Sometimes you have cogent arguments, but the majority of what you write has a few words in capital letters and some arbitrary diatribe. I agree with you to a certain point about some of the things you've written, but don't try to stir the masses with things like this. Write something with some logical backing behind it so people can respond in a like fashion. No one wants to classify kids based on their merit or social standing, but to force kids to attend schools because it's their only choice due to their family's fiscal standing just perpetrates cycles of poverty. As you've stated, taking the movement of students from one school to another can lead to one extreme and ultimately would lead to problems, but there has to be a middle ground where everyone can succeed. Hopefully leading to a complete shift in thought process and school districts having to further understand what they need to do in order to educate parents and students alike to properly have our citizens grow and prosper in this competitive global environment.
Most arguments FOR VOUCHERS seem to go with the UNDER IDEAL CIRCUMSTANCES mentality . . but There are no IDeal circumstances. . . Classism, Racism, poverty, and other messy LIFE THINGS will disrupt the perfect system. Voucher system is generally a bad idea because it is a easily manipulated and corrupted system. Which will lead to a poorer society. Rocket River
If vouchers are not the solution and I'm not saying that they are, then we have to think outside of the solutions that have been brought to light and try to provide a solution that works. It's not always black and white. Try to think somewhere in the middle and provide people opportunities to succeed. Solving the issues that have been plaguing school systems has been a ongoing issue, but hasn't really materialized into something that can be called successful. Do you feel like without some major shift in thinking that things will ultimately lead to something better with our current plan and leadership?
Step 1: Remove Dr Spock from the schools and BRING BACK DISCIPLINE! Step 2: Remove power from the kids and put it back into the hands of the Adults Step 3: Pay your teachers and Demand excellence. Teaching has become a FALL BACK plan for most people and not a primary objective. Teaching is almost the white collar equivalent of a garbage man or prison guard. QUICK QUESTION Who makes more a year. . . Garbage man or Teacher? Step 4: Give more than lip service to Education and MAKE IT IMPORTANT! How do we do this? Implementation? It will have to start in Kindergarten and BE CONSISTANT until High school. Rocket River
http://www.ehow.com/about_5518609_much-garbage-man-make.html http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_do_teacher_make_a_year Just at a quick glance. I think our kids are worth more than 15K more than garbage. Rocket River
It will never happen in a corrupt government monopolistic system controlled by unions etc, but a private school that accepts vouchers could offer you such a service tailored to your needs.
monopolistic systems controlled by unions doesn't match up. I know the unions are different in different parts of the country, but the union in Los Angeles has done a lot to make sure the teachers are better able to teach. They brought up the idea of having the standards a teacher must live up to as well. They also cut waste from the bureaucracy, saved teachers jobs, and helped keep class sizes smaller benefitting the students. They have made some mistakes for sure, but education for students would be a lot worse without the union in Los Angeles. That may be different elsewhere, as I know of some boneheaded moves by unions in other places. But the know-how is out there. We just need to be able to pay teachers enough to put in the time and work needed to teach all students.
Okay, so I never go D&D, but I graduated high school last year and let me give you some insight. I live in North Houston, close to Spring. I went to Spring I.S.D schools. There's 3 high schools, Westfield, Spring , and Dekaney. What Spring I.S.D basically did is send all the black and hispanic students to Dekaney. You may ask , how they did this? Well, the chose SPECIFIC areas for students to go to Dekaney, even when Westfield or Spring was down the street from the students home. I used to go to Westfield, and I received a letter in the mail when I was a freshman stating that next year, I would no longer be going to that school. If you look up stats on Dekaney, its primarily black. As a student, I felt completely out of place the school was a mess. Nothing but drug searches, guns being found on campus etc etc. I'm not completely racist but I don't like ghetto people. Nor did my parents or other parents. People in my neighborhood started using fake addresses for the students to go to Spring or Westfield or a Klein isd school. This is common. It's sad but the reality is, I don't want my future children learning about "My dougie" and stupid crap like that instead of what they really need to be learning. Spring I.S.D has a history of this http://www.chron.com/CDA/archives/a...ecession-neighbors-petition-to-join-klei.html That's a link of Northgate Forest a rich neighborhood trying to secede from Spring I.S.D into Klein. I totally agree with this. The property values have dropped horribly in my area in the past ten years. I'd be lying to myself if I said that I wasn't a bit racist, but at least I'm respectful. I don't have problems with black people, i have problems with n-words There is a difference in my opinion.
It sounds like more blacks and hispanics need to be going to Spring and Westfield. Students need more exposure to other cultures in order to broaden their education and experiences.
Keep up the fight against choice! Wayne superintendent's $1M retirement package creates storm 12:08 AM, Jan. 28, 2011 http://www.indystar.com/article/201...tendent-s-1M-retirement-package-creates-storm In 2007, the Wayne Township School Board and then-Superintendent Terry Thompson agreed to a renegotiated contract that provided a generous retirement package for whenever Thompson decided to step down. But it wasn't until this month that board members realized just how lucrative that deal was, to the tune of more than $1 million. Thompson, 64, who retired in December after 15 years with the district, already has received more than $800,000 of his retirement deal, which included a year's base pay at more than $225,000, as well as contract provisions that kicked in hundreds of thousands more. But that's not all. The contract also created the position of superintendent emeritus -- a position that has been paying Thompson $1,352 a day since his retirement to advise his successor, among other duties. That amount, over the 150 days laid out in the contract, would pay him more than $200,000 -- bringing the total to more than $1 million. In addition, the contract called for one other perk -- a onetime $15,000 stipend for "retirement planning." On Thursday, the board issued a statement asking Thompson to resign from the superintendent emeritus position, but it's unclear whether the board can force him to do so -- or reclaim any of the money in the contract. "It's just a terribly difficult time because Terry Thompson did terrifically wonderful things for Wayne Township," said board member Shirley Deckard, who was not on the board in 2007. Five of her colleagues, however, were on the board at the time. They either were not able to be reached for comment Thursday or deferred comment to the district spokeswoman. Thompson did not return calls made to his home Thursday. A call placed to Jon Bailey -- the school district's attorney at the time the contract was renegotiated -- was met with a recording that his voice mailbox was full. Mary McDermott-Lang, the district's spokeswoman, said board members signed off on the provisions of the contract when it was reopened at Thompson's request in 2007. But she said they did so without full knowledge of the information tucked into lengthy documents that she said Thompson asked them to approve at several different meetings. (Page 2 of 3) The board "didn't have the opportunity to get a full sense of the economic impact of the entire contract and the payout in severance," McDermott-Lang said Thursday. In its statement, the board said: "We are disappointed in what we have learned is the financial impact of Dr. Thompson's contract. We believe that his continued employment is not in the best interest of the school district, and today we asked for his resignation as superintendent emeritus." In his 15 years as superintendent, Thompson earned board members' respect, McDermott-Lang said. He also was chosen 2010 Indiana Superintendent of the Year by his peers. "They trusted and believed very much" in Thompson, she said of the board members. The school corporation has no legal recourse for recouping a severance payout that the board now finds exorbitant, McDermott-Lang said, but board members thought it only proper to ask Thompson to immediately leave his advisory post. The Westside school district, which has more than 15,700 students, recently has had to eliminate some programs, freeze administrators' pay and reduce some teaching positions through attrition. During a time of layoffs and cost-cutting, teachers struggle to understand why school districts would dole out such lavish perks to administrators as those given to Thompson, said Nate Schnellenberger, president of the Indiana State Teachers Association. "That kind of thing is frustrating to teachers in light of the kinds of reductions in staff we've seen," Schnellenberger said. "In some cases, teachers are agreeing to roll back salaries and benefits in order to help schools make ends meet, so when they see something like this (retirement package), it's a little frustrating to them." The head of the Indiana Association of Public School Superintendents said the "superintendent emeritus" title was unusual. "I've never heard of another one," said Jon Ellis, who served as Noblesville Schools' superintendent before taking over the professional association. However, there is nothing unusual, Ellis said, about school districts tapping former administrators to perform management tasks when they need outside help. (Page 3 of 3) "It would depend on what the duties are," he said. "The process is fairly typical where a retiring superintendent that's been there a long time will often come in on a contract to help advise or direct some project. What services are they getting for that money?" A memorandum dated Jan. 5 outlines Thompson's duties as superintendent emeritus. The memo states Thompson will "serve as an adviser" to new Superintendent Jeffrey Butts "on all facets of leadership"; oversee renovation of two buildings that house special education programs; and conduct a "lifecycle evaluation" of all the district's buildings. A phone message Thursday to Butts, 40, who had served as assistant superintendent since March 2006, was not returned. McDermott-Lang said the board believed so strongly in Thompson that no one involved with renegotiating his contract 31/2 years ago foresaw any problems. "You had a board back in 2007 who believed very strongly in Dr. Thompson's leadership and wanted to ensure at that time that he would stay with the district until his retirement," she said. "When (he) asked for some revisiting of some of the aspects of his contract, they were certainly willing to talk to him about that." No one on the board at that time, she said, understood the financial impact that decision would have on the school district.
Seriously. He acts like if this thing goes Private. . . .CEOs won't be getting 10 times that. Rocket River
not to mention earlier that he tried to slight the unions yet that kind of retirement package for a super-intendant is the exact type of things Unions can keep from happening. That's part of their purpose. His logic doesn't connect and is all over the place.
And you keep defending corporate CEO's and their corrupt system that places profit ahead of services, or education, or health. They love you for it.
