew that it was inevitable that the world would change and evolve. George Washington was not known for being a visionary, as much as he was honored for his pragmatic wisdom. Through his wisdom, Washington by his act of voluntarily relinquishing his power, after having won the Revolutionary War to return to Mt. Vernon as a private citizen, equal to all other citizens, became a visionary. He made that same choice, deliberately, a second time when he refused to run for President of the U.S. for a third term and relinquished power, once again, to return Mt. Vernon as a private citizen. I believe the Father of Our Country made those specific choices so that Americans would emulate his wisdom, well into the future. Washington demonstrated by his actions that the better way is not to seek and glorify self-interested power, but instead to honor service to one’s fellowmen and women. The world is evolving in that direction because the world is developing a more egalitarian consciousness, and the numbers, above, demonstrate that reality to me.”
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On April 23, 2012, I posted the following:

“I was pleased with the election of President Obama not because he was the first black president, although that would have been sufficient enough to be pleased. He captured my imagination because of his vision. I suspect it was Obama’s vision that, also, captured the imagination of the Nobel Peace Prize Committee when they awarded him the Nobel Peace Prize.

In the current issue of Newsweek (4/ 23 & 30/12), Robert Caro, author of several volumes of LBJ’s life, contends that LBJ was a better president than JFK because LBJ was able to get Congress to pass legislation that Kennedy had only expressed the hope of seeing passed – specifically, Civil Rights legislation.

So, was LBJ a better president than JFK? I think that that possiblity is more to be doubted than Robert Caro admits. JFK captured the hearts and minds, or the imaginations, of Americans. LBJ sealed the deal. However, the ability to capture the imaginations of others is no easy accomplishment. To many, Barack Obama has that same gift that Kennedy had – the ability to inspire others and to forge his vision into the nation’s collective consciousness. Perhaps, Obama is setting the stage for a changed America, and a changed world, in this century. Perhaps, the Nobel Peace Prize Committee saw that dynamic force within him – already in movement – beyond the deeds that would fall, thereafter, as a result of the change in consciousness, precipitated by him.

And, Obama’s vision is an egalitarian vision, the same vision that Jefferson’s mind encompassed. That vision is the antithesis of Hitler’s vision of hierarchy, based on power of some over others, which is the vision of any autocratic ruler, or of any authoritarian government, whatever the label.”

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Ole Guy: the fear is that teachers in non-union states will step up and seek the solidarity they lack now. That’s why all the anti-union legislation is popping up via ALEC and why Wisconsin is trying to recall its governor. They’re bashing us and using us as the scapegoats because they know we know what’s going on and have, for too long, taken a back seat in the fight. I think, from what I’ve read and heard of late, that may change. I hope so, and while I don’t think that unions are the answer, some sort of unifying structure needs to be there. I don’t want to give money to a nationalized group that may or may not fight for me here, which is why I never joined GAE, but I know from the Barnes/Perdue election that teachers tipped the scale and whipped Roy’s backside because he ticked us off. Might be time to find that unifying cause again.

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A poster listed: “Why do American white older males continue to hold strongly to their increasingly anachronistic hierarchial views of power and, thus, do not support Obama for attempting to transcend that vision?” BECAUSE THEY HOPE THERE IS NO CHANGE.

Please don’t play the white male syndrome card, that’s worse than the race card.

Further: ““I was pleased with the election of President Obama not because he was the first black president, although that would have been sufficient enough to be pleased”******************************************************************************************

President Obama is half black, half white. Bill Clinton was the first ALL black President (and the best politician of our time), as he could relate to anyone, Teflon coated does not begin to describe how slick this man was and is.

M.E, you write eloquently and have an absolute plethora of information, based on a left or socialist slant, but it doesn’t trump logic and fact, in regard to national politics.

I agree with you, no CEO is worth 75 million a year with all the perks when a line worker makes $8.00 per hour with no medical or supplemental (DBP- defined benefit plan) for retirement. The boards of many major corporations are lined with corporate shills to advance an agenda. As a stockholder in several Atlanta based multinational corporations, I find the annual board meetings response to issues lacking in content and explanations of compensation packages without merit.

Captain Ron: your comment: “I know some folks, myself included, who got smacked unmercifully by the stock/bond market in the last recession that might not be so happy to defend it just at the moment…just sayin. My 403b took a big hit in the small recession in 03-04 and isn’t even worth looking at now.” ********************************************************************************************

Ron, some mutual funds more than doubled your money over the last ten years. Yacktman (yackx), u.s. stock fund, Fidelity Contra, Fidelity Low priced stock, Meridian Growth, FPA Crescent (fpacx), to name a few off the top of the head. Often, 403b plans are limited by the fund choices offered.
Reading to consider on investment management: Winning the losers game, by Charles Ellis and “A random walk down wall street”, by Burton Malkiel. Both stress the index approach and asset allocation for superior investment returns, “over the long run”, using a model of 80 plus years of data.

The truth is, is will work, over an extended period of time, but the last 10 years, intense fund/market analysis has returned a net yield of 8% or higher.

So, if your investment choices are limited in your 403b plan, you and your co-workers, that means all of them, should contact H/R to request more options. Fidelity has some of the best managed plans.

Good luck

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Ronin,

When I started my teaching career in the 1969 – 70 school year, my teaching contract stated: “You take care of the students of Georgia and the TRS will take care of your retirement funds.” As a result, the state of Georgia, and the children of Georgia, had from me 35 years of very dedicated service to students for whom I cared and helped to succeed. I became a school leader for most of my career, showing other teachers how to address individual instructional needs of their students. Often I remained at school until 7 or 8 pm, working to create instructional training materials for teachers and parents. That I was not paid for giving this extra time to others did not concern me. My instrinsic motivation to excel came from my desire to help students, teachers, parents, and my school community to improve. For this work and success, I was given many awards over the years. Now, I am financially secure in my retirement years. My contract with the state of Georgia was a beneficial plan for me, as a teacher, as well as for thousands of students, who reaped the results of my many hours of planning for them, and my delivery of skills and knowledge to them. I believe traditional public education can be improved because I helped to improve it during my active years as a teacher and as a school leader. Competition did not make me an excellent teacher. Care did that for me. Money and power have never been primary to me. Learning, giving back, teaching, and raising our child, with my husband, were primary to me. The hours some might have spent on their financial portfolios, I spent on improving the lives of young people. I was often asked, on a countywide level, to train other teachers. That is where I placed my time and effort. There are only so many hours in a day. Where one places emphasis is a matter of what one values, in terms of priority.

Regarding the need for an egalitarian consciousness. You have acknowledged, “I agree with you, no CEO is worth 75 million a year with all the perks when a line worker makes $8.00 per hour with no medical or supplemental (DBP- defined benefit plan) for retirement.”

How can those who make only $8.00 an hour ever hope to build savings accounts sufficient enough to allow them to invest for their future retirement? They are only able to survive day to day with those low wages. The “game,” if you will, has not been equitably designed, to begin with. I believe that you see this. Charles Dickens wrote eloquently about this over a century ago, in England. “Man’s inhumanity to man” continues today. You also write, “The boards of many major corporations are lined with corporate shills to advance an agenda.” I am aware of this even without having attended those board meetings. I wish to see the consciousness of our nation return to a time, which I well remember, when value was placed upon service, not simply upon personal gain. JFK, in his inaugural address had said in 1960, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” I remember when he gave that speech, and I remember when our national consciousness was not primarily focused upon money and the accruing of it, but upon service to one’s fellow human beings, especially those less fortunate than most. Many young people today have never even seen, or known, an America like that. I continue to write to share with others what America has been in her past – my past – and what America can be, again.

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Ron, thanks for the factual analysis. Whatever the political winds may hold, no one (who cares) can argue against the need for the teacher corps to gain a real voice in the direction of education. The powers that be have amply demonstrated that, despite all the happy talk, they couldn’t care less about quality education. It is, therefore, imperative that, by hook or crook, teachers take an active role in making their voices heard in formulating 21st century public education. Perhaps you might see fit to get that ball rolling.

As the hour is late…or early…depending on how one views the 24 hour clock, I will bid you all a bon soir, a tout a l’heur, and a hearty AMF!

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I hate to be the one to break this to you — no one is currently watching the “hen house” regarding how the taxpayers’ billions are currently being spent — locally or federally– the dollars are being wasted. At least if you infuse competition into the process and infuse the money in at the bottom instead of the top, it is much more likely that the money will actually get used for the purpose for which it is intended –e.g. the actual education of the child rather than the lining of the pockets of the people who have some “connection” to whatever system is the monopoly governmental entity in charge or has the best friend or family member making the decision. Yes, I understand that this is a very cynical statement but if you look at the actual results of what we as a “system” (DCSS, APS, etc) have been actually producing this past, oh lets just say past decade, the results actually speak for themselves — no tax returns ever get filed, there is no on-line check register, no on-line p card register, there are layers upon layers of bureaucracy, there is no requirement that parents take any interest in anything, there is massive “sweeping” of anything that can be “swept” under the carpet, the “blame game” is in full swing. I submit to you that the “free market” would take these dollars and actually empower the consumer to the fore to enable the child to actually benefit and would actually require the entity receiving the funds to efficiently use the funds to educate the child — the current system is completely inefficient and unresponsive to needs. It’s antiquated. The TRS in DCSS hasn’t been funded in years… you’re nuts if you’re a teacher and you’re relying on the system for your retirement — a lawsuit has been filed over this… the free market would probably increase salaries and allow folks to become self reliant on all fronts and if it fails, no one would be any worse off since we are doing abysmally now (the good schools would stay good with the program).

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” rather than the lining of the pockets of the people who have some “connection” to whatever system is the monopoly governmental entity in charge or has the best friend or family member making the decision.”

And as they say in the corporate world, “it’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know.” The difference between public and private is just that- one’s at least somewhat accountable to the public and the other’s private and protected from laws and VOTES. That’s not exactly a comforting thought.

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I don’t mind business being in education but I don’t want more technology. It is misused and abused.
Computers in the classroom are treated like televisions in the home — like electronic babysitters. We need to get technology OUT of the classrooms. They’re expensive and require too much support and my goodness, it is outrageous to take a teacher out of the classroom to learn how to use an electronic device. The taechers need to be in the classroom teaching and not away from teh kids all day learning how to use a gizmo that a human being could do better.
White boards instead of chalkboards? Sure.
Computers with Internet connections so that teachers can surf the Internet and blog while they should be working? Never.

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