California superintendent calls for tougher high school standards

Sac Bee ^ | 2/11/04 | Bill Lindelof and Deb Kollars

[NormsRevenge]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (McCLATCHY) - In order to graduate, all California high school students would have to complete tougher course requirements - now only required of the college-bound - under a proposal to improve high schools outlined Wednesday by State Superintendent Jack O'Connell.

[NormsRevenge]

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[Uncle George]

By tougher means: Two police cars per school instead of one?

[umgud]

Import half your student population from Mexico, then scratch your head and wonder why.............

[GOPrincess]

Nothing will change without competition and the breaking of the monopoly of the teachers' unions and lazy administrators. I received a letter from a H.S. principal last week who talked about the school dress code "being commiserate with the learning that needs to take place"...I'm sure you'll all commiserate with me that he didn't know the word was commensurate. (He went on to defend the lack of dress code enforcement -- and naked rear ends -- with a "but everybody does it" whine, telling me parents find it impossible to find clothes that aren't belly- and rear end-baring. Oh yeah, well then how is it I manage to send my kid to school decently covered?)

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

By tougher means: Two police cars per school instead of one?

Naa- tougher means mandatory testing on diversity. Students will need to demonstrate the ability to spot a hate crime from 200 yards upwind.

[Carry_Okie]

I am actually against this, because years of attendance do not constitute learning. I would prefer a standard of the highest level of course material completed, not how long it takes to get there.

My kids, for example, will have completed their high school math units by the time they are 12 (my 11 year old is taking college calculus now; her 10 year old sister is in geometry). We didn't need as many years as the educrats demand to get it done. Why hold any child back if they can do college work?

[ladylib]

So what else is new? School officials are always calling for higher standards. Whether they're implemented or not is another story.

California public schools can't be fixed. Too many illegals, too many kids who don't want to be there (at least offer noncollege-bound kids vocational programs if that's what they want instead of cookie-cutter curriculum), corruption, graft, teachers unions, more time spent on social indoctrination rather than on imparting academic knowledge -- and my "favorite," -- "We need more money!"/sarcasm.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Abolish state controlled education. Let each individual school district decide on the curriculum for their student body. Immediately institute school vouchers. Cut out wasteful programs such as diversity awareness, DARE, sex education, etc. Why not, they cut out Christmas and Easter.

Back in the day, they had general education, college bound, and vocational tracks for the students. This is the real way to ensure that "no child gets left behind".

Primary grades should concentrate on just the three R's. Dust off some old textbooks and use those if they have to. Knock off the cute little experiments. Quit with the automatic promotions.

Little children are distracted enough, so stop making small children rotate classrooms all day! Let the teachers rotate classrooms if they must. Starting in kindergarten, fostering a love of reading is a must! Dig back to the old classics, instead of the simplistic, illiterate, politically correct mush you've been shoving down my kids throats for the last 20 years.

A few more suggestions would be school uniforms, and segregating the girls and boys. We would see a dramatic improvement in all areas for boys, and it could increase the number of boys who enter college. Girls and boys learn differently, so deal with it. Schools whose students wear uniforms have more positive results in classroom behavior and learning, plus it is less expensive for parents in the long run.

Stop admitting illegal immigrants into our school system. We can no longer absorb them into our schools. Put God and the Flag back into our schools. If people don't like generic Christianity, let them use vouchers! Discipline and consequences. You keep screwing up, and you're out of here. We don't care about your self esteem, we do care about the other kids who are trying to learn.

The problems with education start at the top, not with the individual teachers. He or she has to deal with bureaucracy and mandated programs, rather than use common sense to teach the children.

[TheSpottedOwl]

I am actually against this, because years of attendance do not constitute learning. I would prefer a standard of the highest level of course material completed, not how long it takes to get there.

That is a very good point! Condoleeza Rice received a BS when she was 16, if I'm not mistaken.

Your kids are great at math, so may I ask you about their reading and language arts skills? There seems to be a gap in my family regarding reading and language and math. Oh wait, are you home schooling?

[Carry_Okie]

...may I ask you about their reading and language arts skills?

Take a gander.

Oh wait, are you home schooling?

Yep.

[TheSpottedOwl]

Is Nattie Shea one of your kids??? Very impressive!

I figured they were being homeschooled ;-)

[Carry_Okie]

Is Nattie Shea one of your kids??? Very impressive!

Yep. She was nine when she wrote that.

Daddy made her go through nineteen drafts. I'm one tough taskmaster.

These kids are bright, but they aren't geniuses. What they are doing is what we should be expecting out of the schools. Kids are far more capable than most people believe.

[TheSpottedOwl]

9 yrs old when she wrote that? Unreal! Don't be so modest about your kids. I know that kids are more capable than we believe (trust me, I didn't know some of the things my kids are capable of), but that was a college essay that she turned out.

Let me tell you about community college English 1-A. We did peer review on all our essay work. I'm in my 40's, and I was pretty upset with some of the work I had to critique. I am not comfortable telling an 18 yr old that they can't think or spell. In fact, I emailed the teacher telling her so. I made gentle suggestions as to how to enhance the content of the essay, and to correct some of the bigger boners. Yuck.

I wish I had homeschooled, but I think I might have an opportunity with my 2 youngest. We'll see.

[ladylib]

We have a homeschooling girl in my state who graduated first from the NJ Institute of Technology with a degree in biomedical engineering. She is 18 and on her way to medical school. She was the valedictorian of her class.

Her professor said she never had to take notes. She kept it all up in her head.

She's very bright, but I am sure there are many other kids out there who can duplicate her success if they have the proper education and support.

Unfortunately, many public schools can't provide a top-notch education, and I truly believe many don't want to. It's considered "elitist."

Your daughter is incredible!