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Education Myths
The American Enterprise ^ | July/August 2006 | Jay Greene

Posted on 06/18/2006 5:50:31 AM PDT by Valin

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To: WHESS

WHESS,

Honestly, your post is hard on the eyes. Did you learn about paragraph spacing in your school of education?

I'll get back to your post later when I have more time and patience to sort through it.


61 posted on 06/19/2006 12:11:04 PM PDT by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid.)
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To: Amelia

Is that your problem with teachers? Have some of the teachers in your family made you mad?

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Amelia,

Do they teach this liberal debating tactic in schools of education? I call it the "Red Herring Psychoanalysis" diversion. Honestly, I am reminded of the character Lucy in the Peanuts cartoon strip. She had a booth with a sign that read, "Psychiatrist is in. Five cents, please". Well, your attempts at probing my state of "madness" is worth less than five cents.

The issue at hand is teacher salaries, NOT wintertime's state of "madness".


62 posted on 06/19/2006 12:24:03 PM PDT by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid.)
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To: wintertime

wintertime, do you have a college degree?

What sort of really important work do you do that allows you to spend most of the day posting on the internet?

Were you educated in a public school?


63 posted on 06/19/2006 12:29:13 PM PDT by Amelia (Education exists to overcome ignorance, not validate it.)
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To: burroak

Not with two "m"s in it, it isn't.


64 posted on 06/19/2006 12:32:12 PM PDT by linda_22003
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To: Turbo Pig

"my parents always put my sister and I ahead of everyone else."

If they are old-school teachers, they'll paddle you for not saying "my sister and me".


65 posted on 06/19/2006 12:34:10 PM PDT by linda_22003
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To: Valin
This is an overall quite accurate piece. There are a couple of small spins, however.


At the risk of being crucified...

A teacher who has worked for 20 years in another profession before he/she becomes a teacher, loses the Social Security which he/she has "donated" to the fund.

A teacher doesn't have a 3-month vacation: He/She is unemployed for 2 1/2 months. There is no summer pay.

Now...I open up for being slammed. I'll have to catch up on the criticism later because I'm going to visit my dad.

:-) Have fun.
66 posted on 06/19/2006 12:36:16 PM PDT by bannie (The government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend upon the support of Paul.)
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To: Valin
My personal favorite:

Schooling = Education Myth.

67 posted on 06/19/2006 12:38:44 PM PDT by Aquinasfan (When you find "Sola Scriptura" in the Bible, let me know)
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To: linda_22003
If they are old-school teachers, they'll paddle you for not saying "my sister and me".

That's why I put my disclaimer at the bottom of my post :-P

68 posted on 06/19/2006 12:42:13 PM PDT by Turbo Pig (...to close with and destroy the enemy...)
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To: Turbo Pig

Once I learned the "trick" to figuring that out, I never got it wrong again! :)


69 posted on 06/19/2006 12:43:04 PM PDT by linda_22003
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To: ClaireSolt
I went from college teaching to comission sales. There is absolutely no comparison between the hard work of teaching and real world performance based enviornments. That is partly because teaching, while very hard at first, gets to be easy after a while as you do the same thing year after year.

Yeah, you keep telling yourself that. I've worked in commission sales in some form or another for 15 years. After awhile whatever the current company is selling, it's the same as the last company.

Meanwhile my father has taught junior high school history for 42 years. The children are becoming dumber by the day it seems. He has it seems to spend more time coming up with more and more basic lesson plans and ways to engage the little rugrats. Some things children less than 10 years ago understood implicitly is now considered 'too hard' or 'takes away from little Johnny's extracurricular activities'. Is some of it teachers from earlier in the child's career? Perhaps. But I guarantee you in this feel good nonsensical society we now live in, it's a lot easier to blame teachers than admit a lot of the problem in teaching lies at home with the parents

I'd take commission sales as the easier job any day of the week

70 posted on 06/19/2006 12:45:17 PM PDT by billbears (Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it. --Santayana)
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To: Valin
Here's a fatal myth: learning is fun.

Adults think that if children are swindled into believing learning is fun, that they will apply themselves. Nonsense. If I ran a school, I'd tell all the new students: learning isn't fun, so don't expect it to be. But learning is necessary, so you will do it. If you experience some moments of fun during the process they are incidental so be thankful for them.

That would get them started off on the right foot. And they would harbor no false or unreasonable expectations. Therefore there would be no disappointment.

71 posted on 06/19/2006 12:51:33 PM PDT by Jason_b
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To: WHESS

We are not "rich" and we sent our six kids to private school. I got to know most of the parents at the private school, and none of them were "rich", either. So much for that ignorant stereotype.
Private schools will continue to outshine public schools even if vouchers are implemented. Private schools only need admit as many students as they wish to handle. They will also continue to have discipline, unlike public schools. Private school teachers are usually paid less than their public counterparts. Private schools have very little administrative costs, and the cost per student per year is about 1/3rd what the public schools cost. Some public schools will survive and improve their product under a voucher system. Others will go under, and good riddance to them.


72 posted on 06/19/2006 1:06:32 PM PDT by Scotsman will be Free
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To: linda_22003
My spell checkers say your spell checker sucks stump water.
73 posted on 06/19/2006 1:14:44 PM PDT by burroak
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To: Scotsman will be Free

I'm not sure where you live but there are some pretty elite private schools around here. They enjoy a well deserved excellent reputation. There's no need to be insulting.
And maybe because "they need only admit as many students as they wish to handle"-their reputations will continue to be wonderful. You answered my question, thanks.


74 posted on 06/19/2006 1:40:21 PM PDT by WHESS
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To: Jason_b
Adults think that if children are swindled into believing learning is fun, that they will apply themselves. Nonsense. If I ran a school, I'd tell all the new students: learning isn't fun, so don't expect it to be. But learning is necessary, so you will do it. If you experience some moments of fun during the process they are incidental so be thankful for them.

We had a principal who thought we should keep the kiddies entertained so they would learn.

My contention was that many things in life are necessary, but not fun, and the sooner they learned that, the better off they'd be...especially since, if they didn't apply themselves, they were destined for jobs that definitely weren't going to be fun, and the bosses weren't going to care that they weren't enjoying themselves.

Needless to say, that principal & I didn't get along well.

75 posted on 06/19/2006 1:47:00 PM PDT by Amelia (Education exists to overcome ignorance, not validate it.)
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To: bannie
A teacher doesn't have a 3-month vacation: He/She is unemployed for 2 1/2 months. There is no summer pay.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Puleeze! In my state, a teacher has the option of spreading his pay over the entire year. Teacher get a yearly salary that is more than average. Their pensions and health benefits are far above average as well.

Also, while summer vacation is 10 weeks, lets not forget the generous Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Spring vacations as well as all those state holidays.
76 posted on 06/19/2006 4:05:00 PM PDT by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid.)
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To: WHESS
And maybe because "they need only admit as many students as they wish to handle"-their reputations will continue to be wonderful. You answered my question, thanks.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

There should be a bumper sticker.

I am economic illiterate. Thank a "gob'mint scew-all" teacher.

If there is a demand new private schools will be created.Duh!

There are many facilities and programs just waiting to be turned into private schools. The pre-school will add first and second grade. The dance studio will hire a teacher or two. The soccer league may organize to form a school. The local ice skating rink, or children's community theater are ripe for being turned into schools.

If the government were to open grocery stores giving away free food what private stores would remain? Answer: Gourmet food stores catering to the rich. We see the same with government schools giving away free education. What we have are "gourmet" private schools. These schools are catering to gourmet religious or social class tastes.

Is it any wonder that the K-12 education market is so distorted. You see the distortion and because you are an economic illiterate you think this is normal.
77 posted on 06/19/2006 4:17:32 PM PDT by wintertime (Good ideas win! Why? Because people are not stupid.)
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To: Tired of Taxes

bump


78 posted on 06/19/2006 4:43:32 PM PDT by metmom (Welfare was never meant to be a career choice.)
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To: wintertime

There should be a bumper sticker:
Look no further-I know it all.

You may be right. When they turn a skating rink into a successful private school, give me a call. I will tip my hat to you.


79 posted on 06/19/2006 4:45:41 PM PDT by WHESS
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To: Valin

Nice article.

The solutions to the public school problems are both simple and inexpensive: Institute standards for both the teachers and the students, then stick to them.

But since education isn't really the primary function of the school system anymore, the simple fixes aren't much of a priority.


80 posted on 06/19/2006 4:53:24 PM PDT by Sam Cree (Delicacy, precision, force)
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