Posted on 09/27/2009 2:42:35 PM PDT by nickcarraway
President Obama wants kids to spend more time in school. Students in the U.S. need more class time to remain competitive with students around the world, the President said. Obama advocates schools adding time to classes, extending hours into evenings and weekends, and shortening summer vacation.
"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas, not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom," Obama said.
Some schools that extended their hours have seen positive results. Early results from Massachusetts' expanded learning time initiative, which adds extra time to the school year, show that some students involved in the program do better on state tests than those at regular public schools.
Not if the children are indoctrinated everyday of the year...they’ll soon believe he walks on water and is doing what is best for them (the children)... this is the Marxist dream.... remember generation X is what gave us Obama......
Then those parents who do not want/or cannot spend time with their children or think they need to be in school can enroll them in summer school. The rest of us (like a huge majority) want them to have time off.
That is the wonderful thing about FREEDOM, there are choices!
Yeah, add more hours and more days in the summer — but don’t you DARE question the qualifications of the teachers or the teachers unions! Don’t you DARE look at our falling standardized test scores over the past 30 years and wonder about our end product! Don’t you DARE question the abilities of our bureaucrats and administrators. And don’t you DARE compare the rising costs of our failed eduction system (probably 2.5X inflation for the past 30 years) to our rising health care costs — after all, our health care end product has been getting BETTER (not worse) these past 30 years.
And if hours are lengthened and school goes all summer, how many people think the teachers will work the extra hours for free? They will of course demand a hefty pay raise. And I’m sure everyone would love higher taxes so teachers can have even more time to lead the kids in praising Obama and putting condoms on bananas.
He doesn't need to.
This would thrill the NEA.
BTW: The NEA would like you to know that teachers will be needing more money if they're going to be expected to be in the classroom for longer periods of time.
And your local school system would like you to know that they'll be floating a bond issue or two to pay for thinks like air conditioning (gotta have it if we're running schools in the summer, don'tchaknow), wear and tear on facilities, etc.
On the other hand, many of those who have kids in day care will be thrilled to no longer have to pay that soon-to-be unnecessary expense.
Those who have a one-income, traditional family will be paying more, though. Much, much more. Some of those families will have to join two-income families to afford the new taxes to make all this possible, but I can assure you: the NEA is happy about that, too.
Social engineering (^) is a concept in political science that refers to efforts to influence popular attitudes and social behavior on a large scale, whether by governments or private groups.
And to combat the complaints of the youngsters, they're renaming school to Wacky Uncle "0"'s All Night and Day Camp "0" Fun.
Say it enough times and they'll believe it!
Plus they get really cool looking uniforms!!!!!
not MORE school.
supply VOUCHERS for private schools where the education is BETTER!
Your opinion of how my kids (or anyone else's) should spend their time matters not one bit, which is as it should be.
It isn't Obama's or your business what my kids spend their summers doing. It doesn't matter if they spend it catching frogs, hoeing tomatoes, whitewashing fences, or watching the grass grow.
Mine is the only opinion (along with the wise and inestimable opinion of Mr. Bunny, of course) which matters one whit.
My kids.
My responsibility.
My prerogative as to how they spend their free time.
I didn't have them to hand them over to the government or anyone else to raise.
Conservatives value the sanctity of family structure.
Liberals do not.
Never in my Life have I witnessed such a dereliction and disrespect of our Constitution that allows this Poseur In Chief to institute his version of “Government by Proclamation”.
What the hell is wrong with the people of this Country? Have they lost their minds in addition to their appreciation of the true freedoms given to them by their Creator?
This is about more government control in our lives. Sorry, but for all the reasons above, and freedom, this just isn't going to fly.
Unfortunately, way too many of them have sold out to the unions (there are still some areas where teachers do not have to belong to the NEA, or AFT and teach in public schools) but the vast majority are really nothing more than union lackeys who sign on to all of the perverted programs that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with a real education.
Give the kids time to be kids. More time being brainwashed won’t do them any good.
We aren’t talking about the role of the federal govt-—you were angry that he agreed with the idea of extending school days..
Do you agree that all kids be required to go to school?
No. I do not. I personally know children who have never set foot in a classroom until they went to college and university, where they succeeded spectacularly.
My oldest daughter spent most of the early years of her education reading on her own. She's picking graduate schools right now.
I know a child who was "unschooled"for her entire primary and secondary education. Unschooling is one step removed from homeschooling. She learned only what she wanted to learn, with absolutely no set curriculum. She went on graduate from Stanford.
The easiest/cheapest/fastest thing to do will always be to apply the smallest number of rules to the largest number of children. Doing so means that kids who don't fit those rules may fail, and that's not right.
Some kids will do fine without school. Some kids won't. I can't see ruling out anything that allows individuals succeed. We don't live in a hive. We are a nation of individuals who have individual requirements for success.
We don't exist for the system. The system exists for us.
It may be easier to require this or that, but that doesn't make it fair or right.
So, no. I do not think kids should be required to go to school. Kids aren't required to go to school, btw. Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states. Nor do I think kids should be required to have a traditional education.
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