Education chief gets an F

Jewish World Review ^ | August 29, 2011 | Jack Kelly

[reaganaut1]

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been a presidential candidate for barely two weeks, but already polls indicate he's even with President Barack Obama. So the administration trotted out Education Secretary Arne Duncan to knock him down a peg.

Texas schools have "really struggled" under Gov. Perry, Mr. Duncan told Bloomberg's Al Hunt Aug. 18. "Far too few of their high school graduates are actually prepared to go on to college ... I feel really badly for the children there."

It's cheesy for a Cabinet officer to be so political. But that's not why Mr. Obama shouldn't have used the former Chicago superintendent of schools as his attack dog. According to the National Assessment of Educational Progress, fourth- and eighth-graders in Texas score substantially better in reading and math than do their counterparts in Chicago. The high school graduation rate in Texas (73 percent) is much better than Chicago's (56 percent). Mr. Duncan's charges were recycled. "In low-tax, low-spending Texas, the kids are not all right," New York Times columnist Paul Krugman wrote in March. States like Texas which do not permit teachers to bargain collectively rank lowest on college admission tests, The Economist said in February. Unionized Wisconsin ranks second. This statistic uses a questionable methodology, said Politifact.

The most important factor in a state's ranking is the size of its minority population, because white students score much higher than do blacks or Hispanics, noted businessman David Burge, the Internet humorist "Iowahawk," in an epic fisking of Mr. Krugman and The Economist. Only when results are broken down by race can accurate comparisons be made.

The NAEP does this, providing 18 measures of student achievement. Texas surpassed Wisconsin in 17, the national average in all, Mr. Burge noted.

[reaganaut1]

Texas, and America, do have demographic problems partially caused by uncontrolled immigration that most politicians, including almost all Democrats but also Texas Republicans Bush and Perry, are unwilling to address.

[safetysign]

And Texas all those illegals kids.

[Jacquerie]

The trend that began under FDR is complete.

Every agency, office, organization under the government is a tool of Hussein’s reelection campaign.

[supermop]

Show me any state where public schools produce college ready students! Parochial schools - YES - Public Schools -NO.

[ishmac]

FYI, here’s a link to the Iowahawk post:

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2011/03/longhorns-17-badgers-1.html

The post is a riot, and his skewering of Krugman and the union apologists is irrefutable.

[mnehring]

Texas also has the ‘Robin Hood’ policy (Ann Richard’s brainchild) that actually hurts successful, wealthier schools by taking funding away from them and giving it to poor, failing schools.

Another issue is just attitude in Texas. For example, in the school district I’m in, they announced in February they would be cutting back on teachers and freezing pay. One month later, they announced a $13Million sports complex project. A lot of priorities are bass ackwards.

[Jedidah]

Texas does.

Our three were more than ready for college, all products of big city public schools. So were many of their friends.

They also had both public and private school friends who bombed college.

The qualifiers for success: a home emphasis on education, from childhood. Parental involvement. Taking the tough courses, honors over electives, and college tract, not just the minimum to graduate. Subsistence allowance, summer jobs, a realization early-on that material rewards come with hard work.

It didn’t hurt my 16-year-old to work digging ditches in summer in the Texas heat learning why he wants a college degree. He now draws an engineer’s paycheck.

Too much blaming of the schools. Parenting is the key, and schools shouldn’t do that.

It’s all available

[Condor51]

So the administration trotted out Education Secretary Arne Duncan to knock him down a peg. .... Texas schools have "really struggled" under Gov. Perry, Mr. Duncan told Bloomberg's Al Hunt Aug. 18. ..."Far too few of their high school graduates are actually prepared to go on to college ... I feel really badly for the children there."

Uh .... Arne. We have this thing called the INTERNET now (thank you Al Gore) where things live ... Forever! Like YOUR RECORD as head of the 'Chikago Publik Skuul Sistim'.

If you look up 'Failing Schools', your picture is there Arne. As not only are Chicago kids unprepared for college, they're unprepared for HIGH SCHOOL, you blithering moron!

So Arne, if I was you I wouldn't touch that Tar Baby.

[ontap]

Very good post!!!!

[reaganaut1]

Thanks, I was thinking about posting the Iowahawk link.

[green iguana]

Great post, and love the tag.

[mj1234]

did he really say this?

” I feel really badly”- ? what is this ? ebonics!!

[Night Hides Not]

My ISD (Coppell) sends nearly half of our tax money to other school districts.

Regarding the sports complex project, I don't have a problem with it if it can be used year round. When my two oldest kids were in HS, I was a Band Dad and a Lariette Dad (drill team).

The football team drove the (financial) train for these extracurricular activities. Band parents run the concessions at the stadium, as it takes hundreds of thousands of $$$ to support a 350+ man marching band. During his 4 years, my son travelled to Washington, DC, Dublin, Ireland, and London, England.

The drill team puts on a spaghetti dinner before the first home football game, generating $40,000 in profits every year.

The busier the kids are, the less opportunity for them to get in trouble.

I understand your points about the priorities being skewed. However, every ISD could likely save a million or more a year by dumping ESL in favor of immersion training.

But that's a topic for another day.

[Condor51]

*** did he really say this? ” I feel really badly”- ? what is this ? ebonics!! ***

Yep that's a quote. And no it's not ebonics.
Arne's just STOO-PID^™ and was a disaster as Supt. of Chicago Schools.

[texas booster]

I have been selling technology to school districts in Texas since the 80’s.

Giving up half of the local property taxes in a high wealth area to poor districts accomplishes the following:

Better paid administrators in poorer school districts.

Coppell ISD, Highland Park ISD and Plano ISD all give up enormous sums to Robin Hood. They still find a way to succeed.

Edgewood ISD, a recipient of these funds, is still a poor area with poor education choices in their public school systems. At least they have a strong parochial school system in the San Antonio area.

[Night Hides Not]

Better paid administrators in poorer school districts.

And that improves the quality of teaching?

If that's all Robin Hood accomplishes, then RH is an even larger failure than I thought.

IIRC, it's closer to 70% for Highland Park.

[Gabz]

Too much blaming of the schools. Parenting is the key, and schools shouldn’t do that.

Nicely put.

Mine is still in middle school, but sons and daughters of friends of ours from church have recently graduated from the high school my daughter will be attending starting in 2012. All have all sorts of scholarships to some of the better universities here in Virginia. I also know a few closer to my daughter's age (also same church) that will be lucky to get out of high school at the rate they are going.

They get out of their education what they put into it.