Posted on 02/12/2006 7:15:16 AM PST by summer
Let me dig around. I bet we do. I like your tagline.
See, that is a lot of it. If the parents don't value it and the kids don't -- you can only offer it. I tutor right now; I am amazed at the bright and very good students who come. Occasionally I get remedial work, maybe half the time. The other half it is the really bright, really competitive students who are aiming for Harvard.
Yes, we homeschooled too.
Homeschooling -- pays rich dividends. It was a wonderful experience. And quite inexpensive. Wove our family very close. Do it, by all means, if you are considering it. We never regretted it. (Not that you asked me...hahah).
In Korea I saw people with even PHD degrees doing something totally different than their areas. One guy I knew who worked as a waiter at a restuarant earned $300 a month. He had a Master's Degree.
On education in general today, all I can say is look at the results.
Yes, the bad gets emphasized. I am glad that I can see in my community newspaper some of the good young people out there and the things they are doing. THOSE are the ones that should really be promoted. I appreciate my own students and their parents and thank God for the many wonderful miracles I see each year.
"Wove our family very close"
I respect homeschoolers a great deal and that's all I'll say about it. My family was very close without it as well.
IF you read what I wrote, I never said there was only one factor involved. Even the statement you quoted made that clear.
The NEA would never have been allowed the liberties it has taken with our education system if it weren't for the increasing liberalism in this country over the decades.
Parents are the biggest determiners in the education of their child no matter what. My mother and father realized this and made sure we each received a good education (including the present day). But of course, there are other factors to consider as well.
It was an impulsive reaction. I am sorry for that. I just get tired of ALL teachers being blamed by some people for all (or a lot of) problems when I know of many who work their tails off and do indeed care about their students.
We pass the buck too often nowadays. I get ticked off too when the liberals do that to President Bush as if he's some all-powerful wizard responsible for every calamity out there.
I do try to not do so myself (blame others and make blanket judgements). I have too many of my own faults to get over first. Nonetheless I still fall into my own traps, including blaming others. :)
I have watched friends' kids who grew up with our (hs) kid; many of them are out in orbit by now, totally out of control of their families. Peer pressure, etc., those things are brutal to young kids, and often damage them for years. I appreciated that about hs. Perhaps it is worse here in Los Angeles (do you think??). Just an observation.
Hear! Hear! I agree. The teachers I know knock themselves out for their students. They are pushing against immense odds, however -- family involvement being #1. Educational bureaucracy that makes no sense is part of the equation too.
I agree with and appreciate what you say. You never know what'll happen even with your best efforts sometimes. We went to some fairly tough schools (including my brother now, my siblings in recent years, and the grandkids too--actually that's the legacy my grandparents on both sides established--the same applies to my relatives too), but my parents taught us how to deal with peer pressure. We were fairly sheltered and my parents monitored our friends closely so we never really felt much pressure to smoke, do drugs, drink, or have sex. It was nice to see at my HS reunion that many of the graduates had turned out pretty well.
I make every effort I can to compliment good parents and their efforts. They are well-deserved.
I agree. The ed buraucracy here is dwarfed by the political bureaucracy though. As teachers, sometimes you feel there is nothing you can do--you're subject to whatever the prevailing political whims are by some who have hardly ever set foot in a classroom. BUT I know what I can do in my individual classroom and that is to DO MY JOB the best I can. It's those kids and parents that matter the most to me and where the focus of my efforts should be.
They have also stepped up to the plate in the last 2 years, because there is more competition from charter schools who are catering to the smart lower socioeconomic kids. It's nice to see some competition for these kids.
I agree. The competition from the smaller schools that get it is good for the bloated bureaucracies. Here the Admin building covers a good 1/2 block! Two floors. I imagine all those jobs keep things going, to some extent, maybe. But it is an awful lot of money spent NOT in the classroom. Which is where the kids are.
Who pays for the NCLB tutors? The district? The feds?
that is exactly why some want the school to close... i come from a family of educators... i know lots of stories about how good teachers are often looked down upon because they dare to shake things up... that is the mentality of the NEA... that is why there will never be reform in the government schools...
did you catch 20/20 last friday? John Stossel was interviewing Jesse Jackson's son about his being against vouchers... he was able to attend the best schools, but he doesn't think it's right to let others turn their backs on government school... what a hypocrit...
So what is it? The NEA union itself? The group-think of the teachers? It's like they close ranks or something. Like they are being attacked. I thot we were all working together to make things good for the STUDENTS???
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