Comments for Bureaucrat Beat: Sexy to Mad Hatter, 3-D World and How They Vote at http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:05:48 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/bureaucrat-beat/2882-bureaucrat-beat-sexy-to-mad-hatter-3-d-world-and-how-they-vote#comment-4006 Benett- Finally something we agree on! I wanted to avoid going into detail about the problems in our education system because that was rather off subject, but since you asked I will be happy to dispense some facts and personal opinions I have as to where the real problems lie. When I started writing a response I realized it was going to be way too long, so I am just going to highlight some parts without going into too much detail. Personally I believe that the biggest problem is that the nation's perception of the roles of teachers and students in the classroom is totally distorted. This explains several other major issues that stem directly from it like the discipline issue and why the US ranks second among other nations in how boring school is for students. To begin with, teachers are professionals trained in courses beyond your basic BA or BS, administrators typically have a doctorate. They are versed in the history of education, different education philosophies, skills in how to present curriculum. But oftentimes in the eyes of many parents, teachers are more closely viewed as babysitters or interim parents than trained professionals, and that reflects in the behavior and expectations of students. This explains the general trends of disrespect, the constant complaints that school is not "fun enough", some of the feelings as to why an education may not be important, and some of the frustrations and frictions between students, teachers and parents. The role of the classroom and those within its walls should more closely resemble that of a workplace rather than quacks barking at some punks. The discipline issue is the biggest hindrance to a young person's education. Students with disciplinary issues lack the focus to actually learn and distract other students from learning as well. Teachers blame parents for the lack of discipline in the home. Parents blame teachers and the state for not raising their children. No one really takes responsibility. Parents need to set a base for expected public behavior (if you go into any McDonald's it is obvious parents fall behind in that area) and the discipline structure of our nation's classrooms needs to be re-evaluated. Reintroducing paddles and the like are not what is needed, but there needs to be more constructive strategy than sending a student home for a free day. Parents need to take more responsibility and play a bigger role in their child’s education. They need to do learning activities outside the classroom and get them involved in early education. They need to read to their children on a daily basis and hold their children accountable for reading and doing activity by themselves when they are older. More involved parents help solve a lot of issues. I would also argue that No Child Left Behind needs to be either revised or completely cut out. This bill is one of those that are great in theory, poor in practice. When a teacher teaches, they teach to the lower third of the class. The first third get the concepts and are left twiddling their thumbs, the middle third can do the work but take some time, and the lower third struggle and constantly need assistance. No Child Left Behind brings in more students that struggle and those students bring the learning potential of the whole rest of the class down. Sorry I didn’t go into too much detail but apparently there is a cap on how many characters I can post. There is obviously so much more but let’s start there. Editor's Note: Thanks for that, Matt. We need a revolution in our homes and classrooms that will bring back respect for learning, for adults and for the process of education. There are always exceptions of fine students, but we have witnessed bad classroom behavior, no discipline by teachers and rude students who visit businesses. It's not doing kids a favor to allow them to behave out of control. BK - Matt Thu, 07 Jan 2010 07:54:12 +0100 http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/bureaucrat-beat/2882-bureaucrat-beat-sexy-to-mad-hatter-3-d-world-and-how-they-vote#comment-3980 Paco- While I believe that increasing property tax another .5% would not have a devastating impact on people's pocketbook and would go miles in resolving our state's budget crisis and able it to increase spending on important programs like education, more spending in education will not solve that problem. The US shells out a 28% share of the money spent on education globally even though we only have 4% of the scholastic population. That is almost twice as much money per student as other developed countries that far outrank the US in standardized tests like Japan. I forget the exact data and had a hard time finding it on the Internet just now but last I saw the US was in the middle of the bottom tier of developed nations in student performance. This can be attributed to many things, but the point of my statement is not to single out the problems with our education system in general but simply to highlight that more spending will not fix the problems in our education system. California may dip below par with education spending according to US standards but looking outward our spending is not the problem. Editor's Note: Matt, I'd be interested in your views of what you think the problems are. We agree with you that money is not the real problem. It seems that the general lack of emphasis on reading in families in the U.S. and serious discipline in the home and schools may contribute more. BK - Matt Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:05:55 +0100 http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/bureaucrat-beat/2882-bureaucrat-beat-sexy-to-mad-hatter-3-d-world-and-how-they-vote#comment-3969 Say .... we need a way to vote down the original post, and vote up the Editor's Notes. I seem to run into this dilemma often. - Dave S. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 21:19:26 +0100 http://www.ksrw.sierrawave.net/bureaucrat-beat/2882-bureaucrat-beat-sexy-to-mad-hatter-3-d-world-and-how-they-vote#comment-3953 Prop 13 is the main reason public education in California suffers in national rankings--too few resources. Maybe you don't plan on living in the future, but I do, and I think having a well educated electorate and workforce is essential to California having any hope of a bright future. From: [url]http://www.ed-data.k12.ca.us/Navigation/fsTwoPanel.asp?bottom=/Articles/Article.asp?title=California comparison[/url] "California has more than 6.2 million students, almost 2 million more than Texas, the next most populous state. Besides dealing with the complexities of running a school system of this magnitude, California educators face other challenges. The state has the highest percentage of English learners in the nation and is near the top in the proportion of children living in low-income families. At the same time, funding and staffing levels in California schools lag behind other states. Although teacher salaries are comparatively high, the state is an expensive place to live, and this high cost of living is reflected in teacher salaries. California has been consistently below the national average in per-pupil spending and above the national average in the number of pupils per teacher and pupils per staff. As a result, California’s educators are each responsible for considerably more students than their counterparts in most other states. " Editor's Note: If we know that more money should be spent on schools, look for a way to do it. This does not mean higher property taxes must be levied. The people of California can only afford so much. We have a feeling that untold dollars are wasted in bureaucracy. How about we start there. Thanks for reading, Benett Kessler - Paco Tue, 05 Jan 2010 05:08:43 +0100