Today's P-I has a guest editorial about the failure of government schools to teach mathematics: "Students are casualties of math wars"
A coalition of teachers, parents, community groups and school districts will argue in King County Superior Court this week that the state has not been spending enough on public education and should be required to totally revamp the way it pays for schools.It's sadly comical to watch a coalition of core Democrat interest groups suing because it's disappointed with decades of spending decisions made by Democrat-controlled legislatures and Democrat governors, but whatever.
The ideal ruling in the case would not be to simply deny the plaintiffs' frivolous political stunt suit, but to find that education spending is ample, but the way the funding is currently spent is wasteful and ineffective and needs to be replaced.
Posted by Stefan Sharkansky at August 21, 2007 11:42 AM | Email ThisThe article talks about teachers being paid $32,000. Well, why not let the school system work like the regular marketplace. If people want good teachers, then let the salary escalate, and lets have half the number of teachers in critical areas like math and science and pay them twice as much.
So, now we can pay math and science teachers $64,000 but expect results equivalent to a corporation (where people such as myself put in 60 hour weeks and don't get summers off).
BTW, this is OT, but please read Michelle Malkin's column today, and post the pictures the PI refused to. In the interest of your readers who use the ferries and who may not have seen the King 5 broadcast.
http://media.townhall.com/Townhall/Car/b/gm070816.jpg
it's just a matter of WHERE... just like rain in October, it's as inevitable as it is predictable.
as does Wizbang http://wizbangblog.com/content/2007/08/21/have-you-seen-these-men.php where it's much bigger.
Let's send the links to all our ferry riding pals.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on August 21, 2007 12:17 PMIf they offered you 64k/yr to teach kids math and have the summers off, would that not be an attractive job? On top of that you would have to deal with nosy result driven parents and dealing with kids who just don't want to learn and drag down the rest of the class with them. Then you get judged on how well you did based on a random sampling of test scores that vary from state to state. So while you may be doing well in Georgia you may be failing miserably in Washington. Meanwhile you're whole school gets docked funds because you had a few unreachable kids in you're classroom who didn't bother to show up and take the standardized test. Hate to be the one to tell you, teaching kids is no cake walk.
PeggyU,
"BTW, this is OT, but please read Michelle Malkin's column today, and post the pictures the PI refused to. In the interest of your readers who use the ferries and who may not have seen the King 5 broadcast."
What, and get sued!!!!???!? Maria and Patty would be first in line to serve you your papers.
more money, more money, more money...
more money, more money, more money...
some things just don't change in this state. i learned math just fine by actually doing it. i remember flash cards and multiplication tests in 3rd grade (~1983).
also, i love how selective people are with starting salary statistics. these stats are a joke. where are the comparisons with say lit majors or poli-sci majors or any number of other publicly subsidized majors. science/tech/engineering majors 'tend' to start higher because of the aptitude and skills required in the profession.
Posted by: danno on August 21, 2007 12:24 PMIt's not like software where you can pick up a C# book and teach yourself how to code, then end up with a 64k programing job at MS six months later.
On top of that when you're a science teacher you have to deal with all the nitwits who can't handle basic evolution because it contradicts the word of God. It's even worse when they sit on the state Board of Education that approves what textbook you can and cannot use in your classroom.
That's what happens when we let government bureaucrats, who are in leftist unions make decisions. In most cases, it leads to poor decisions that take years to correct, because there is no competitive pressure.
I think we should take almost all school funding and immediately shift it to competitive, merit based hiring of teachers. I'd like to see teaching become more competitive than high tech in terms of hiring. And if we did that, it would help kill off all of the festering slime that fails to teach, and sits their collecting union wages. Instead, millions are wasted on bureaucracy and administration of schools. Pensions, forced union dues, and other non-essentials make each Tacoma student worth the equivalent $12K per year, equal to the most expensive private school in Tacoma, yet the outcomes are drastically different.
The public is getting fed up. Unions and Democrats are going to lose this fight. Vouchers, Competition and Merit are coming. And those are all the sunshine and disinfecting light that the racist, Marxist, Progressives fear, as do other vampires.
Incidentally, he reviews topics in discrete mathematics, cryptology, statistics, and electronics from time to time, as well as reading programming manuals that would put me to sleep. And there is competition from foreign workers and a supply of new programmers as well. It isn't all a cake walk, as you say.
Posted by: Peggy U on August 21, 2007 01:11 PMWhat do you want, Cato? A room full of children to do your bidding -- drugged if necessary --, three months' vacation every year, and a permanent tenured job with your salary paid by the taxpayers?
Posted by: Rey Smith on August 21, 2007 01:19 PMIf I had time, I would comment on your post, but frankly, I can't stop laughing.
Posted by: NW Denizen on August 21, 2007 01:21 PMBefore anyone screams "RACIST" I'll say in my own defense that as a child I actually lived in South America. (Legally, thank you very much.)
No one ever made an attempt to give me special education, and if my parents had decided to protest about it, they probably would be at the bottom of an unmarked grave today.
On the other hand, my parents did teach the local children - in Spanish. It was actually against the law to try to teach classes in english - even to American children living in the country while their parents tought school.
I am not a racist, I just believe that we have let in more immigrants than we can afford to handle. We've overwhelmed the system and that doesn't help anyone including the children of legal immigrants and our own children. It's costing us too much of our budget, and the teachers can't do a good job because they have to try to teach kids with too many different languages and prior knowledge. No one wins.
One of the reasons I think most taxpayers (and not just conservatives) are digging in their heels about paying more money to the Washington state school system is that it just isn't delivering. (A 30%+ drop out rate in Seattle schools? Shocking) Maybe the failure would be less if the resources weren't overstretched trying to support non-legal immigrants.
Something to think about as we try to "fix education" in our state.
Posted by: Johnny on August 21, 2007 01:26 PMEducation is hard work. And that hard work must begin at home. It requires a commitment from parents in terms of resources, time, space, and emotional support at home, as well as enrichment outside the classroom. It requires healthy kids coming to school ready to learn, without empty stomachs but with needed supplies like paper and pencils, even eyeglasses. It doesn't help if English is a second language, or not even spoken at home. Latchkey kids, unsupervised in the afternoons, are addicted to television or mind-numbing computer games or, worse yet, are sucked into unhealthy choices with unsavory peers.
That homeschooling or private schools can be successful when there are active parents closely involved with their kids' education is a no-brainer. The same type of supportive parenting will produce successful kids in any setting. But remove the active supportive parent and what happens. Kids are sent to public schools and have to figure out where they fit in and how they can get caught up.
Beancounters, let's look at the salaries per student hour basis. Figure a brand new, inexperienced college graduate teaching for $32,000 a year. Since they only have 180 days with students, they almost get a whopping $180 per day. Assuming an average of 25 students per class, they are paid a bit over $7 a day per student. But school days only last about 6 hours, so parents and taxpayers contribute less than $1.20 per hour to babysit each kid! Designing and correcting assignments, calculating grades and contacting most parents is usually done beyond the classroom hours. And don't forget, the most experienced teacher doesn't even earn twice that of a newbie but administrators and superintendents always are!
Is merit pay a panacea? No, because there is no one measurable method to determine success? Native Americans at one Auburn elementary school outperform the national average with test scores three times the national average for Native Americans, but the school is classified as failing. Hispanic students are asked to demonstrate writing skills with essays about family life which are graded in part on the extent of personal disclosure. When they refuse to complete the task because there are legal reasons to keep family secrets from the government, the school is declared a failure.
A dyslectic but skilled woodworking student drops out when woodshop classes are cancelled because of "test-prep" requirements. An at-risk student from a broken, violent home thriving in drama courses can't graduate because testing was done during the most chaotic week for his family.
Spending quality time with your own kids is the most important "education reform" anyone can make. Volunteering in your local schools is the next best "reform." Supporting efforts to make schools safe, healthy, and inviting is another critical factor.
Salaries will continue to increase, if only because of supply and demand. (Don't forget, Baby Boomers number 75 million while Generation X numbers 40 million.) Besides, someone has to babysit!
Well, on top of THAT red herring, when you're a science teacher you have to deal with all the nitwits who think that science works by majority vote, and who can't handle the hypothesis which posits that humans cause global warming, because it echoes some lefty on the news who said loudly that them humans do cause it.
Even the Royal Society agitates to pull the grants of scientists who even INQUIRE whether GW is caused by other factors than humans. As a fundamentalist religion, anthropogenic GW beats the mindless caricatures of Christians hands down.
And how quickly ol' Cato forgets that the Jesuits were pretty good at science for about 400 years before he came on the scene with his pronunciamentos.
http://www.kumon.com/
Posted by: JDH on August 21, 2007 02:13 PM2. The mark of a professional is some independence about how they perform their job. There have been studies that many people would trade some money, nobody wants to work for free, for more autonomy over how they perform their job. This is true of teachers as well.
3. Even if this lame lawsuit is validated by the courts, schools will continue to get worse. It will be a pyrrhic victory. More of those that can will homeschool or head to private schools. Many of those that can't will leave the area in search of better public schools and a better environment for their children. Evenutually, public schools here will go the way of Newark, Gary and LA. Beacuse there is no political constituency supporting competition in education there will be this periodically lame lawsuits, studies, and blue ribbon panels and kids trapped in public education, usually the poor and children of color will suffer.
Posted by: WVH on August 21, 2007 02:23 PMI agree, but you don't need to be state certified to become a programmer. You don't even need a college degree (helps, nor required).
If the demand for good programmers weren't there, the salaries wouldn't be either.
There's a demand for teachers, very few are stepping up to fill the positions. Why, because you can earn 2x to 4x the money working elsewhere and not have to worry about paying union dues.
The field changes. More often than not, he does work from home as well as putting in regular office hours.
I do to, I work in the tech industry as well. When the field changes I can walk down to B&N and pick up the latest book and study up on that. In fact a lot of companies will pay for the training to keep you on board. Plus you get a shot at stock options, 401k, and health insurance.
I don't have to go back to school and shell out hundreds (thousands?) of dollars so I can become re-certified every 4 years to continue programing.
And there is competition from foreign workers and a supply of new programmers as well. It isn't all a cake walk, as you say.
Unfortunately you can't outsource the classroom, I'm sure they would have done it by now if it was possible. So you need to attract people to fill in the gaps.
Not going to happen with the abundance of tech jobs that are available at the moment. Why waste 24k (4 yrs @ UW w/ in-state tuition) plus testing and certification charges, when you can take night classes in programing and earn 2x to 4x a starting teachers salary straight off the bat.
It isn't all a cake walk, as you say.
Not a cake walk either but sure beats dealing with self-righteous kids, overbearing parents, govt. bureaucracy, and must pass standardized testing. It's also cheaper and much more accessible to the average person.
1. There has to be a culture which values education. That is why hip hop culture is cultural genocide. The Asian Indian culture highly values education and achievement. This is something that ethnic groups wanting to succeed must adopt as a norm.
2. If people don't have the time or don't want to make the time, they probably shouldn't be parents and this is true of all ages. Another reason hip hop culture is genocide. The terms "yo baby daddy" or "fiancee" need to be replaced with, gasp, husband and wife. So, I know that secular progressives will be all over that last statement like velcro. Incidently, I have met parents with all the material resources in the world, but they shouldn't have kids either. It is not about money, it is about time. Children need parents that are committed to them and each other.
3. Competition in education will force all schools to be better.
Posted by: WVH on August 21, 2007 02:33 PM"It takes some brains and motivation to "teach yourself" to code well.
I agree, but you don't need to be state certified to become a programmer. You don't even need a college degree (helps, nor required).
If the demand for good programmers weren't there, the salaries wouldn't be either.
There's a demand for teachers, very few are stepping up to fill the positions. Why, because you can earn 2x to 4x the money working elsewhere and not have to worry about paying union dues.
The field changes. More often than not, he does work from home as well as putting in regular office hours."
Part of the problem is that certification or licenusre is often required to teach in the public schools. What schools should be looking for is teachers that can raise the level of academic achievement in the population of children they are assigned to teach. There is no corollation betweeen the fact of certification and the ability of a particular individual to raise academic achievement in a particular population of kids. There are studies about the particular traits that do raise academic achievement. Certification is one means of producing a monopoly situation in education.
Posted by: WVH on August 21, 2007 02:39 PMWell said. In fact, certification often selects out the most qualified teachers and ensures that obedient mediocrities are rewarded, instead; hence, a whole stateload of math teachers whining:
"What'll we do? /
What'll we do? /
We didn't take no maff course /
at EWU!"
p.s. The reason education is undervalued is because teachers' unions have come to identify themselves and their organizational need for hegemony as "education." Even us dimwit right-wingers know that THAT ain't true. No way a group of labor agitators and their shills can masquerade as an abstraction. Not even at Hallowe'en.
Posted by: Rey Smith on August 21, 2007 02:57 PMOn average we pay about $10k per student. Now, there are about 30 students per class that equals $300k per classroom. In an average elementary school, each grade excluding kindergarten has about 3 classes per grade. $300k x 3 = $900k. Take that a step further, 5 grades x $900k = $4.5 million. And that's just for one school.
It's naïve to think that $4.5 million is going to stay with that school. Middle and High school costs more to run. But you get the picture.
These democrats need put bong away. To say we need to spend more money on schools is CRAZY!
I agree 100%.
It is not about money, it is about time. Children need parents that are committed to them and each other.
Also true.
3. Competition in education will force all schools to be better.
So we need more charter schools? We need to use public funds to send kids to religious schools? We need to use public money to send kids to non-religious private schools?
Can publicly funded schools really compete with private institutions with 85% less federal & local bureaucracy / higher teaching salaries / admission requirements? Public schools have to take everybody, that's why they're free.
Go for the job that pays enough to support you, and tutor or teach pro bono on the side, if it eases your conscience. I'm sure there would be plenty of non-self-righteous students who want to learn who would avail themselves of your services. As my aunt says, "You can't save every chipmunk." So, save a couple who want to be saved and deal with it. But stop complaining about the plight of teachers if you're going to make a choice to perpetuate the status quo.
AND even in those FREE public school there are costs to parents for stupid things: group Kleenex, group crayons, group filler paper non-text books.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on August 21, 2007 03:21 PMPlease don't throw out the tired line about "but public schools have to accept ALL kids." First off, a lot of kids in private schools are their because they consistantly got in trouble in public school and others are there because public schools couldn't cope with their special needs. Anyone who's ever had kids in private school will tell you that.
Also, we aren't dumb. Using the entry level for your profession salary is a silly ruse that mis-represents the problem and doesn't reflect superior benefits to anything we get in the private sector.
If the problem is entry level salaries, have your union fight for better ones. Yes I know, a laughable proposition as we've all grown to understand unions keep entry salaries low so they can point at them and whine about how underpaid teachers are.
To be frank, a lot of "fresh out of college" people working in my line of work would love to have $32,000 and benefits locked in so quickly when they get out of school. They also needed to go to college and also all need to brush up on their skills continually. (Though most of them don't get days and summers off and educational allowances and tax breaks to do it like government employees do.)
So, no you won't ever make what the CEO's make, and individuals in the private sector that work hard will always have the opportunity to make mor than you. (It's part of that whole merit pay thing that teachers don't seem to understand. If your union would allow it, good teachers would get paid better and bad teachers would go away.)
So because of your union you won't get rich, but you don't have it that bad. Remember your benefits: You don't see many of us in the private sector retiring at 55 or 60 anymore and it certainly doesn't happen with the nest egg career educators get.
Final point. It sounds like you're a teacher - and I like and respect teachers - but forgive my saying so but you sound a little bitter. Comparing what you do to "babysitting" doesn't fill any of us readers with a warm feeling you really care about the kids.
This goes with another observation I've seen about teachers over the years. You folks burn out but you keep teaching. Why is that? I've changed careers radically over the last 30 years. So have most of my friends. If I was still doing what I was going in my 20's, I'd probably hate my life and my job too no matter how much money I made.
I know that the union and government career advancement systems encourage people to stay in jobs they've outgrown mentally and maybe that's part of the problem. Perhaps teaching is one of those professions that most people should jump into for 5 or 10 years and then do something else.
There is demand for corporate trainers, high level customer service people that can train people how to use complex software, other forms of public service and many other types of employment that maybe you should consider and the private sector needs mature individuals with teaching skills. Replant yourself like the rest of us do! You'll be happier in your life.
If you no longer have the necessary passion - just move on instead of becoming bitter about it. The kids sense it and it affects them more than you probably know.
Also, two of his three classes are remedial students who have previously failed to perform. He has unmotivated students just like everyone else does, yet still finds ways to teach them or he fails them.
He doesn't work for 3 months out of the year, and has a benefits package that most would envy. Maybe he's the exception, but I doubt it. There's a reason alot people teach - it affords you a lifestyle that few professions can.
Posted by: Palouse on August 21, 2007 03:35 PMFor instance: In Battle Ground a first grade child has to have this list of supplies on the first day of school: 250 sheets 20# bond white copy paper, 24-#2 pencils/sharpened, 24 count box of crayons, 12 colored pencils/sharpened, 2 types of markers, peril erasers, glue, glue sticks, big box of tissue, 2 composition note books, various folders, pencil holder, desk box, scissors, ruled paper notebooks and a partridge in a pear tree. The child also needs to bring a similar list of school supplies for the art teach and an emergency zip lock baggie of 4 food items and 4 boxed drinks. ~This is not the complete list.
These are called "group supplies" and do not belong to the student who's parents purchased them. They become the property of the facilitator. Where on earth do they store these supplies? Is there a huge room that is built with each new school expressly for the sole purpose of bilking the parents out of supplies? Are we now paying a salary position for the supply personal at each school? What happens to the supplies that don't get used?
Interesting stuff to ponder.
Apparently, grade schools no longer have pencil sharpeners. Heck with all of the taxes and supplies, they should be pumping out brains full of math, science, reading, spelling, art, music, drama and athletic to boot. I will admit, students can demonstrate their self worth.
/I am gratefully an empty nester
//My children graduated from the public schools
///Don't wanna even think about the teen-aged years
////slashies////
1. My wife got her teaching certificate when she graduated from college. After 4 YEARS as a substitute teacher, she gave up and went to a PRIVATE afterschool program. The whole time, the State was complaining about a shortage of teachers. She'd apply, get EXCELLENT references from the staff she worked with, and was passed over. You don't walk into a full-time gig straight from college, you put in a lot of time as sub first. The Teacher's Union wants it that way.
2. We spend over $10,000 direct per student, and the average classroom has 18.1 students. That means each teach has a "teaching budget" of $181,000. Yet they earn $30K to start? If that's not sign of management bloat I don't know what is...
3. The average compensation package for a teacher is $64,000. Not too shabby, considering that's twice the State average for all workers.
4. In the public schools you CANNOT teach unless you receive a certificate. I have taught math and physics to private school students, tutor, teach university classes, and even taught graduate level acoustics courses. My students went on to great levels of achievement. Of course, I don't have a teaching certificate so I'm not qualified, even if I'd like to do it part time...
5. Spending per student - after inflation - has INCREASED by 14.5% over the last ten years. How much is enough? $15,000 per student? $20,000 per student? $30,000 per student? How about we create a magnet school, fund it with the "proper" funding, and if the students excel then we know what's needed for funding. If the students are no better, then we know what's NOT needed...
Posted by: Edmonds Dan on August 21, 2007 04:49 PMSo, my question is why are the top private schools in the area charging tuition TWICE or MORE THAN TWICE what the public schools have?
After all...if the $$$ are adequate to provide a top notch education...why on earth would private schools (who don't have unions, etc.) have to spend MORE THAN TWICE as much per student to provide a great education?
Posted by: Bill Anderson on August 21, 2007 05:53 PMNow correct me if I am wrong, but private schools pay things like property taxes, etc. What is paid by a public school? And the last time I checked, the tuition at a lot of private schools is less than the amount I'm paying in property tax for public schools.
Cato,
Did I catch this right? YOU are a teacher? Sweet Jesus. What do you teach?
Look, here are my 2 cents. You take the total state funding for schools and divide that by the number of registered students. You get the state spend per kid. Provide that amount to the parents with a choice. Send them to public schools or private. Hell, make it hypothetical and do a survey. Scare the WEA to death.
What would you choose for your kid? A school with accountability or one with none.
If you are not pissed every time you see the auditor's property tax info for your house and how your money is spent, there is something wrong.
Kinda like those anti-war-bush-republican-SUV-flavor of the month stickers that say "If you're not mad, you're not paying attention".
Posted by: Chris on August 21, 2007 07:00 PMYou assume that because the "top" private schools charge twice as much per pupil, they are spending twice as much per pupil.
It seems more likely that they are simply charging what the market will bear. Harvard is currently charging about 14x as much as the UW. They are able to do so because the demand for the Harvard label far exceeds the available supply.
Rather than comparing the education provided by the "top" private schools to that provided by the government schools, it would be much more instructive to compare the government school education to that provided by the parochial (Catholic) and other church-affiliated schools, where the majority of private-school students attend.
These schools typically provide a better education than the government schools, for a fraction of what the state is spending.
Posted by: ewaggin on August 21, 2007 07:07 PMI suppose Lakeside or whatever that one Gates went to is probably up there, but I can think of no other in the Archdiocese that cost DOUBLE the 10k/per pupil the union thug protection program they call public schools wastes.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on August 21, 2007 07:13 PM1) Tuition at top private schools are much more than property taxes. Most top private schools have tuition in excess of $15K a year at 5-12th grade.
2) The parochial example is lacking in two ways: a) The parish schools are heavily subsidized by the church and b) the top parochial schools are Jesuit/Sacred Heart, not funded by parish coffers, and therefore charge tuition in excess of even top private schools (look at Forest Ridge Tuition versus Lakeside for instance...and compare to $/student).
Posted by: Bill Anderson on August 21, 2007 07:19 PMWas it parochial?
Posted by: Bill Anderson on August 21, 2007 07:21 PMO'Dea is the least expensive and I believe Holy Names is the most.
Catholic High Schools HAVE no parishes to subsidize them.
Posted by: Ragnar Danneskjold on August 21, 2007 07:30 PMWe need to use public funds to send kids to schools that will give them a solid education.
Period.
It is sheer lunacy to limit "public education" funding to the schools that continue to exist only because they are a government monopoly.
Posted by: ewaggin on August 21, 2007 07:32 PMWe are already paying thousands of dollars per student in public schools -- it's a matter of focus and management, not money. We need to break this bloc to get real reform moving.
You failed to address the point I made about using so-called "top" private schools as the basis for comparison with the government schools.
In "Free to Choose", Milton Friedman compared the Catholic schools in New York City to the government schools there. The number of students the Catholic school system was educating was ~10% of the government school population. But the Catholic school system was education those students for (if memory serves) ~2% of what the government schools were spending.
Posted by: ewaggin on August 21, 2007 07:49 PMYou don't get it.
My neighbor next door with no kids is paying tuition for somebody's kid. It just so happens that this "tuition" is for a public school.
So, tuition at a public school is, as stated so far, about $10k a year.
No one I know is paying $20K a year to send their kid to a private school. In fact, they are paying a lot less than $10k.
Stop thinking that the funding for schools is not tuition. It is.
What do you think the outrage would be if we passed a law that you only had to pay the portion of the property tax that funded schools if you had kids that were school age. What would happen to the schools if they were only funded by those who used them?
Posted by: Chris on August 21, 2007 09:34 PM1. It is my understanding that a group of parents whose children are in failing school districts are suing to have competition in education in NJ. I believe that NJ is one of the top states in per pupil expenditure and who knows where the money goes. Cement maybe? I believe this suit is separate from the teachers union.
2. Cato said:
" Competition in education will force all schools to be better.
So we need more charter schools? We need to use public funds to send kids to religious schools? We need to use public money to send kids to non-religious private schools?
Can publicly funded schools really compete with private institutions with 85% less federal & local bureaucracy / higher teaching salaries / admission requirements? Public schools have to take everybody, that's why they're free."
What do you know about education other than you attended school?
The answer is yes to your statements. The question you secular progressives need to be pushed to a yes or no answer is whether you want children educated no matter what it takes to successfully educate a particular child or do you view children as a lab experiment for your lame theories?
Suppose the state dollars followed the child and the parents or guardians could choose where they spent their money, either a public or private school. This is the situation in Belgium where schools compete for each parent's state allocation.
The theory is that as few as 15% to 20% education choice schools will force public schools to be better. There are limited studies by Hoxby and others which support this basic premise.
The largest experiment of secular progressive ideology as described by Moynihan has been the effect of secular progressive based programs run by the government targeted at the poor of color.
These programs have been a dismal failure. Scholars in Great Britain are begining to look at the effect of New Labour policies on the poor and underclass there.
It starts and ends with schools and unless there is competition, we will develop the rigid class structure that has limited many from advancement in Europe.
7/13/2006
NJ PARENTS FILE CLASS ACTION SUIT SEEKING SCHOOL CHOICE OPTIONS FOR CHILDREN TRAPPED IN FAILING SCHOOLS
Contact:
Megan Rudebeck, Alliance for School Choice
202/ 280-1990 , 602/791-8931 (cell)
mrudebeck@AllianceForSchoolChoice.org
PHOENIX -- In a landmark case that could test the vitality of states' constitutional guarantees of public education standards, the Alliance for School Choice today joined the New Jersey Black Ministers Alliance, the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey and Excellent Education for Everyone in supporting parents filing a class action lawsuit. Seeking for the first time meaningful and immediate relief for New Jersey's failure to provide essential basic education to thousands of its children, the lawsuit demands two remedies for children in failing schools.
"This is the first class action education case seeking a remedy not for the system, but for the kids. It is a milestone in the quest for educational opportunity," declared Clint Bolick, president of the Phoenix-based Alliance for School Choice, the nation's leading advocacy group for school choice programs for disadvantaged schoolchildren.
"A quality education is a civil right, and that is being denied to far too many of our children. While we continue to press to reform the public school, we cannot allow another child to lose the opportunity to a better and productive future," said Rev. Reginald T. Jackson, executive director of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey. "The future waits for no one and neither must we wait. We take this action today not because we want to, but because we must. For far too many of our children it is already too late," he added.
http://www.allianceforschoolchoice.org/media_center.aspx?IITypeID=3&IIID=2768
I don't know what happened to this lawsuit, but I think the WASL standards have been relaxed here to keep evidence of failure from forming the basis of a lawsuit here.
I want all teachers earnings made public.....people will scream when they see how much they actually make each year for their short, short year of work....
btw.....in most districts, any and all courses taken towards your masters etc are PAID for by the district, and if not paid for upfront, paid for as an increased stipend...
let alone to say, there are teachers that take lower division course and tele courses just to make their retirement look bette...
people once and for all should shove this "poor" teacher crap away...maybe as new grad, but not after a few years....
ever look to see what a new grad in social work makes?...
Posted by: lee on August 22, 2007 12:48 AMI want all teachers earnings made public.....people will scream when they see how much they actually make each year for their short, short year of work....
btw.....in most districts, any and all courses taken towards your masters etc are PAID for by the district, and if not paid for upfront, paid for as an increased stipend...
let alone to say, there are teachers that take lower division course and tele courses just to make their retirement look bette...
people once and for all should shove this "poor" teacher crap away...maybe as new grad, but not after a few years....
ever look to see what a new grad in social work makes?...
Posted by: lee on August 22, 2007 12:48 AMSee the 3rd Annual Washington State Teacher Salaries Database at:
http://www.effwa.org/main/article.php?article_id=1982
It's a false choice, really. You cannot have the latter without the former. Higher-level concepts cannot be fully understood, let alone utilized, without first mastering the basic mechanics. If a kid has to always stop and poke some buttons on a calculator just to solve a stupid little quadratic equation, he's never going to learn how to really use a stupid little quadratic equation.
You can't be an auto mechanic if you never learned how to operate a wrench.
Posted by: Frank Black on August 22, 2007 08:48 AMMaybe we should apply those same principles to other Govt. monopolies like the Police and Fire Dept. They have powerful unions that are always asking for more money per person. Maybe we should start using public funds for private Police and Fire Dept's because they "exist only because they are a government monopoly".
Everything works better with competition right?
The need for a Hip-Hop image claims yet another victim in Michael Vick
I refuse to have one ounce of sympathy for Michael Vick, who recently plead guilty in federal court to arranging dog fights on his Virginia property and when those dogs did not perform accordingly Vick was accused of killing several dogs himself
It is mind-boggling to imagine what the hell was going thru Michael Vick's mind when he was engaged in his dog fighting venture? Here is a Black NFL Quarterback, who was pretty much set for life with the Atlanta Falcons, making millions of dollars a year on and off the field of play with endorsements from major retailers.
Vick simply could not let go of his hip hop roots and now he will more than likely end up near broke, suspended or even banned from the NFL for life and will do some major jail time all because of his insane need to have street creed among hip hoppers. Dog fighting is a major component of the underground Hip Hop Culture.
I've seen countless young black men being drug thru the streets of Washington, D.C. by these vicious pit bulls. These animals have often been beaten repeatedly, fed gunpowder to make them even more vicious and thus so dangerous that often times when the animals are abandon, they are now either too old or no longer useful in anyway. Once discovered by local animal control officials, these dogs often have to be quickly euthanized because they are so vicious and out of control.
Some in the Black Community see Vick as a victim of racism and being unfairly picked on by federal and state officials because he is a young Black, rich, hip-hopper, but how many more Michael Vicks, Mike Tyson's, and Adam Bernard "Pacman" Joneses will it take before the Black Community wakes up and demand these athletes take personal accountability for their own actions? Vick is on trial because of his own actions and racism has nothing to do with it at all.
The commissioners, owners, and fans of these leagues are no longer playing around and accepting the on and off the field acts of the players. People are not going to pay good money to see R-rated sports events and the NBA found that out the hard way several years back, when people started calling it "thugball" and fan attendance started dropping off with several teams after episodes of players physically assaulting fans and coaches.
In the end Vick did learn a very valuable lesson, that his boys were not going to take the fall for him as they all turned state evidence against him and in the end he was forced into a plead bargain agreement. I guess "the no snitch rule" among your boys went out the window as they all turned on you and you found out indeed that; "There was no honor among thieves!"
Michael your future now holds for you, a fitting for the pumpkin suit, soap on a rope, learning to sleep on your back, and the only football you will be throwing around is in the prison yard because at the end of the day you were just plain stuck on stupid and lost it all because you needed to retain your hip-hop image.
Posted by: JDH on August 22, 2007 12:17 PMFirst, Darfur is truly a crime and Zimbabwe under dictator thug Mugabe is a disaster. For the secular progressives who are right on these two issues, they seem to have a blind spot when it comes to hip hop culture. Hillary took $800,000 from assorted hip hop thugs assembled by Timbaline. No outrage from the dem or should I say dim establishment. At this very site, an earnest, but truly misguided poster thought that because he played hoops a couple of times a week with some folks from the Urban League hip hop was OK and there are some hip hop folks he thought would make great role models. Oh, by the way, hip hop was there for all the Kodak moments of their life. Had I suggested that hip hop thugs make excellent role models for the children of his tribe, they rightly would have told me where to put it.
Were I to design a method of genocide more acceptable to society in general than what is going on in Darfur, it would be hip hop.
Mick Vick, the latest example of the destructiveness of hip hop culture is a sick, sick man. Not that he shouldn't have his a$$ kicked, but he is sick. What kind of person thinks in any kind of civilized society what he did to other creatures was acceptable?
Hip hop culture will not be contained in the Black culture. Just as we were the canaries in the mineshaft with out-of-wedlock births which have destroyed a couple of generations of kids from all ethnic and cultural groups, the same anti-social behavior and self-destructive tendencies will enter the mainstream culture. For those of you who believe in prayer, pray that Vick comes out of prison a much better man than when he went in.
Hip hop = cultural genocide = death.
Posted by: WVH on August 22, 2007 01:06 PMIf I were of a mind to overlook your attempt to change the subject, I would point out that you missed, or ignored, the key word in the passage you quoted: "only".
I would point out that police and fire departments are part of the executive branch of the government, and as such, are granted powers that cannot be outsourced to the private sector.
However, I'm not of a mind to overlook your attempt to change the subject, so please stay on the topic, namely public education and the government schools.
Posted by: ewaggin on August 22, 2007 08:41 PMYes, everything works better with competition. Boeing is outsourcing more and more because the return is better. The cost is lower and performance better when you are dealing with someone who has INCENTIVE to work harder and do a better job.
When you have protected classes, and I mean unions in this case...not white folks, there is no incentive.
What is a teachers incentive? What is the WEA's incentive?
Posted by: Chris on August 22, 2007 10:06 PMAt www.k12.wa.us/safs/PUB/FIN you will discover the state per pupil expenditure (2005-06) was $8189 out of $8248 in revenues (70% from the state, 20% from local sources, 10% from Uncle Sam). Expenditures work out to 84% in salaries, wages, and benefits, 6% in materials and supplies, and 10% in purchased services - whatever that is. Another way to break down the expenditures is 69% in instruction, 13% in administration, 9% for M & O, 3% for food services and 3% for transportation.
By the way, the state salary schedule is available on-line, too. Teachers' salaries haven't been subject to collective bargaining for nearly thirty years ever since Dixy Lee Ray and the Democrats changed the law!
Sorry about the babysitting comment. Teachers do a lot more than babysit, of course!
Is there any means testing done on this to determine whether this program is being abused? (It would be very intesting to see how much of this money goes to children that shouldn't be in the country in the first place.)
I would be willing to bet a lot of money that "means testing" means that a parent needs to sign something saying they lost their job and no one in government ever follows up to see if they got another one. No questions about citizenship, other forms of income, or any other forms of support.
I had a single mother working for me a few years back and I remember her telling people in the lunch room that she had put here kids on a free lunch program during a time she was unemployed, even though she got a pretty good child support check each month from her ex-husband. Her kids were still on it although she'd been working for more than a year because it was so easy to get the free program and because the school worked overtime to make sure children getting free lunches weren't stigmatized.
Has something changed? I'd bet not. These are the kinds of things that drive me crazy about state run organizations.
(Another example: I forgot to return a library book and kept it for over 6 months. When I finally found it under the bed and returned it the charge was less than 2 dollars. I'd bet it cost the government more than that just to account for hte income.)
Posted by: Johnny on August 23, 2007 09:49 AMIs there any means testing done on this to determine whether this program is being abused? (It would be very intesting to see how much of this money goes to children that shouldn't be in the country in the first place.)
I would be willing to bet a lot of money that "means testing" means that a parent needs to sign something saying they lost their job and no one in government ever follows up to see if they got another one. No questions about citizenship, other forms of income, or any other forms of support.
I had a single mother working for me a few years back and I remember her telling people in the lunch room that she had put here kids on a free lunch program during a time she was unemployed, even though she got a pretty good child support check each month from her ex-husband. Her kids were still on it although she'd been working for more than a year because it was so easy to get the free program and because the school worked overtime to make sure children getting free lunches weren't stigmatized.
Has something changed? I'd bet not. These are the kinds of things that drive me crazy about state run organizations.
(Another example: I forgot to return a library book and kept it for over 6 months. When I finally found it under the bed and returned it the charge was less than 2 dollars. I'd bet it cost the government more than that just to account for hte income.)
Posted by: Johnny on August 23, 2007 09:49 AMThanks for the link.
From the same source, the total expenditure per pupil (including capital, tranportation, etc) for FY 2005-2006 is $10,144.
Just for grins, that amounts to $203K for a 20-student classroom. The average base salary for FY 2005-2006 was $51K (mind you, for 9 months work), and the benefits are about $12K (?), for a total of $63K.
So, only 31% of the state's expenditure is spent on the teacher's compensation, while 69% ($140K) is spent on overhead.
That's just insane. If the current government school system was actually providing a solid education to its students, one might be justified in saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", but the system is broken, and very badly.
Posted by: ewaggin on August 23, 2007 01:11 PM* To lie about why your child is absent - Press 1
* To make excuses for why your child did not do
his work - Press 2
* To complain about what we do - Press 3
* To swear at staff members - Press 4
* To ask why you didn't get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several fliers mailed to you - Press 5
* If you want us to raise your child - Press 6
* If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone -Press 7
* To request another teacher, for the third time this year -Press 8
* To complain about bus transportation - Press 9
* To complain about school lunches - Press 0
* If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework, and that it's not the teachers' fault for your child's lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!
*If you want this in Spanish, Indian, Arabic, Swahili, French, Czechoslovakian, Russian... you must be... you ARE in the wrong country.
http://www.news4jax.com/news/13930458/detail.html?plckCurrentPage=1
I believe that organizations can be compared to living organisms and those that fail to adapt die. In my opinion, many organizations, among which is the NAACP, but also groups like the ACLU have not adapted to current realities. For the NAACP, in my opinion, the current reality is they will have to lead massive cultural change akin to the smoking campaign or the drunk driving laws. As outlined by Dr. Bill of Cosby fame, destructive behaviors which prevent children from achieving will have to be dealt with. I believe that Dr. King was headed in the direction of economic achievement before his life was ended.
A certain segment of the Black elite and other elites of color, in my opinion are going to have to come to terms with capitalism and be willing to promote it for all classes. Right now, many academics, politicians, media and elites will persue their own individual capitalism for themselves, but when it comes to those on the lower rung of the economic ladder they begin spouting socialism and government program dependency crap. Star Parker, who escaped welfare, writes and speaks on this topic.
Now for the ACLU, they have gone way beyond the practical defense of civil liberties to a knee jerk reaction that makes all of us less secure.
I believe that the salvation for Black people will come not from groups like the NAACP or sadly even the NATIONAL Urban League under the tutelage of Morial. The salvation for Black people will come from the source were it has always eminated -the church. Black ministers in New Jersey are behind the school litigation there. It is no accident that Dr. King was a minister. Secular progressive ideology has not moved the ball down the field for Black people. The NAACP because of the influence of Julian Bond is, in my opinion, in the pocket of the dem party. What is going to save Black folks are a collection of Black Evangelicals that everyone makes fun of and secular progressives call crazy.
Posted by: WVH on August 25, 2007 08:03 PM