<p>Wicked: yes, the problem has been “on-going” but that doesn’t mean that John Stossel’s report was too late. </p>
<p>It was meaningful because many parents mistakenly thought that:</p>
<ol>
<li> “Their” school is doing fine (not compared to other countries)</li>
<li> Recent reforms have “fixed the problem”</li>
<li> Only “inner city” schools have problems</li>
<li> The teachers unions are “pro-student”.</li>
<li> it’s not hard to get rid of teacher who is sexually inappropriate with a student.</li>
</ol>
<p>An earlier post today got lost in cyberspace again (what is going on???)</p>
<p>Good/Great teachers have nothing to fear by this thread. This thread has NOTHING to do with them. (Hey, guys its not about YOU!!!)</p>
<p>If this thread was about bad experiences with doctors or hospitals, that would not mean that there aren’t many, many great doctors and hospitals. Would the “annoyed posting teachers” be so annoyed if the thread was about bad doctor/hospital experiences??? Noooooo. I would bet many teachers could post some bad medical experiences themselves. EVERYONE has such a story – a story of a doctor rudely treating questions by us mere lay people… or being annoyed at just being asked questions. Yes, many doctors (like many teachers) are dedicated and put in lots of hours, but that doesn’ mean that there aren’t some incompetant or arrogant ones in the bunch. The difference is that it is relatively easy to change docs…</p>
<p>Come on the major issue is not the sexual whatever…The issue is that American kids on an average do worse on math, science…anything…despite that more money is spent…Slovakian kids do better on math than American ones (who can even find Slovakia on the map?). Seriously, those books talk about why the system is failing, and why you CANNOT fix it by pouring more money…If you don’t have the time to read 'em, at least read Sowell’s articles on his site. Totally destroys the jolly image that the government and the teacher unions portray.</p>
<p>our district spends more than any other distict in the state
I don’t know if it trickles down to the kids, but through taxes and levies we have more dollars.
Yet other districts have better graduation rates, test scores and some would say teachers. They have newer buildings and programs that attract families.
We offer students in high school 5 classes a day, someschools make cuts elsewhere and offer some students 6 classes a day,. other districts offer high school student 7.
No I wouldn’t say it is about the money</p>
<p>they are on the semester system, so they would have 5 classes for fall and 5 classes for spring. The day is from 7:40 to 2:15- so that is enough time for 6 classes, but because they do not have enough teachers for 6- some students either have a free period if they are upper classmen, or they could be a TA.
Right now, they have a priority of 9th and 10th graders having 6 classes, so my daughter does have 6 classes, although one of those classes is outside the regular school day ( after school)which in some ways she likes because it means she doesn’t have to get up at 6am- but it interferes with after school tutoring and sports.
The PTA is going to the capitol this week to lobby legislators to fund 6 periods, I went last year, but I felt like it was a waste of time. THe legislators which were in agreement, it was like preaching to the choir, but many feel like the districts need to do better with the money they have before they are given more & I can see their point.
Doesn’t help the kids that are in school now though</p>
<p>This is for the teachers to read who are so sure they are the best!
I have attended schools since grade K. I am a senior in high school. In all the years of school I have had 3 good teachers. The rest have phoned the work in- passed everyone by in the class and taken the attitude they are the best and the students are not worthy. I am sick and tired of apologizing to teachers NOT DOCTORS NOT LAWYERS but TEACHERS for telling them that after 13 yrs -99 percent of the teachers that I have had, 99 percent of the teachers my friends have had- ABSOLUTELY SUCK. YES SUCK. And I wish more students would complain once they escape the monotony of years of wasted tax dollars and childhoods. BOREDOM total BOREDOM. Unimaginative boring stubborn moody arrogant below average intelligence= my teachers. It is a miracle I survived. THEY WERE LAZY EDUCATORS and LAZY people in general. I WANT MY PARENTS TAX DOLLARS BACK. SHAME ON THE UNIONS FOR PROTECTING ALL OF THEM FROM LOSING THEIR CUSHY JOBS!!</p>
<p>you guys need to chill out and stop believing everything you hear. </p>
<p>he works for 20/20. hes the most bias reporter ever. you people watch a grand total of 30 minutes on how he investigates US schools and bashes on them, and then you think your an expert on the subject? go read some books, instead.</p>
<p>the reason i’m so opposed to him is because he tries to oversimplify major concerns in our society. do you guys really think hes some great reporter who does his own thing without the interference of 20/20 directors?</p>
<p>we should all be thankful we don’t live in a country like iran (for example). classrooms are segregated by gender, girls have to wear islamic clothes, they learn the most bias history on how great the islamic revolution was, and how bad the shah was. and they basically have no idea whats going on in the rest of the world, bc they’re education system, in some other way shape or form, fails their youth also. but they excel in math and science bc they work their asses off. </p>
<p>you guys who complain that america sucks in education are basically asking for tons and tons of more homework. thats basically the solution. working harder and at a faster pace. so recognize the problem with america is the students! we whine, lack a certain drive, and just protest busy work. well what do you think the other nations are getting? they mostly have dictator teachers and tons of busy work.</p>
<p>Its not the students per se, its the way they have been brought up. While kids in India are solving quadratic equations in the 7th grade, people here are learning to graph linear equations…My chemistry teacher confirms that when he went to school about 35 years ago, they did much more advanced stuff at the same level. The problem is that teachers have no choice but to teach a P.C. dumbed down bs curriculum. And the teaching schools indoctrinate that into them. Dumbing Down Our Kids. That book talks all about it.</p>
<p>Yeah, and to be comparing the schools of America with those in Iran? We’re talking about the quality of American schools as compared to other developed nations.</p>
<p>And it wouldn’t be too bad if schools were segregated by gender either. That choice really doesn’t exist in many systems, and I think it should be more prevalent. Studies have shown boys and girls do learn and interact differently.</p>
<p>Blame the unions. Teachers unions are the root of nearly all educational evil.</p>
<p>John Stossel is known to be an honest reporter who is not afraid to touch the “sacred cows” of PC America. I think that the most damage came from the mouths of those who are responsible for the current state of education. The damage wasn’t so much from the critics (which one can argue is biased), the damage came from the mouths of the educrats…“Oh, we need to spend millions, millions more…” and “Competition isn’t for children, it isn’t for anyone…” and other “pearls of wisdom” from those who keep our system mediocre.</p>
<p>ilovecalifornia, you can’t use those things to compare our schools. You talk like they’re all bad things.</p>
<p>For one, schools (in America) that seperate the genders generally score higher than coed schools in America.</p>
<p>And I also wanted to point out that you can’t bash their clothing like that. I think that’s part of the religion and culture. That’s like bashing the japanese uniforms or something, init?</p>
<p>And don’t act like America’s history lessons are so wonderfully objective. </p>
<p>John Stossel is biased but I think the main point is right. Money doesn’t solve everything. </p>
<p>And kids are kids everywhere. If you think the problem is in the students, don’t you believe there is a cause for their ‘laziness’? I agree with people who say that the cirriculumn is part of the problem. Teachers are required to teach a certain thing and have no reason to go beyond. I remember when I was in elementary school. In 3rd grade I asked about negative numbers and my teacher told me to wait until 5th grade! Just one anecdote, but it always sticks out in my mind.</p>
<p>JOhn Stossel is biased and so is the NYT and Thomas Sowell.
Everything is biased from some extent, but as long as they don’t hide their agenda, you can discern their starting place and judge from there the information
We may dislike JOhn Stossel, but we are shooting the messenger because it indicates we have been throwing good money after bad and we don’t want to hear it.</p>
<p>How funny… when a journalist leans left and won’t touch the sacred cows of PC America, that’s okay. But, when a journalist (Stossel) dares to point out that when American kids (from the “better public schools”) and kids from different countries are given the same tests, American students do badly, that is biased??? How is this kind of info biased. The facts speak for themselves. It only would have been biased if the American kids had been from the poorest neighborhoods (but they weren’t.) How about when Stossel reveals how other countries run their schools and how charter schools are run in this country; was that biased? What would have had to have been told in order for the story not to be “biased”?</p>
<p>look jlauer (from alabama). you’re way too impressed by john stossel.</p>
<p>i live in the bay area. ever heard of berkeley california? yea you don’t need to tell me about ‘daring journalists’. i live in the most liberal/radical area and I know what to expect from ‘ground-breaking, daring journalists’ and john stossel is not one. you guys are so easily-fooled and simple-minded when it comes to the media. </p>
<p>now this is to quitejaded, islamic dress codes are not part of the culture. yes islam plays a major role in iranian society, but theres a lot of women all over iran, especially northern tehran who are sick of the government and islamic laws.</p>
<p>and actually american history is pretty objective at my school. i only wish the rest of you could get good-quality public education. (i’m serious, not condescending) its unfortunate the schools vary so drastically from district to distric across america.</p>
<p>Money isn’t everything for schools, however.
I go to a magnet school in Austin, whose location was specifically chosen in the poorest neighborhood with the hopes to end segregation.<br>
I just spent my saturday at competitions that were being held at really rich schools, and I can tell you that their buildings look much nicer and cleaner. But their academics are about as challenging as ours. (I would say that ours are better, but that would be a clearly biased opinion. Our school is much smaller and tend to beat those schools in academic contests, so, it is not a bias without evidentiary support…)</p>