Originally Posted By: Cheerio
you all have no idea
the number if kids being identified as special ed has exploded due to broadening of the definitions
the emphasis on high stakes tests has destroyed the arts, music, athletics, clubs, pe, shop classes to the point of extinction
everyone is forced into a college-prep schedule to feed the beast of higher education, when only 22% of all jobs require a 4 year degree
and, on a political note, the vast influx of ignorant foreigners into my state (california) is wrecking the entire system.
50% of uc students (my wife teaches at one) need remediation
the teachers know- my kids go to private school and teachers' kids are far overrepresented in private school

the smart kids are the ones that suffer the most, they are bored. their attitude sucks and we lose them forever
the kids who arent smart, that could have really benefitted and learned trades from shop and art classes just drop out. more losses to society

i can tell you that the amount of waste is appalling. most of it is due to the people at the state level handing down ridiculous directives. when i talk about petty bureaucrats, shiftless sincures, and regulation, try to understand that a lot of my opinions have been shaped by 14 years in this business.

the union is responsible for almost all of this, directly or indirectly because they wield so much power in this state.

just be aware, sinij, that the school your kids go to will almost certainly be religious, if its private. i suspect your opinions will change once you have contact with normal people.



While I'm no teacher, my other half was one for sixteen years. ( Special Education prek - 5th grade )

As a result, I have some unique insights on the issue and, of course, some opinions :D

For starters, I can fully understand the Chicago strike. Just one of the reasons would make me quit the entire field and look elsewhere for a job.

That reason being teacher pay being tied to student performance on standardized tests. Bad, Bad, BAD idea all the way around. Why, I hear you ask ?

Easy. Because not all schools are equal. You can't standardize the tests without dumbing them down to the least common denominator. Not really the kids ( or the teachers ) fault really, some schools are not financially capable of providing the same level ( or even access to ) the same subjects. Eg, the rural school in the middle of nowhere is not going to have the same operational budget as richer regions will. How on Earth can you possibly expect the kids to perform the same on a standardized test if they don't even get exposure to the same information ?

Because, lets face it, some kids just flat out do not give a shit about school. These same !give-a-shits are lumped together in the same classrooms as those that do. As a result, they drag the entire class down with them. It only takes a single disruptive idiot to ruin it for everyone.

Go ahead, try to kick them out of class.

The district will get hit with a lawsuit so fast your head will simply spin right off. Districts know lawsuits costs $$$ so they usually do anything they can to avoid them. Including telling said teacher of said !not-give-a-shit student to " deal with it ".

It's sad really.


Now, lets talk about this whole " It's the teachers fault my little angel can't pass the test " issue.

No. It isn't. You can place blame in two places here, but the teachers are not an option.

First one is at the district level. These are the folks who come up with the curriculum the teachers will be required to follow. Teachers do NOT get to decide what they're going to teach, it's dictated to them.

Since federal money is tied into student performance on the aforementioned standardized tests, guess what the curriculum is tailored to ? Yup, teaching the test. It's in their best interests the kiddos do well on the test because it equates to more money for the district. Care to guess why so many are getting caught cheating on these tests these days ? Money is a damned powerful motivator.

The other potential problem area is the lovely little angels themselves. The kids. Like I said before. Some really do not give a shit about their education. Since the teachers have no say-so in what students they teach, the more kids that don't give a damn equates to lower teacher pay. This leads to simply being unable to find teachers to teach at all in certain regions of the country where the majority of kiddos don't give two shits about anything. They'll all fight for the nicer districts and better student populations.

Some teachers try a hybrid approach to teach. Trying their damdest to reach the ones that want to learn while getting the material out there for the rest and ignoring the idiots who are destined to flip burgers forever. Of course, when burger-flipper jr fails the standardized tests, it MUST be the teachers fault. Because everyone knows that all children are geniuses and will all grow up to be doctors, lawyers and the like. :|

I assure you it isn't the teachers decision to spend 100 MILLION dollars to update the GD Football Stadium, Sports Complex and the like. Then the district has the BALLS to ask for a tax increase so they can build ( insert token think of the children program here ).

Assholes. :|

Hell, where I live the High School retention rate is around the fifty percent ( 50% ) mark. Nearly one HALF of the kids that start High School don't even finish. We do have one snazzy ass brand new football stadium though :|

The union here in Texas is relatively useless. To be honest, education as a career is not recommended for anyone if you want my opinion as to where it's headed. My other half just flat gave it up. Not worth it anymore. Not at all.

She is now back in college doing the BSN program ( BA Nursing ). She gets to sit in class with the recent high school grads who look like deer in the headlights in most of her classes. Folks turning in test scores of 12 and 32 ( that's a f*cking TWELVE out of a hundred ) in Micro-Biology. According to her, most of her classes are the same. The only ones who do well are foreign students, older students, or the rare ones who understand what it takes to actually pass the class.

I hate to say this but, unless a serious change happens to the American Public Education system, the next generation of graduates will go on record as the least educated in history.