Education

Should students be able to graduate after completing 10th grade?  That is now being discussed in the New Hampshire Dept of Ed, as reported by some of the NH papers.  I sit here amazed that anyone would ask that question.  What’s more bothersome is that we have adults, paid by NH residents, who think this is a good idea. 

NH Education Commissioner Lionel Tracy is now floating the idea of graduating some students upon completion of 10th grade.  He says that the test, which has not been produced yet, would be a difficult test modeled after the AP or IB tests and that 10th graders would have to pass this exam in order to graduate early.  Isn’t the NH Education Department the same branch of government that thinks the NECAP is a good indicator of proficiency in math and science?  Yet we have some of the top mathematicians and scientists who have given their expert analysis indicating our standards are some of the worst in the country.  How can we trust the validity of this test when our own standards lack substance? Thomas B. Fordham Institute – Publication Detail

The article goes on to say that those who want to go on to prestigious universities can still graduate after 12th grade and take an even tougher exam.  That translates to lower expectations and standards for the graduating 10th graders.  On one hand Tracy says these 10th grade students who graduate would be held to high standards and have to pass a rigorous exam.  Then he goes on to say that the bar is higher for those graduating 12th grade.  If the bar is set higher for 12th graders with a more difficult test, logic dictates it’s lowered for 10th graders because less would be required of them.

Why would parents want to subject their child to missing out on two years of education?  Especially since it is their taxes that have paid for it?  I did not notice anything about Tracy saying taxpayers would get a refund on those tax dollars saved.

This sounds like a cost cutting measure that once again, does nothing to help the students of NH.  It does sound wonderful for companies out there looking for full-time, unskilled workers making one wonder who Governor Lynch is working for:  the New Hampshire students and parents or simply trying to meet the needs of a global workforce.

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Democrat Parking Only?

Guest post by Ann Marie Banfield
 
I have been supporting the Republican party since turning 18 about three decades ago.  Over those years I’ve watched this party go through some changes.  Some of those changes have occurred over the past 8 years and unfortunately I think it’s led to the self-destruction.

20+ years ago, we could go into a voting booth, vote straight Republican and know that we were getting, conservatives.  Today that is not the case.  We are now supposed to be a big tent where everyone is welcome, yet that didn’t appeal at all to the voters yesterday.  In fact, it has just about pushed me out of the party all together.
 
We now have pro-choice Republicans.  Republican big spenders and Republicans who support big government handouts.  We have Republicans who dismiss their Constitutional obligations for Congress to vote on declaring war.  We have Republicans who support a United Nations influenced public education system.  Some embrace and promote the radical environmental extremism instead of gathering up facts and cautioning against legislation that cripples a company’s ability to compete in a global marketplace.  Illegal immigration?  More support for a policy that is draining us financially. 
 
What has this done for this party??  Divide and conquer us.
 
It would be easy to blame this win on Obama lying about his record, or the liberal media who supported him.  But that would mean we would be missing an opportunity to learn from these disastrous mistakes.
 
As we try to play catch up to the Democrats, one area that continues to fly under the radar screen is our public education system.  This is a system that continually indoctrinates children into the ideals of liberalism.  This is a system that Republicans have virtually washed their hands of.  Yet this is the most pressing issue we face. 
 
It is hard to run behind this indoctrination program and do repair work.  It is best avoided when the indoctrination is not allowed to be conducted in the classrooms. 
 
Where are these strong Republican leaders?  Are they at school board meetings each week?  Running for school board??  Forming a relationship with board members to give their input?  Supporting a Superintendent that supports an apolitical atmosphere rather than a liberal indoctrination camp?  I bet they are meeting for their weekly or monthly Republican meetings.  All the while, the school board is voting in more programs that completely undermine the family, and every other conservative principle. 

Where are Republicans on education?  Many have checked out of the public school system and washed their hands of the mess.  Yet they send them a hefty check each year, paying for the rest of those kids to be indoctrinated into liberalism and globalism at their expense without one word of criticism.  How many of you would send $10,000/year to a company for  nothing in return?   Not only NOTHING, but to do a job you completely hate?  Yet that is exactly what is happening when they steal your tax dollars and dictate liberal curriculum in the classrooms.

Democrats play on the offense, and we try to win on the defense.  Until we figure out we need to be on the offense, I’m not seeing how things will improve.
 
Those who make it to Washington D.C. or their State Legislative offices cannot forget the core values of this party.  Those who get to D.C. and remain in their office, while thousands of their constituents march in the street for Pro-Life, haven’t figured out who their foot soldiers are when it comes to running a campaign effectively.
 
Those who think they need to move in a liberal direction didn’t pay close attention to the political races this year.  Many of the Democrats ran on Conservative principles like, tax cuts in the Obama campaign.  Or fiscal restraint in the Shea – Porter campaign.  We know they have no intention of following these principles, but that’s what they sold to the voters in their campaigns.   In the liberal state of CA, gay marriage was rejected.   Sarah Palin drew more crowds than Barack Obama in New Hampshire!  These ideals are not dead.  They simply need to be re-embraced and communicated! 

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We don’t need no edgukashun!

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Doug, 

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Another great article on how schools are training kids to fail in the world that works. The source is Education News.

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This is the introduction:

For many urban youth in poverty moving from school to work is about as likely as having a career in the NBA. While urban schools struggle and fail at teaching basic skills they are extremely effective at teaching skills which predispose youth to fail in the world of work. The urban school environment spreads a dangerous contagion in the form of behaviors and beliefs which form an ideology. This ideology "works" for youngsters by getting them through urban middle and secondary schools. But the very ideology that helps youth slip and slide through school becomes the source of their subsequent failure. It is an ideology that is easily learned, readily implemented, rewarded by teachers and principals, and supporting by school policies. It is an ideology which schools promulgate because it is easier to accede to the students’ street values than it is to shape them into more gentle human beings. The latter requires a great deal of persistent effort not unlike a dike working against an unyielding sea. It is much easier for urban schools to lower their expectations and simply survive with youth than it is to try to change them.

The “ideology” taught in these urban schools is:

• Nowness.(What is the unit of school learning time?)
• Showing Up.(What is the minimum standard of satisfactory work?)
• Make Me.(Who is accountable for what students learn?)
• Excuses.(How often can you be late or absent and still be passing?)

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Dear Board members,

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Hate to tell you but in just a year, you’ll be negotiating another teacher contract. This year, you’ll be negotiating two contracts: Support Personnel and Custodians.  Those are the bad news. 

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The good news is that other people are thinking and writing about collective agreements and the impact that current methods used to compensate teachers in collective agreements have on the overall cost of education. One such report was highlighted in this week’s issue of The Education Gadfly, published by the Fordham Foundation.  This is their review:

Frozen Assets: Rethinking Teacher Contracts Could Free Billions for School Reform

 
Education Sector
Marguerite Roza
January 2007 

This paper by the insightful and prolific Marguerite Roza analyzes eight common provisions in teacher contracts, showing how each contributes to overall education spending. For example, experience-based pay accounts for about 10 percent of the more than $500 billion America spends on K-12 education annually. Salary increases linked to educational credentials (e.g., a master’s degree) and class size limitations each account for about 2 percent. The other contract provisions account for smaller percentages–sick, personal, and professional-development days; teachers aides; and excess health and retirement benefits (above those provided in other professions) each tally between 0.5 and 1.3 percent of total spending. Of course, even 1 percent of $500 billion is a big number, which brings us to the report’s fundamental assertion. We spend billions on teacher perks with little or no evidence that the money is spent wisely, or wouldn’t be better used to recruit stronger teachers, reward the best teachers, or target resources to the neediest students. This paper is best read as a national overview; it doesn’t dig into specific examples or variations between states or districts. But it poses key issues. Have we made optimal tradeoffs in our public-education budgets or are they simply haphazard accumulations of myriad decisions made in years past? You already know the answer. But the unions don’t want to hear it. The Washington Post caught Antonia Cortese of the AFT saying that the report was "on thin ice for its sweeping … and often inaccurate" assertions. Reg Weaver of the NEA could only repeat his favorite mantra when asked about the report: "fully fund public education." One hopes more substantive discussions are occurring somewhere. One can be confident that Dr. Roza will keep raising such issues and for that we are grateful. The report is online here.

by Eric Osberg

This is the Introduction to the report: 

State and federal accountability systems are putting immense pressure on public schools to improve the performance of low-achieving students. To respond, schools must be able to recruit and retain high-quality teachers, strengthen curricula, and take other steps to provide struggling students with the help they need.

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But such efforts are expensive and, as the nation faces the cost of caring for an aging population and other challenges in the years ahead, it is unlikely that education will receive a great deal of new funding. Education leaders, as a result, will increasingly have to scrutinize their existing budgets to find ways to fund their reform initiatives. One potentially valuable source of funds for reform are common provisions in teacher contracts that obligate schools to spend large amounts of money on programs that lack a clear link to student achievement.

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Education is a labor-intensive business—an estimated 60 percent to 80 percent of the more than $500 billion per year spent operating the nation’s public schools goes directly to paying and supporting school employees, and teacher contracts play a big role in determining where such resources are deployed. Much of the money is directed to basic salary costs. But many common provisions of teacher contracts require school districts to spend substantial sums to implement policies which research has shown have a weak or inconsistent relationship with student learning.

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THE PRESIDENT: Good morning.

In recent days, we have seen shocking acts of violence in schools across our Nation. Laura and I are praying for the victims and their families, and we extend our sympathies to them and to the communities that have been devastated by these attacks.

I have asked Secretary of Education Spellings and Attorney General Gonzales to host a conference on school safety this Tuesday. We will bring together teachers, parents, students, administrators, law enforcement officials, and other experts to discuss the best ways to keep violence out of our schools. Our goal is clear: Children and teachers should never fear for their safety when they enter a classroom.

As we work to keep our classrooms safe, we must also ensure that the children studying there get a good education. I believe every child can learn. So when I came to Washington, I worked with Republicans and Democrats to pass the No Child Left Behind Act, and I was proud to sign it into law. The theory behind this law is straightforward: We expect every school in America to teach every student to read, write, add, and subtract.

We are measuring progress, and giving parents the information they need to hold their schools accountable. Local schools remain under local control. The federal government is asking for demonstrated results in exchange for the money we send from Washington. Thanks to this good law, we are leaving behind the days when schools just shuffled children from grade to grade, whether they learned anything or not.

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