<p>thank you, Opie.</p>
<p>Xiggi, it’s not playing fair to hit and run. (Claim you “didn’t want to start a lengthy debate,” but then engage in provocative statements that do invite a learned & thoughtful response, do not come from classroom experience, and claim they are just as valid as those of an experienced professional.) I’m sorry, they’re just not. Do you have teaching credentials? Do you actually teach in the classroom, to people who speak almost no English, along with native speakers with an inalienable right to be educated? I don’t think so. </p>
<p>Whether you “want to start a lengthy debate” or not, the issues are complex, if not lengthy. Sac has touched on some of them. It’s one thing to state an opinion about improving a system; everyone can rightly have an opinion. (As sac said, “there’s much in [the report] for every stakeholder.”) I consider every taxpayer & voter & resident a stakeholder. It’s another thing to claim you’re not quoting me or arguing with me, yet then repost both ucla_dad’s and my comments out of context, and conflated with each other. I supported part of his statement – the essential part. Nor was he (or I) beginning a debate about illegal immigration, yet you seized upon one phrase to deflect the discussion from education to immigration, and then argued with <em>me</em> about something I never said. </p>
<p>I’m actually not content to let “the think tanks who spend millions” be the ones making decisions for me or setting policy that may be just as misdirected as the current one. If you didn’t want to do the hard work of discussing it, then why reply at all? (After posting) Some posters do the service of citing links for others to debate, but choose not to join the debate. But you did choose to, and now claim you don’t want to discuss it but want to have your opinion equally validated. Doesn’t work. Yes, there are nuances. Damn right. </p>
<p>To start a thread which even in its abbreviated posting includes about 7 major educational issues, then dismiss the experiences of teachers as having no more relevance than your opinion and “experience,” and that you’re not interested in grappling with the issues,is really contradictory and not credible.</p>