"David L. Johnson" <
[email protected]> wrote:
>On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 18:09:29 -0700, Mark Hickey wrote:
>Still, Mr. Bush does not show much of that Ivy-league
>education in his speeches. Every time he says the word
>"nucular", it's like fingernails on the blackboard to me.
I think he picked that up from Jimmy Carter (who was a
nuclear engineer I believe). Must be a southern thing.
>> I wish I knew a better way to hold the schools
>> accountable for results - I'd support it in a heartbeat.
>
>So would I. But that does not, in my mind, justify the
>current program.
I have yet to hear a better option though.
>> But the testing that goes on isn't something that SHOULD
>> take "special classes" to pass. If the schools produce
>> kids with even remotely adequate reading, writing, math
>> and logic skills they'll do fine. If they're turning out
>> students that require special classes to pass the test,
>> the problem isn't the test, IMHO.
>
>Agreed, but neither is the test the solution. Problem is,
>that is essentially all that is offered under the "no
>child" program. Maybe my old-fashioned New-Deal liberalism
>is showing through here, but somehow, if a school shows
>poor student performance, cutting the funding to that
>school would not seem to be the way to improve that
>performance.
>
>I have seen the difference in performance of schools in
>Philadelphia, compared to the outlying suburbs. There are
>buckets of money going into the Philadelphia school system,
>so it would seem, but I never have been able to find out
>the difference in $/student between the systems. I do see
>that the Philly schools look like ****, and they use hand-me-
>down books and ancient computers. Suburban schools have all
>the latest. Either Philly schools don't get the funding the
>suburban schools do, or it is siphoned off before it gets
>to the kids.
The Washington DC schools have one of the highest (maybe it
is the highest) $ per student ratio in the country - and
among the worst results. I think it's pretty clear that the
problem really isn't just money - there'd be some sort of
correlation if that was the case, and fixing the problem
would be simple if it were just a matter of spending more.
>Sure, some of it is discipline and all the other problems
>in big-city schools. But I suspect a lot is also plain old
>graft. To think that cutting funding will help is naive.
>The "privatization" that has happened here has also been
>merely a way to re-channel the flow of money, but not to
>the students.
If the funds cut from the school go to support other private
schools in the area, that can work out. Like most other
industries, the government has trouble performing at
anything near the level of a private entity, and I've done a
lot of work with youth, and you can pick out the home
schoolers a mile away. There are viable options to public
schools and I'd say if they work better in a given city -
they should be given the chance to take up the slack.
>To test the teachers and fire those who can't pass seems
>like a good solution, but only if there are other, better-
>qualified teachers ready to step in. There is no long line
>of prospective teachers trying to get into the Philadelphia
>school system.
My hat's off to anyone who wants to teach in an urban
environment (my sister did that for a while). But good
intentions (or maybe "just a pulse") aren't enough - they've
gotta be good at what they do.
>No, I do not know the solution to the problems. But that
>does not suggest to me that I should support a clearly
>shortsighted program aimed more at garnering votes than
>improving schools.
I'd be willing to support a better plan - there simply isn't
one (that I've seen at least). It's clear that without
accountability, our schools are going to continue to
horribly fail our kids - to me, that's entirely
unacceptable. At least the NCLB program brings some
accountability to schools so maybe some day we don't have to
hear about half or more of a "graduating class" not being
functionally literate.
Mark Hickey Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com Home of
the $695 ti frame
