Articles tagged as

Education

Students not ready for prime time…

A college professor friend of mine (not a member of the whackjob nutty professors’ club) has long been telling me of the lack of basic core subject skills possessed by incoming first-year college students. He maintains that this is where the lousy education these high school graduates have received manifests itself. . My professor friend is not alone … Read more

The Kids are Alright…It’s the Teachers Who Have Problems

From the August 21st Courier-Journal (Louisville, KY): A Stuart Middle School teacher has been removed from the classroom after he burned two American flags in class Friday as part of a civics lesson, according to Jefferson County Public Schools officials. . Dan Holden, who teaches seventh-grade social studies, burned small flags in two different classes … Read more

Is competition really that bad? Apparently some think so.

We’ve all heard the stories of children’s sports leagues where there are no winners and losers- a perfect, utopian world where everybody is a winner and everyone gets a trophy. There’s even places, we’re told, where scores are not kept, because determining a "winner" is not as important as everybody having fun. Usually this stuff happens … Read more

More signs of moral decline…

Ever since the sixties, there can be little doubt that America has been heading further away from the cultural and moral foundations that made us a strong people. Every day we read about the latest tragic and disgusting action perpetrated by one person against another. People in positions of responsibility abusing their power with nary … Read more

Basic knowledge is a “precious resource” at NPR

These are the folks many rely on for news and views.  I weep for the future generations…. 60 years later, NPR’s Schorr is still a ‘precious resource’ Contact Peter Johnson at pjohnson@usatoday.com Daniel Schorr is used to producers popping into his Washington, D.C., office at National Public Radio to ask, on deadline: Which war came … Read more

Teacher Guilty of Student Sex Assault- This One Hits Home

As I perused the Saturday newspapers, the headlines shot from the pages. The Citizen: “Area educator guilty of student sex assault” The Laconia Daily Sun: “Former Gilford Middle School teacher admits to sexually assaulting 14-year-old student in 2000” The Concord Monitor: “Ex-educator pleads guilty in sex assault. Gilford High student was 14 at time” The Union Leader: “Former Gilford teacher gets two years in sex assault of student” Sounds like the stuff of cable news channels– except it’s happening right here.
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The Daily Sun article, written by Michael Kitch, tells us
Mathew McGonagle, 36, of Contoocook, who recently resigned as assistant principal at Rundlett Middle school in Concord, pled guilty to one count of felonious sexual assault and two counts of misdemeanor sexual assault in Belknap Superior Court yesterday. The charges followed a lengthy investigation by the Belknap County Sheriff’s Office and Belknap County Attorney’s Office undertaken after a young woman reported that McGonagle sexually assaulted her during the 1999-2000 school year when she was a student at Gilford Middle School.
 Remember- we’re talking about a 14 year old! Most of the sexual encounters occurred on school property! As a father of two school age children, I can absolutely feel the rage that must be felt by this poor woman and her family. For a person in authority to violate the trust granted him due to his position as a teacher and, as reported, family friend, is especially egregious. The news reports tell of the confessed child molester’s repeated attempts at pursuing a relationship with the girl after she began to distance herself from her teacher/friend/attacker-even sender her written letters of his desires- which the prosecutors had in their possession.

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Yes, it is all about the children

Red State has a little something that shows what the NEA is doing to enhance the education of our children: Thanks to Jason Riley of the Wall Street Journal, who noted in the Political Diary last Friday the NEA’s Legislative Program for the next (110th) Congress. As we noted a few days ago, according to … Read more

Here’s the difference

Sure, I can pile on!  From CNN this morning, the Bush Administration announces a new push for school vouchers: Congressional Republicans on Tuesday proposed a $100 million plan to let poor children leave struggling schools and attend private schools at public expense.  Face it, there are schools, mostly in poor areas (or simply poorly managed … Read more

An example where money does not equal quality

I saw this over at Betsy’s Page a couple of days ago – I just didn’t have the time to really review it then.  I urge you to read it in its entirety as it shows examples of why just throwing money at a problem isn’t going to solve it.  Continuing on with the current state of affairs, procedures, and staffing isn’t going to solve these quality problems either. 

I have to admit – I may be taking our Education establishment to task here in my town of Gilford, but when I look at the amounts of money and the lack of results, putting things into context says Gilford ain’t so bad (but I will continue to "task" Gilford to reach for excellence). 

All these parents is what they feel is best for their kids – a good education.  They want the control back from the school system – they want institutions that can be held accountable.

Clint Bolick writes in the Wall Street Journal (subscription req’d) about a suit being filed in Newark, NJ seeking to give 60,000 students trapped in failing schools by giving their parents the money to transfer their children out of the horrible schools to attend schools of their choice.

Seeking to vindicate the state constitutional guarantee of a "thorough and efficient" education, the plaintiffs in Crawford v. Davy ask that children be allowed to leave public schools where fewer than half of the students pass the state math and language literacy assessments that measure educational proficiency; and that the parents of these children be permitted to take the pro rata share of the public money spent on their children, to seek better opportunities in other public or private schools. Supporting the families are three prominent New Jersey groups: the Black Ministers Council, the Latino Leadership Alliance, and Excellent Education for Everyone.

Sounds like groups that care more about students’ education than the public school teachers’ union.

Sounds familiar, right? 

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Economics training in our schools

From The American Spectator:       We Don’t Teach Economics in Our Schools – Friday, June 16, 2006 @ 5:20:51 PM     The School Board in Stoneham, Massachusetts decided to pay for health insurance of school cafeteria workers by raising the price of school lunches from $2.00 to $2.75. The result: In an apparent … Read more

Need, want, or braggadocio?

UPDATE 2:  That there’s funny One man’s take on the issue. ==========================  UPDATE 1: It was pointed out to me that my dimensions for the football field were off.  Ed Engler at the Laconia Daily Sun has pointed out that "a regulation football field is 360-ft. X 160-ft.. . .a total of 57,600 square feet. … Read more

I thought teaching meant education

I’d really rather not concentrate on the education establishment, I really don’t.  However, when they keep putting themselves up front and into the news, what else can I do? A lot of talk shows and blog sites talk often about the "dumbing down of America".  We older folks see it in the younger generation.  Heck, … Read more

The Math Wars

There is a war raging all around us.  It is a global war.  It is a war that the United States cannot afford to lose.  No one has died in this war, and no one is likely to.  But there are casualties.  Their injuries are not physical; they are mental.  And the suffering is life-long.  I’m not referring to the Global War on Terror or the War on Drugs.  I’m talking about the Math War.

While the United States is, militarily, the world’s only superpower, we are, mathematically, merely a second-rate power, and losing ground every year.  In the Math War, the superpowers are Singapore, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Belgium.  In assessment after assessment, those countries prove that their weapons – in this case, mathematically-competent 4th, 8th, and 12th graders – are more accurate and advanced than our own.  Their strategies are more focused.  Their national resolve is stronger.

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What Did You Learn Today, Kids?

There is no end to the meaningless pap dished out in the government school systems under the guise of "education." Click here to read the latest installment from over in the Newfound School District.

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