No money for teachers or books

[rbh]

Re: No money for teachers or books

If teachers where to go on strike would parents regard this as my children are not getting the education they deserve or DAMN there goes my baby sitting service?

 

[QC]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Seconding aspeck's post above, guys... We honestly want to keep this thread alive. Help us please

 

[QC]

Re: No money for teachers or books

I'm thinking of subsequent replies to existing posts, even very new ones. Doesn't hurt to repeat the message Sort of a see the future type deal

 

[rbh]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Up here the teachers use the federation word instead of the other one, and as BP said we go through these issues every few years.

At this time the big issue is do teachers have the right to dictate to how big of class sizes they will teach.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Here is an interesting note on the German/Austrian education model:
Starting at a fairly early age (grade school) they watch and gage the kids on their skills, and their academic ability. Then the education system kicks in and works to stream these kids and teens in the right direction best suited for them....ie: technical/vocational/trades or academic.
This includes the accepted point between both Teachers and Parents that hey...'not everyone grows up to be doctor or an astronaut'. Thus parents are a little more aware of the fact their son or daughter may not simply have the academic 'chops' to go far in any advanced education. So the system affords the ability directly steer certain kids into University and the other kids where they are better suited perhaps in specific vocations, technical endeavors, etc.
This saves the parents a lot of wasted money on an incorrectly applied (forced?) education....at least in terms of helping the kid hit the ground running early in life in something they will actually rise and succeed at...and if that particular kid is exceptionally smart...the skys the limit.

BP

 

[bruceb58]

Re: No money for teachers or books

This includes the accepted point between both Teachers and Parents that hey...'not everyone grows up to be doctor or an astronaut'. Thus parents are a little more aware of the fact their son or daughter may not simply have the academic 'chops' to go far in any advanced education.

They have that here...they are called AP classes.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Up here the teachers use the federation word instead of the other one, and as BP said we go through these issues every few years.

At this time the big issue is do teachers have the right to dictate to how big of class sizes they will teach.

if the student to teacher ratio exceeds 20:1, the effectiveness of the teacher drops dramatically. that is not from the teachers. that is from statistics based on student test scores.

Teachers for the most part enjoy teaching and get frustrated if they can not effectively do their job.

 

[Bigprairie1]

Re: No money for teachers or books

They have that here...they are called AP classes.

Is this an integral part of the education system or is it an available program for gifted students? Or an available program for kids who do not want to pursue academics?

I'm not sure of the U.S system but the main driving difference in the European model listed is that the education system tells the parents where their kids will be headed and what programs and classes they will be taking....rather than the other way around. In terms of the kids potential and where their 'in class' scholastic (or not) ability lies....this certainly makes the most sense.
I'm not sure about the U.S system but here its what the parents push their kids towards that the system has to adapt to....rightfully or wrongfully.

BP

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: No money for teachers or books

I truly believe it all center's around motivation, lets face it we all need motivation from the kids to the teacher's to the adminstrator's. In our school system motivation is deemed a nasty..bullying tactic..a damm shame. When it comes to boat's golfing working out and my work i need no motivation.........my immediate superivisor however motivates me often on yard work...car maintaince ...etc..etc...etc...and i can manage to avoid the drudgery for only so long...the voice gets shrill the look gets fast and sharp...thing's can become very quite in the household for a uncomfortable period to time

Imagine if you will highly motivating the staff in that manner...law suits would be coming from every direction.....

 

[bruceb58]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Is this an integral part of the education system or is it an available program for gifted students? Or an available program for kids who do not want to pursue academics?

Basically for kids where the standard classes are too slow. These classes are taught at a college level vs a high school level. Students are given one extra point for their grade becuase the class is harder. You get a 5 instead of a 4 for an A grade. This is why some students graduate with a GPA above 4.0.

 

[Scott Danforth]

Re: No money for teachers or books

My step son has nothing but AP classes. his GPA is 4.5. Then again he is probably as smart, or smarter than I am.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: No money for teachers or books

You should be proud both of you. Now motivate them to a higher plane and there teacher's

 

[southkogs]

Re: No money for teachers or books

I've tried three times to comment on this thread ...

I'll go with: I've homeschooled all three of our kids. To educate a child is not that terribly expensive. Sure, there are some things that are expensive - but particularly through high school we (society) have made it far more complex and costly than it needs to be (for a whole host of reasons).

... and that's probably as far as the MODs want me to go.

 

[kahuna123]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Take the top ten "self " made rich and look at how many dropped out of college

Bill Gates Microsoft
Mark Zuckerberg Facebook
Larry Ellison Oracle
Michael Dell Dell Computers
Marcell Reich Glencore
Ty Warner Ty Inc.

I can go on. I really disagree with how schools are run and ITS NOT POLITICS. We were driving in a farm area years ago. There were some migrant workers standing on the side of the road. Filthy from working in the fields all day. My daughter was probably 6 then. She asked the normal who and why. I told her it was because they did not have an education. A year later I thought it would be fun to go pick strawberries. First words out of her mouth were " no Dad thats for people without an education". She has never forgotten that.

What should be taught is survival. Here's what you make working at Burger World or Wally World. You work there because yo dropped out or barely got through. Here's how much money you make a week and what you need to survive.

Rent (cause you'll probably never own a home)
Car Payment ( and here's what $50 bucks a week buys you)
Insurance
Food ( and it aint steak)
Fun (forget it)
And oh yea you got pregnant and had a kid with no husband (guess what a kid cost a week)

This is not taught in school. Probably cause any kid with any sense would ask the teacher with a masters degree what the hell are you doing here????

My kids ask for 10 bucks my first response is at wally world how long would it take you to make that?

 

[lncoop]

Re: No money for teachers or books

..the gunfighter ballads...I think that was Marty Robbins...correct?...I always liked Marty Robbins! Anywhoo, that avatar is of a Canadian country music legend who passed away last year by the name of 'Stompin' Tom Connors'. He was a really entertaining guy who wrote and sung a lot of Canadian-centric stuff. He didn't have the worlds greatest singing voice, but he could sure pick some fun regional subjects to sing about and he really found a lot of musical traction and popularity a little later in his life after fading quite a bit in the 70's and 80's.
BP
.....oops sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread off topic.

Yes sir. El Paso and Big Iron come immediately to mind. Man that guy could sing a story. And, I take offense at the spurious conclusion that this is a hijack. No boy's education is complete if he doesn't know who Marty Robbins is. For shame. :upset:

 

[southkogs]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Ok, so I have read all the posts and I have solved it. I am right, all of you are wrong and you just need to accept it! :boink:

Y'know Bubba: In some senses there's some profound truth in there. Local control of education will more often suit the needs of the area or society. As our local school boards loose more and more impact to state and federal mandates, our influence (as parents and local residents) tends to shrink.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Re: No money for teachers or books

Our education system is a mess. The problems are fundamental, systematic and complex and cannot be attributed to any one source. Trying to do so only makes one look silly. There will always be greed, corruption, hubris, laziness and incompetence juxtaposed with dedication, passion, sacrifice and creativity. This is true of schools with and without unions. The single greatest make or break factor in a child's education is whether they have someone like kahuna in their corner advocating for them, motivating them and holding them and their educators accountable. I'm involved in a pretty intense mentoring program for at risk kids. One of the components is a one on one relationship between a volunteer and a student wherein the volunteer actually goes to the school and works directly with the student. The graduation rate for our district is seventy percent. The graduation rate for kids who stay in this program is 100 percent. Without someone demonstrating love and concern it's an uphill battle for a child regardless of the quality (or lack thereof) of the school. Our society needs to focus on what we can do rather than continuing to restate the obvious.

Our school tax dollars sent to school of our choice? ie- private school? I paid tuition for both my kids to be out of the public school system....glad I did

 

[greenbush future]

Re: No money for teachers or books

If you really want your kids to get a good education, you better do home school. If you want day care for your kids, send them to public schools. That's what most (not all) parents do now a-days. Then when a bad grade is the result these part time parent throw temper tantrums at the day care, I mean school. And they get the grade changed. Nice,.

BTW this is some darn costly day care us home and land owners are paying for, maybe it's time to tax renters for school funds too. Lots of $$ left on the table there.

 

[hungupthespikes]

Re: No money for teachers or books

" maybe it's time to tax renters for school funds too."

The property tax is part of the rent. The owner collects and pays the tax, + gets the tax write off. Why doesn't the renter get that deduction? They are the ones who put out the money.

 

[tomdinwv]

Re: No money for teachers or books

I have two daughters three years apart in age. One is a senior, the other a freshman in high school. Both raised in the same home, by the same parents, attending the same schools etc... Both are well behaved. No behavior problems or any of that stuff. Neither goes out running around doing stupid stuff. The difference between them is motivation. The younger one works her tail off to be the best she can be at what ever she does. Comes home ever day and hits the books without being prompted. I see good things ahead for her in life if she keeps her attitude. The older one...well she's a different story. Smart girl. I can sit down with her and have an adult conversation with her and forget she's 17. She'll come to me and ask me a question and we can discuss it for an hour. When it comes to school... she has no desire to do the work. She seems to have little desire to do anything. No license, job or general motivation to do anything. Blows my mind. I tell her almost daily how she's setting herself up to take the hard road. My advice falls on deaf ears. I can see her future if she continues on this path and it isn't pretty.

As far as schools go. Our system has become a money pit. A few months ago they tried to get a new tax levy voted in to get more money for the county school board. Even one of the board members was telling everyone to vote no. He said they just wanted more money to waste and I believe him.

In my opinion, one of the biggest hurdles for teachers are the kids that are sent to school to be baby sat. I've heard teachers complain that the kids get out of control. Violence, outbursts and distractions are common place. The teachers that would like to do their jobs are basically beat down mentally by dealing with these kids. I can see some of them giving up on trying hard when they have to deal with this stuff everyday. Unfortunately, these kids have a "right" to be in the class making sure the teachers can't do their jobs.