How to fix our public schools?

[Nbadan]

Are you sure? Do you know exactly which % of the entire government spending in education is financed with property taxes?

Every district has a budget and every district knows exactly how much money they spend in property taxes...

[Nbadan]

Good education providers aren't a finite resource.

In the U.S., good educators are a finite source...it takes a teacher 5 - 10 years to become good teachers...

[Nbadan]

There are lecture classes in college, but there are just as many classes in the same vein as high school. Depends on the college, the course etc.

Maybe, but almost every college course I've taken is the professor lecturing, maybe doing some problems on the board...that's not the way today's classroom works with NCLB...

[Blake]

Starting teacher salaries are very compe ive with private business, trouble is that you can be teaching for 10+ years and still be in the 40's, compared to a similar private industry job where you could be in the mid $50s, $60 or $70s...that's why there are so many very good certified teachers in TX not teaching...

not necessarily. The starting salary has been steadily climbing, mostly thanks to strong unions and demands for teachers in math/science/ESL.

10+ years ago, starting teacher salaries here in SA were in the upper 20s-low 30s whereas now you can get a gig in the mid 40s.

The thing about it though, that I think you were trying to get at, is that a 20 year vet will only make $12-15k more a year than a starting teacher. There is no real incentive to stay for 20 years other than the retirement and any other benefits that might come with the job.

.....but I'm curious......what similar private industry job do you know of that would pay $50+k for a math/science/english/history or PE teacher?

[Blake]

correction.....

a 20 year vet will make just less than $8k more per year than a starting teacher:

http://www.nisd.net/hr/compensation/...WEB%202009.htm

[Blake]

Parents are a VERY important key, but they aren't just THE key, it really does take a village to raise a child...

what is your definition of village and who brought up the issue of child rearing?

The public schools try to do their part to motivate kids to want to do better, but they shouldn't have to. At the end of the day, the metaphorical kick in the ass has to come from the parent(s).

[Blake]

Education in this country went way downhill when adults decided that they had to act like everything that every kid does is wonderful. Oh, no- teachers can't put kids into reading groups and every kid has to get a trophy!! The parents are the worse. I have watched them demand that a school quit recognizing the honor roll because it hurts the self-esteem of the kids who don't make it. People have watered down what achievement actually is so that accomplishing something means very little.

Worse than that is apathy.

[Blake]

...goal setting should be thought at home and reinforced at school...you can't easily teach kids who have never been taught to goal-set to all of the sudden be goal-setters....

the general goals are set by the schools.

the motivation to achieve these goals has to come from home. If there is apathy at home, then chances are there will be apathy in the classroom......no matter how good a motivational speaker the teacher may be.

[ploto]

You need to turn off the talk radio dude.

I am not a dude and I have never listened to one minute of talk radio. I am, however, a parent with a high-achieving child whose mother sets high standards for him. He knows when he gets praise that it means a real accomplishment and not to create some false sense that he has done some amazing thing simply by doing his homework. No, this does not mean he hears no wonderful things from me; he does all the time, but they are for his effort and his character. He has had friends who parents gave them money for their grades. When he was small, he asked me- what do I get for all my A's? I told him-- you get the self-satisfaction of knowing you worked hard and tried your best. I have seen far too many kids grow up thinking the world would throw lavish praise on them for doing what they are supposed to do. They have a false sense of self that crumbles because it was never based on the truth. Sing if you love it! Sing to the best of your ability! But don't fall apart when the day finally arrives that you realize you were lied to, and, no, you are not the best singer in the world.

[ploto]

Worse than that is apathy.

On an individual basis it may be worse, for a singular child to have apathetic parents, but overall, when a small number of parents seek to drive down the standards or the sense of real achievement it can hurt everyone. And, of course, you know that in the case I was mentioning, these parents were fine with it when their child made honor roll. It was once little Susie didn't, that it was suddenly unfair and a problem.

[TeyshaBlue]

I am not a dude and I have never listened to one minute of talk radio. I am, however, a parent with a high-achieving child whose mother sets high standards for him. He knows when he gets praise that it means a real accomplishment and not to create some false sense that he has done some amazing thing simply by doing his homework. No, this does not mean he hears no wonderful things from me; he does all the time, but they are for his effort and his character. He has had friends who parents gave them money for their grades. When he was small, he asked me- what do I get for all my A's? I told him-- you get the self-satisfaction of knowing you worked hard and tried your best. I have seen far too many kids grow up thinking the world would throw lavish praise on them for doing what they are supposed to do. They have a false sense of self that crumbles because it was never based on the truth. Sing if you love it! Sing to the best of your ability! But don't fall apart when the day finally arrives that you realize you were lied to, and, no, you are not the best singer in the world.

If there were a village of parents like you, then it most certainly would not take a village to raise a child. It only takes caring, involved, competent parents.

[Nbadan]

I am not a dude and I have never listened to one minute of talk radio. I am, however, a parent with a high-achieving child whose mother sets high standards for him. He knows when he gets praise that it means a real accomplishment and not to create some false sense that he has done some amazing thing simply by doing his homework. No, this does not mean he hears no wonderful things from me; he does all the time, but they are for his effort and his character. He has had friends who parents gave them money for their grades. When he was small, he asked me- what do I get for all my A's? I told him-- you get the self-satisfaction of knowing you worked hard and tried your best. I have seen far too many kids grow up thinking the world would throw lavish praise on them for doing what they are supposed to do. They have a false sense of self that crumbles because it was never based on the truth. Sing if you love it! Sing to the best of your ability! But don't fall apart when the day finally arrives that you realize you were lied to, and, no, you are not the best singer in the world.

Kudos to you.....but not every child has a parent like you at home, in fact most disadvantaged kids get very little praise....ever....so why should they do the right thing? I don't know any district that rewards students for simply 'doing homework'...that's the talk radio in you showing again....

[Nbadan]

On an individual basis it may be worse, for a singular child to have apathetic parents, but overall, when a small number of parents seek to drive down the standards or the sense of real achievement it can hurt everyone. And, of course, you know that in the case I was mentioning, these parents were fine with it when their child made honor roll. It was once little Susie didn't, that it was suddenly unfair and a problem.

Must be a Canadian phenomena because helicopter parents tend to want to raise standards in TX...

[Rogue]

No. I am fluent in Japanese though.

Funya chin baka ka! Kutabare kusateru oyaji.

pretty fluent, i hope your urine also flows fluently as well, which doesn't sound very practical though given that you've been so ed up and left a rotting crotch.

[Rogue]

You really are a ing idiot

I bet if noone gets pregnant before they are 19, more than 40% of the dropouts we have now would not have dropped out. Maybe even higher.

Alot of Obama dems ask questions but when they get answers they go ing nuts and say stupid like 'birth control is Jacks ultimate solution'. Cynical dumb s is what you are. You just want to ,feel sorry for yourselves and blame other people who don't have this ty at ude.

learn how to let your farts make sense son, until then please keep yourself from polluting the air here.

[Blake]

On an individual basis it may be worse, for a singular child to have apathetic parents, but overall, when a small number of parents seek to drive down the standards or the sense of real achievement it can hurt everyone. And, of course, you know that in the case I was mentioning, these parents were fine with it when their child made honor roll. It was once little Susie didn't, that it was suddenly unfair and a problem.

in this case, if the school or school district caves in to a small number of parents to lower the bar for honor roll, then shame on the school.

[F@#K You]

kill whites, mexicans, and blacks....... the ones left will send the
US straight back to the top....

[Marcus Bryant]

There's nothing wrong with public schools. They are performing as designed.

[ploto]

Must be a Canadian phenomena because helicopter parents tend to want to raise standards in TX...

I live in San Antonio, and helicopter parents do NOT want standards raised. They want their kids coddled and given everything on a silver platter. They fix everything-- even door prize drawings- so that their kids will win!

[ploto]

in this case, if the school or school district caves in to a small number of parents to lower the bar for honor roll, then shame on the school.

Many have already lowered standards to get into National Honor Society, by not using report card grades, but instead using GPA's with inflated averages generated by adding ridiculous amounts of points for Honors and AP courses. I know of one school that even does Honor Roll in this way.

[Nbadan]

I live in San Antonio, and helicopter parents do NOT want standards raised. They want their kids coddled and given everything on a silver platter. They fix everything-- even door prize drawings- so that their kids will win!

I've done a lot of research on this topic, and I didn't see too many parents who wanted their kids cuddled...I'm not sure what you mean by 'on a silver platter'...what's on a silver platter? praise? respect?

[Nbadan]

Many have already lowered standards to get into National Honor Society, by not using report card grades, but instead using GPA's with inflated averages generated by adding ridiculous amounts of points for Honors and AP courses. I know of one school that even does Honor Roll in this way.

What do schools have to do with National Junior Honor Society standards?

Look, there are two type of kids, those who excel in school and those that just want to skate by - the ones who excel can do about any task you challenge them with as long as its within practical limits, while the skaters will always do just enough to get by...I'm sure everyone on this board can relate...

[ploto]

What do schools have to do with National Honor Society standards?

The standard of the National Honor Society is that a student must have an A average. It used to be that all schools interpreted this to mean that averaging the grades on the student's report card, it equaled an average higher than 90 or whatever the standard for an A was at that school. Tdoay, some schools do not calculate the average in that manner so that more kids can "qualify." They use their GPA, to which schools add more and more points all the time to raise the student's average. For example, if you get an 85 it used to count as an 85 when a school averaged your grades to see if you met the standard for NHS. Now, some schools add those points- some as many as 10 points for an honors class- so that they count a 95 in calculating your average for NHS. It used to be that the GPA was only for class ranking and not to determine if a person qualifies for NHS or not.

[spursncowboys]

nbadan: what research?

[ploto]

I've done a lot of research on this topic, and I didn't see too many parents who wanted their kids cuddled...I'm not sure what you mean by 'on a silver platter'...what's on a silver platter? praise? respect?

coddled--treated indulgently

on a silver platter-- handed to them without the necessary work or effort

You can research all you want, but I watch parents do it every single day.