Daily Gut: Obama’s School Plan
by Greg GutfeldNow if you’re like me, you know children are evil. They’re thieving, selfish creatures whose primary agenda includes spreading germs and smearing mucous on your belongings. So naturally you’d think I`d be in favor of President Obama`s plan for longer school days and shorter summer vacations. After all, that means less brats on the streets, defacing my tree fort made from discarded copies of Oui.
But on the contrary – I think Obama is off base, for three reasons:
First: When it comes to education, more doesn’t mean better. When something blows – ordering more of it doesn`t solve the problem. Fact is, we don`t need more school, we need better schools. Sadly, teachers unions have created a lock on jobs for even the most moronically incompetent – and the only way for a teacher to lose a job these days is if she gives one to a student. Worse – for a lot of kids, sending them back for three more hours of daily schooling in places like Chicago or Baltimore is like an academic version of stop-loss. They learn more about running for their lives than reading for enjoyment.
Second, Obama`s reasoning doesn’t have anything to do with us needing to become more competitive. We`ve already learned during his U.N. speech that Obama finds the notion of winning and losing distasteful. No, this idea of “more class” comes from his own opinions about America – convinced by his pals that compared to a far more sophisticated Europe, we`re all just hicks from the sticks who think Belgium is only a name for one of those fruity, overpriced beers. Which – as you know – is, completely correct.
Finally, I can’t help but think that President Obama wants kids to stay in school longer so they can learn more cool songs to sing. You know, about Obama.
And if you disagree with me, you`re probably a racist.
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159 Comments
Well said (or written in this case)!
This whole idea is just pandering to teachers' unions. We've given them 70 years with disastrous results. I's time to pull the plug. Stop sending your kids to these brain washing machines! Take responsibility for your kids' education!
This whole idea is just pandering to teachers' unions. We've given them 70 years with disastrous results. It's time to pull the plug. Stop sending your kids to these brain washing machines! Take responsibility for your kids' education!
He's doing it for the kids. The more time he can keep them in school being brainwashed by liberal teachers, the less time they can be influenced by opposing radical right-wing extremists – such as parents.
Ok…. even in Europe they don't go to school for 12 hours a day…. at least not in the Netherland's during the 90's (where my dad was stationed)… they went until 4pm (and they sure as hell didn't go to school at 4 am)… and on Wednesdays (I believe) they had half a day where the got out at noon… Yeah… 12 hours… what a load of crock…
Has anyone listened to the Education Secretary speak? That man needs to go back to middle school English class… I know I am not perfect in my grammar and spelling… but I am also not the Secretary of Education either…
And European kids had a TON of vacation time… it was just doled out more evenly than lumping it all into one "vacation" period….
While I agree our educations system is broke, I think we need to fix it, not just throw out the baby with the bathwater and start over. First, get rid of teachers unions. They are a leg chain on the change needed in schools. Second, do not fear to segregate students based on their academic achievements and abilities. If a kid fails, mark the failure in red ink, and don't pass him/her. There needs to be consequences for lack of success, whether that failure is intentional, laziness, or just lack of intellect. Society needs garbage men and not everyone can be a rocket scientist. Once this philosophy get re-instilled in this nations psyche, we will be better able to prepare our kids for the future.
Seems to me that rather than 'making the school the center of the community' we should be making the FAMILY the center of the community.
"Society needs garbage men…"
Hence the creation of the Liberal Arts degree.
Hey, I have one; I can joke.
As always a Gregalicious take on current events.
This is like the old joke where to people are complaining about the food in a restaurant when one says,"The food is not very good" and the other responds, "And the portions are so small"
Who, except for a Teacher's Union thug thinks that MORE of a bad thing will make it better?
If you want to see an effective use of a long school day take a look at KIPP Schools
Also, the comments by the Sec. of Education makes it clear that the Gov. run school should be the social/educational/moral center of your child's life, not the family.
Awesome job of trying to undermine the family unit!
As always a Gregalicious take on current events.
This is like the old joke where to people are complaining about the food in a restaurant when one says,"The food is not very good" and the other responds, "And the portions are so small"
Who, except for a Teacher's Union thug thinks that MORE of a bad thing will make it better?
If you want to see an effective use of a long school day take a look at KIPP Schools
Also, the comments by the Sec. of Education makes it clear that the Gov. run school should be the social/educational/moral center of your child's life, not the family.
Awesome job of trying to undermine the family unit!
I'm pretty convinced that Obama couldn't organize or run a bake sale. Seriously, I've yelled at my own kids for saying this, but "he's retarded".
"And if you disagree with me, you`re probably a racist."
Priceless.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arne_Duncan
Oh I get it… It's another one of Obama's Hyde Park Cronies…. I think there should be a law that states that no can work for the President if they are from the same neighborhood…. but then I don't think it's ever been this bad to this extent… why is it it seems like everyone of Obama's people comes from this appearant cesspool of progressivism…. :/
If fierce commentary were a melon, I'd ball him and pop him in my mouth, probably with some cured meat.
My wife is a career teacher, with over 25 years in the classroom. She left the public schools awhile ago and is currently teaching in the private sector. She doesn't miss it.
As to the "more is better" theory, her father left school after the eighth grade and went to work during the Great Depression. He was never able to go back and finish his formal education, but he became, and remains today, one of the smartest and best educated men I know. He reads avidly, and that's really all anyone needs.
We're graduating kids from college today who can barely read at the eighth grade level.
He also said that our current school year is based on the agrarian calendar, and that we "don't have a lot of kids needing to miss school to work in the fields anymore," or something like that. Which doesn't really make sense, because right now all their time off is in the summer, the part of the year where there typically isn't much to do in the fields. Not here in Iowa, anyway. Maybe walk beans or detassel, but that's about it. If what he said made sense, they would have a month long break in the spring and fall for planing and harvesting season, not three months in the summer.
Has anyone listened to the Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, speak? That man needs to go back to middle school English class… …
Here's a t-shirt idea: underneath a pic of Mr. Duncan
Hi, I', Arne Duncan, a few months ago I didn't know what Secretary of Education was, now I are one!
I 2nd the recommendations for the KIPP schools and OUI Magazine. I'm a big fan of both!
want an interesting tidbit on education?
If you graduated higher education before !977, congratulations. You received the last vestiges of the 'classic education' run by the local government model. Since then, all scores- reading, math, science- have gradually declined. Interestingly enough, the money graph literally equals the learning curve.
In inverse proportion, of course…
Arne Duncan was in charge of Chicago schools, which got progressively worse under his 'leadership'. He got the Secretary's job because he was just another Chicago machine political hack, who backed the 'Won's' use of $100 mill Annenburg money, which never made a dent in grades but made some insiders a nice little chunk of change.
Ok… I know Wikipedia is hardly the holy grail of information but according to their webpage on him he has never even taught a class …. And he is the education secretary? What the hell does he know about teaching then? Because he took a class or two? or wrote a thesis about it? That's as bad as Al Gore being an "expert" on climate change because he took an ecology class back in the '70's… :/
Just because I was a peer tutor for a year does not make me a teacher… Again… Moron…
Just affirms my case that whatever we do we will NEVER put our kids into public schools… of any kind… :/
Note: I may be ranting about this moron quite a bit…. Thanks, Greg!
Oh… but we can't do that….
We would hurt their wittle feeings if we mark in red or fail them…. </sarc>
Not to mention more time for indoctination by GLSEN founder Kevin Jennings, Obama's new appontee to head up "Safe Schools" efforts.
http://americansfortruth.com/news/glsen-founder-k...
The high school honors kids, the ones actually trying to get into a good college, are overloading themselves so much that kids are burning out like crazy. Not only do they have a harder courseload than the kids not taking the honors classes, but they're also usually the ones with a variety of extra-curricular activities, because a 4.0 GPA just doesn't cut it anymore if you want to get into a decent college. In an attempt to be well-rounded, they're burning the candle at both ends. I went to school with tons of kids like that. I WAS a kid like that. I burnt out after my freshman year of college, and I took four years off before going back, because I needed the time to regroup and get my priorities in order. A friend of mine burnt out after the first semester of her freshman year, and still hasn't gone back. Some kids are putting off college for years. Others are burning out in high school.
Twelve-hour days and classes every other Saturday isn't going to help, it's going to give the kids a mental breakdown.
My wife is a liberal democrat and a Detroit public school teacher and she's mad at Obama for even suggesting this.Talking heads on T.V./bussinessmen and poltico's have all the answers about how to solve school system woes but none of these clowns have ever even stepped into a modern inner city school.They just see some lame ass hollywood movie and get inspired.Hmmmm if kids went to school longer they'd be smarter.The problem is soooooo much bigger than that.Out of 30 students in my wifes class,2 have a mom and dad.8 kids have moms in jail.Some are in foster homes and some are being raised by other realitives.The bigger probelm is the break down of the family.Summer school isn't going to help that one bit.Off subject a bit but I have to get this off my chest.If my 5 year old son had to sing one of these lame ass Praise Obama songs in class i would march down to that school and turn that teachers skull into my creal bowl!
I may be way off base here, but I'm thinking one of the reasons is to better indoctrinate children with regards to "global warming". After all, what child wants to sit in a classroom in the summer heat? Even with AC, they still have to travel to & from school, as well as participate in outside activities while the sun is blazing.
As a child, I remember playing outside during the hot summer days and I can't imagine what it would be like having to attend school during those hot days. A child might just be nieve enough to think that if only we did something about global warming, next summer would surely be cooler.
Hey! Lay off the Belgian beer! It may be expensive, but it's worth every penny. And there's nothing fruity about a nice Quadrupple Abbey Ale. At 10-12% alcohol by volume, it'll knock your socks off. Those Trappists may be poor conversationalists, but they know how to make some beer.
I've always heard that's the reason for the basic schedule, a three month break to work in the fields. I've never attempted to prove it, but it still sounds logical to me. I think that part is true.
Which I also think would be a first, the truth coming out of the President's mouth. Let me check the window to see if there are any flying pigs out there.
Private schools are expensive, and that's lots of on going expenses above and beyond tuition, like uniforms, novels for English, field trips, and such. But I doubt you will disappointed. My daughter attends the local parochial high school, and has never been in a public school class in her life.
I think it one of the best decisions my wife and I made. I highly recommend it.
My father and my uncle both were garbage men for their careers, and they didn't need no stinkin' liberal arts degree.
Reagan had it right 30 some years ago, get rid of the Department of Education,
This will never fly. The President is hardly the first in office to mention it on their wish list. But it will not happen.
If you tell the teacher's unions they have to work 33% more days, they will demand a 33% pay increase. And that means 33% more money to the pension funds, which really hit local property owners who foot the bill – at least in NY.
That would be almost impossible to sell to the public under the best of economic conditions, much less the worst in recent memory. And I don't see state, or local governments going into hock to cover it. They're already in over their head.
The best thing about this sugguestion by the President is how it could lead dropping out of the Obama cult and eventually voting (R).
Well it's really important to have 365 day / year school, otherwise you never memorize the whole Koran.
Ah, you beat me to it. I figure this ought rile our side up even more! Not just indoctrination but the man is a PERVERT. He encouraged a man-boy relationship between a 15 year old student and a 44 year old man!
WTH!
Sure, he's going to make our schools safe . . . for pedophiles!
Who's teaching kids to memorize the Koran?
Hmmm…I think a better reasoning should be since homeschoolers are beating Public Schoolers every year in spelling bees and intelligence tests that more hands on and personal schooling works better than the public school system.
(I thank God every day that my parents chose to home school me! I did have a few years of private school so perhaps I should be thankful as well that I was not put into Public School!)
I resent your insinuation that my children are evil. Sure, they're misguided and impish, and have the ability to start fires through telekinesis. But does that make them "evil"?
As a former public school teacher & a current homeschooling mom, I've heard some really crazy ideas on education. But this particular scheme of longer hours is ridiculous. I truly believe it would only be a ploy to appease the powerful teacher unions. It has nothing to do with improving academic performance, etc. No matter the bumper sticker slogan, it is NEVER about the children.
I have to agree Greg, more does not mean better. What it means is more Obama Time. If Obama fancies himself as intelligent and wants to pass this on, we are in BIG trouble. Education is supposed to be freeing to the mind.
"Belgium is only a name for one of those fruity, overpriced beers. Which – as you know – is, completely correct."
Maybe it's just because I'm raaaaacist, but I personally believe the term "Belgian" can also be used to mean overpriced (and often fruity) waffles.
They don't need to waste any more time with the public babysitter than they already do. I have a friend who has a daycare. She only has the kids until they're three, then they're sent to preschool. I can't even imagine! Two years of preschool, and year of kindergarten (apparently lots of schools are making that all day now, it was only half day when I was in school) then twelve years……They can be irritating, and yes, the smearing mucous thing is gross, but they shouldn't be caged for fifteen years.
I didn't even consider home schooling, because neither my wife nor I were home to do it. I never explored it, but I'm sure there are regulations that need to be met. Too much hassle, too many social workers in my house.
I followed my brother's lead and sent my daughter to the local primary Catholic school, since we're practicing Catholics. And I was immediately impressed. Morals are a very important part of the curriculum.
There is sacrifice there are bills, but I'm confident we made the right choice.
This about applying an inner city, urban school band aid to all schools, most of which don;t need them. Obama et. al. have tunnel vision at best. Anyone notice that any neighborhood ACORN has been in for any length of time has gotten worse? And as for making this about more teacher time, no, it's about hiring cheap aides and babysitters for after school. Another gimme job program.
I knew some guys that worked for Strohs, remember that one, that had the same
conversational problems when the left for home each day. They were ok in the AM tho.
Where did this 12 hour school day come from? (Link please.) There are huge problems, just from a labor standpoint.
Exhibit A) Teachers need to be present for all instruction time, plus planning, grading, etc. With the current 7ish hour school day, teachers work at least 8 hours each day. More if you're a coach. A 12 hour day for students would translate to at least a 13 hour day for teachers. More instruction time would probably mean more assignments, and more assignments means more grading, so it may end up 14 or so hours. a day.
Exhibit A') 12 hours x 5 days = 60 hours. Overtime pay? As I understand it, most school systems are in budget crunches as is. If the school week is half again as long without commensurate pay, union or not, there will be strikes.
all 57 states
Exhibit B) The Department of Labor mandates that for every 4 hour period of work, the employee gets a half hour off. (Could be 15 minutes, my memory's fuzzy.) If the employee works 8 hours a day, he gets a 1 hour break for a meal. Now a 12 hour day tranlates to at least 1 hour, 15 minutes worth of break. Are kids going to be in the school building from 7 am to 8 pm? Does this get into child labor law territory?
Exhibit C) Homework? Sports? French Club? Yearbook? Extra-curricular activities of any designation? The grocery store/fast food/movie theater economy that runs on the back of teenage labor? Something tells me that the laid off factory workers won't be willing to pick up the slack at Burger King for $5.25/hr. Has anyone considered that? What about burnout?
If this 12 hour schoolday is serious, and not gross exaggeration….It's idiotic to even bring it up in Congress. Wasting taxpayer money debating something this assinine….
mm-mm-mm…Barack Hussein Obama…we kids must worship him today…he wants 12 hour days and to be nicer to the gays…mm-mm-mm
Oh and Greg, if scathing commentary were a 30lb rucksack, I'd hump you up a mountainside.
This should be a matter for local school boards. Not the federal government. Obama seems to have a problem with the contitution. At least with the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th and 10th amendments!
HEAR YE! HEAR YE! YOU ARE CORRECT SIR!!!!
THE SCHOOLS THAT SUCK ARE PREDOMINATLEY IN THE CITIES IN THIS COUNTRY: FACT; THE KIDS IN THOSE SCHOOLS HAVE BIG PROBLEMS LEARNING / READING / STUDYING BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF FAMILY SUPPORT/STRUCTURE:FACT; IT IS WHAT MOST OF THESE KIDS SHOW UP WITH [ER, WITHOUT, RATHER] AT THE SCHOOLS' DOOR THAT IS WHAT CAUSES SCHOOLS TO BE FAILURES; FACT MAKING KIDS WITHOUT THE CORRECT FAMILY STRUCTURE STAY LONGER IN PLACES THAT ARE ALREADY FAILING THEM MAKES NO SENSE; FACT.
OBAMA SEES THIS AS A WAY FOR MORE REINFORCEMENT OF LIBERAL VIEWS/MONEY WASTING ON "OUR GREATEST NATURAL RESOURCE"; FACT.
OBAMA IS ULTRA LIBERAL AND NOT VERY BRIGHT; DOUBLE FACT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"we`re all just hicks from the sticks who think Belgium is only a name for one of those fruity, overpriced beers."
Not me. I'm smarter than that. It's also a name for waffles!
The rationale for this proposal is not really that complicated; 20% more "instructional days" = 20% raise for school teachers = 20% fatter pensions = 20% increase in DNC contributions from the teachers unions.
If anybody thinks the reason the US lags Mongolia and Chad in standardized test scores has anything to do with insufficient classroom time, they're either freebasing crack or a member of the NEA. But I repeat myself.
The US spends more on educating students than any country on Earth, by a wide margin. Japan only dreams of having the $/student instructional budget of Mississippi. The problem isn't a lack of spending, it's that we're paying for a Ferrari and getting a '96 Pontiac Aztec.
HEAR YE, HEAR YE!!! YOU ARE SUPER CORRECT, SIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PROOF: 1] IT WAS A JIMMY CARTA IDEA…
2] HOW MUCH BETTER HAS EDUCATION GOTTEN IN THIS COUNTRY IN THE LAST 30 YRS?
3] THE PLACES THAT SPEND THE MOST PER STUDENT ARE SOME OF THE WORST IN RESULTS
4] HOW MUCH MONEY FROM PARENTS SENDING KIDS TO PRIVATE SCHOOL/HOME
SCHOOLING HAS BEEN WASTED, AS THEY OBVIOUSLY DON'T APPROVE OF PUBLIC
SCHOOL FOR THEIR OWN KIDS… [WHY SHOULD THEY PAY AT ALL?]
5] HAVING A HUGE NATIONAL BUREAUCRACY OVERSEE/REGULATE/MANDATE THINGS THAT
HAD BEEN HANDLED ON A LOCAL LEVEL FOR DECADES & DECADES,AND, WAS [THEN] THE
ENVY OF THE WORLD IS NOT REALLY A GOOD IDEA IN ANY FIELD, EVER, FOR ANY SOCIETY….
6] IT WAS A JIMMY CARTA IDEA
The community organizer wants the government run schools to be the 'heart of the community'
http://motorcitytimes.com/mct/community-organizer...
I'm a conservative public school teacher and I really get upset with everyone dissing us. I thoroughly agree that there are problems with the public schools and that throwing more money at them will not make them better, but to lump us all in the same boat as the urban inner city schools is doing us a disservice. I teach high school economics and government and the students in my class are getting a classic education in those subjects. I am teaching them about the great benefits of the free market and the wonders of our Constitution, because that is what I believe. If someone said I had to teach it a different way I would do one of two things, leave my job or teach my way, even if it means being fired. For me teaching is one of the most important things I can do.
That said, I know the system is broken and that the best way to fix it is to get the government out of the business. When the federal government holds out a wad of cash and says "If you want this, you have to do this" the lure of the $$ is too temping for most cash strapped districts to ignore and thus the district is enslaved.
Another of the issues that needs to be addressed is the idea that all students must go to college. We need to look at a divided school system, where students who show the aptitude go on to prepare for college and those that show aptitude for vocational work, get the training for a career and spend some time working as an apprentice in the field.
The last issue to be addressed is the fact we teach everyone. Unlike private or parochial schools, we have to take every student who crosses the doorway and we have to keep them, pretty much no matter what they do. It makes no difference if they have been in 5 schools in the last year, been in the juvenile system for most of their life, are behavior problems or are straight A honor students who come from 2 parent households and are the children of teachers. So comparing public and private schools is much like comparing US to foreign schools, it's apples to oranges.
I thought there were 50 states.
ACORN is an acronym CORAN. Don't you see how it all fits together.
Grandpa and Grandma go to the Death Panel.
Mom and Dad are racists.
Kids learn the CORAN.
mmm…..mmmm…..mmmmm …..Barack Obama!
Don't get all wee-wee'd up.
The longer school day is not an answer but our schools suffer from being tied to a calendar derived from an agrarian society. I recommend Seymour Sarason's The Predictable Failure of Educational Reform for a gimlet-eyed view of the problem.
I work at a museum and have constant dealings with the local schools and year-round schools are hardly an original idea. About 10 years ago many school districts across the country tried it including a few here, usually having 3 school sessions per year with 2 week vacations in between. They all returned to the traditional schedule after a couple years. Working parents found it harder to figure out what to do with kids having three short vacations per year than with one long vacation (like sending them to summer day-camps at the museum). Plus, there was one group who really enjoyed having three-month vacations during the summer: the teachers.
It's also the most vulgar word in the Universe.
LOL!!
I did too but Obama straightened me out, he said it I believe it.
The number that matters must be the
number of Muslim states. If his Imperialness has his way this world
may have in time 107 states. But hey its just an extrapolation of his utterances.
I believe that I heard it in a sound bite to tell you the truth…. I had stumbled upon a talk radio show where the commenter was picking apart a speech of his… I will see if I can find an actual link…
and on a side note… love the use of prime…
[...] student killed in mob attack was just ‘a kid going home’ Greg Gutfeld, Big Hollywood: Daily Gut: Obama’s School Plan Politico: Right blasts Obama speech to students Gusano, Babalú Blog, an island on the net [...]
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/10140#f...
here you go… it's an interview with Arne Duncan and Charlie Rose…. there is a transcript tab a little lower… but Arne suggests that schools should be open for 12-14 hours a day… he says it explicitly… Now whether it's to turn schools into community centers of sorts or it's to actually teach I do not know….. mostly because I really can't stand to listen to a man who is our education secretary and cannot speak properly…
The problem with our education system in the US isn't how much, or how little, time the students are in school. The problem is with the teachers and the curriculum. Don't get me wrong, there are some fine teachers out there but they are prevented from doing their job because of the agenda driven Liberals.
More and more time is being spent teaching kids "social justice" and other Liberal ideas rather than the basics like math, English and history.
My oldest daughter went to public school and I had to literally de-program her almost nightly from the Liberal clap-trap she was exposed to. During those years she was fantastic at telling me how unjust America was while barely being able to do simple mathematics. She's got her head screwed back on straight now at least and is probably more Conservative than I am. It was a combination of Liberal teachers and a poor curriculum enacted by the school board which stressed teaching of social causes over the basics.
My other two daughters are home schooled by a real teacher that isn't driven by the Liberal agenda and they are doing great. They have a better understanding of history at 12 years of age than many college level history majors. They do well at math and English as well. None of the agenda items (for either side) are taught to them but they understand well what is going on out there and can't understand why anyone wants to live in the upside down world of Liberalism.
I have to agree with this….
Well said, angelsjoy.
Paragraph 2 has been my thought for a long time – and I have found very few people who will agree with me.
The very true fact is – some kids are not meant for college.
They could however, obtain training to become an auto mechanic (mine charges 85 an hour), or an HVAC technician (mine charges 95 a visit), or any number of vocational trades that pay quite well. By the time these kids were in their very early twenties, they would be making a pretty decent living and have the ability to support a family.
Rather than failing out of (or for fear of failure, never attending) college – they have bettered themselves and saved us untold millions supporting those who can't take care of themselves (not to mention perhaps a reduction in crime?)
This apptitude should be found and nurtured in high school – as part of a logisitcal educational process that insures the success of our children.
"If my 5 year old son had to sing one of these lame ass Praise Obama songs in class i would march down to that school and turn that teachers skull into my creal bowl!" Bravo! My darling 11 year old daughter, when asked what she learned from Obama's back-to-school speech, replied, "I learned to vote Republican when I grow up." The only defense to indoctrination is to get to them first. (I highly recommend a children's book entitled, "Mom! Help! There are liberals under my bed!"
They can practice their singing Barack Hussein Obama mm mm good.
Besides only whitey bothers with summer vacations, camp, travel, theme parks, the poor ghetto youts can't afford it so everyone should stay in school so the youts can beat up the little white kids for sport.
I don't know where you find these college grads who can't read. I've never met one.
I was in a Chinese restaurant here in Tampa a take out place in the black part of town.
The counter girl must have been fresh from China and barley spoke english still wrote your order down in Chinese.
I was alone with her waiting on the order and casually asked, "So you like the Black people here?"
She looked around made sure the place was empty got right in my face and very angerly said "No, I do Not"
Funny I bet she wasn't racist when she got here.
Oh yea, I forgot about that. George Bush walks around with marbles in his mouth for 8 years but Obama slips up once in the middle of a campaign and you just can't let it go.
I don't think its predominately the Teachers, possibly the incompetent ones.
I think the real hackle raiser is the NEA. They really are in charge of the schools
and the teachers take the hit because they feel they have no choices other than capitulation.
Of course you know better how the union functions but as a conservatve I think the teachers
are part of the problem.
You going to give me a bad grade now?
You might be a fine example then, giving you credit for a college degree, as Old_Tom wrote "We're graduating kids from college today who can barely read at the eighth grade level." Barely read. Barely read. Not the same as can't read.
I'm around college kids all day at work (thankfully not as a prof, though the salary would be nice), and some of them are indeed appalling. If they're too frikkin' stoopid, or just too rotten lazy, to flush a commode, to not pee on the floor, or not wear their pants around their knees, then why the heck are they wasting resources in adult kindergarten? Erm, I meant college. And yes, I am NOT talking about all the wonderful, bright young minds tirelessly slugging their ways through despite having to share classes with these hemorrhoids.
I don't have a college degree, just high school although looking back now I wish I applied myself and gotten one. Ok, I don't know any college grads who can just barely read. And the fashion of the day has nothing to do with how smart they are. I work at a university (residence staff) and I breifly encounter first year students all day long. They all seem pretty bright to me. I also use the same washrooms as them and I don't see an unusual amount of urine on the floor. My kid's graduating this year and I know he can read because he has to write 5 and 10 page essays.
I'll ascribe an awful lot of nastiness to the NEA, but not this particular bit. School hours from 7:45 AM to 5 PM? That means, in a BEST case scenario, teachers have to show up at 7:15, and can't leave until 5:30. That's at least 10 hours, 15 minutes in the contractual day, and most teachers will tell you the planning and paperwork often extend way beyond the contractual day. I can't think of a single teacher (myself included) that would be happy about that. If this were to go through, it's my belief you'd see teachers (the good ones, that actually put in time and tons of emotional effort) jumping ship right and left. And before someone comes back with "But lots of people put in those kinds of hours, everyday!" . . . Think about putting in those hours with your children and between 30 (elementary school) and 180 (middle/high school) of their peers.
Wait you asked the question of what 57 states were about and I told you.
Obama slips up once? Who said it was a slip up. Pls give me a break.
I don't know what the well thought of, by rational people, Pres. Bush has to do with it.
Pres Bill Clinton had his mouth around Lewinski's breast a good share of the time but
but so what its not part of the present discussion.
Wait you asked the question of what 57 states were about and I told you.
Obama slips up once? Who said it was a slip up. Pls give me a break.
I don't know what the well thought of, by rational people, Pres. Bush has to do with it.
Pres Bill Clinton had his mouth around Lewinski's breast a good share of the time
but so what its not part of the present discussion.
Arguing with you, if that's what we're doing, is pointless. Don't knock your high school degree, it's what you do with it that counts. And no way is it too late to get your college degree now, I started on mine when I was thirty (after many moons of regretting being so fashionable when I was younger instead of applying myself), and obviously, I ain't too bright. Still got an MS in computer science for what it's worth. So anyway, if your kid's graduating (congratulations by the way!), now it's your turn, if you want it. See if the school you work at can cut you some deals on tuition.
Work has me driving around LA a lot, unfortunately, and one thing I’ve noticed is that kids [elementary school] are out at around 1:30. They’re in school about 5 hours, 1 hour for lunch and smoke break which leaves 4 hours to finger painting, singing songs to Dear Leader and participating in walkouts with union teachers. Although they’ll graduate semi-literate they’ll be perfectly suitable for a govt job; probably our future dentists under govt healthcare. If we keep kids in these liberal controlled schools longer I'm afraid they'll come out completely illiterate.
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Ok…. even in Europe they don't go to school for 12 hours a day…. at least not in the Netherland's during the 90's (where my dad was stationed)… they went until 4pm (and they sure as hell didn't go to school at 4 am)… and on Wednesdays (I believe) they had half a day where the got out at noon… Yeah… 12 hours… what a load of crock…
Has anyone listened to the Education Secretary, Arne Duncan, speak? That man needs to go back to middle school English class… I know I am not perfect in my grammar and spelling… but I am also not the Secretary of Education either…
And European kids had a TON of vacation time… it was just doled out more evenly than lumping it all into one "vacation" period….
ADD: Oh and they want kids in school for 6 or 7 days a week too… according to Arne…. Really 6 or 7 days a week? What a moron.
Hey, in my predawn bleary eyed trek into the neighborhood Starbucks on the first leg of my long commute to the office I refrained from tripping the annoying elementary school aged kid wearing an "I'm the Boss" t-shirt and, instead, since his mother may have been the one lounging in the plushy chair with her cell phone glued and oblivious to whether her child was still in the establishment, asked the kid how he felt about having to go to school all year long, with no summer vacation. I really wanted to ask him how he felt about being dragged out of bed and into a coffee shop nearly three hours before he had to be at school, but figured it might be current events discussion day, or something, after roll call. He may have focused, for a moment, because he paused long enough to scrunch up his face and mumble something that sounded like "stupid".
Ok… I know Wikipedia is hardly the holy grail of information but according to their webpage on him he has never even taught a class …. And he is the education secretary? What the hell does he know about teaching then? Because he took a class or two? or wrote a thesis about it? That's as bad as Al Gore being an "expert" on climate change because he took an ecology class back in the '70's… :/
Just because I was a peer tutor for a year does not make me a teacher… Again… Moron…
Just affirms my case that whatever we do we will NEVER put our kids into public schools… of any kind… :/
Note: I may be ranting about this moron quite a bit now…. Thanks, Greg!
lol omg wasn't he so stupid for not knowing ,bet he went toschool every day and saturday too lololo
Here's what nobody is talking about, so let me be the first to say what I think the reality is:
Increased school hours = increased teachers FTE hours = increased teacher pay = unions happy = obama base happy = obama votes = obama happy
The goal is to buy THEIR votes, with YOUR money.
The end.
Welcome to whack a lib. They are not always as kind as Average Joe is but its fun.
Poor kids. Most often youth learn and experience more outside of the school system. With homework, children are increasingly having less time to experience and enjoy life. Instead, they will be stuck in classrooms learning unimportant drivel by union teachers who half the time would be fired in any other job for their incompetence. If this goes through, children can kiss their childhood goodbye.
My own father stopped going to school after Grade 6. He makes a decent living right now. He reads more than most people I know. He is better at math than most people I know. He wishes he got to finish school, but he is nonetheless proof that the school system isn't everything, as he's generally more well-learned than most of my fellow high school graduates.
Yeah… That is really my only concern… however, my husband is adamantly against homeschooling (which would my option as it's cheaper than private but better than public)… so unless I can change his mind between now and then… we will just have to budget accordingly…
The sad thing is that all the research has been done on what helps children learn the best. The factors that affect education the most are in order:
1. Pre school
2. Amount of time the children are read to before the age of 5.
3. How much access the children have to books before they start school.
4. Kindergarten
5. Teacher student ratio
6. Parent involvement in homework, school activities, etc.
7. The amount of flexibility that the teachers have to match the teaching style to the students.
I thought he got the job because he plays basketball as often as possible with his buddy Barack?!
Actually, what I said was, "barely read AT THE EIGHTH GRADE LEVEL".
See, what you did was read my simple 15 word sentence without processing the prepositional modifier, which puts you at about the third grade level in terms of comprehension.
That being the case, there's probably no point in continuing this discussion.
It wasn't a teacher's union, but…
Today I drove past an SEIU sponsored protest outside of a Kaiser hospital. I had my top down and "boo'd" them. No one was honking in support, so I am sure they heard me.
nah… not really…. it's not nearly as regulated as one might think (that's why there are some crazies running around)…. I was a product of home schooling…
While my study skills were superior to my peers, my time management skills sorely lacked… and still do..
Actually, Duncan quite improved the Chicago system–I lived there at the time.
I agree with a few posters here (the non-hysterical ones) who point out that quantity doesn't equal quality. I think we'd do well to increase both, but certainly quality. Our education system is in the toilet and it's getting worse and worse–we're at the bottom of the list of developed nations.
5, 6, and 7 are particularly crucial. I'm a teacher-trainer and focus heavily on number seven in order to maximize learning during the short class periods.
Why would you ask such a question? Out of all the questions you could have asked, that's what you chose?
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