The most visible problem of education in America is poor performance of students, This can not be fixed by spending more money on public schools because student performance is just the tip of the ice burg. Further more much of the money spent on public education goes to paying forced teacher union dues. The union then turns around and gives some of it to political campaigns of politicians that support the union resulting in what amount a form of money laundering to fund taxpayer funding selected political campaigns.

Sadly American Public Schools have become less about education and more about indoctrinating students into a humanistic / socialistic world view. These students are not being how to think but what to think in fact indecent thinking is actually attract if that independence goes against what the education establishment wants them to think. Now in all fairness this does not apply to all class rooms in all public schools since there are exception but this is the general trend in public education.  

Rugby was invented in English PUBLIC schools. In fact these particular schools are completely private but the instinctive tactic of the English ruling class is to mislead.  

Fees at top public schools like Eton, where Tory Prime Minister David Cameron and many of his cabinet went, are well beyond the reach of 99% of the population.

The boys are taught the attitudes of entitlement and privilege that will mould the rest of their lives. As a result, bankers, lawyers, judges, senior civil servants, military officers, and leading Tory politicians – are almost all former public schoolboys.

Rugger is the game they play, not Rugby, and it is pronounced ruggah! Accents and the use of public school terms are pillars of the system. The moment an Englishman speaks he is judged by the public schoolboys and usually found guilty of being from the wrong class.

It might be surprising then that in the World Cup the English rugby team, almost exclusively the product of public schools, played like idiots on the pitch. Then behaved like idiots off it. The most spectacular fall was by a new addition to the Royal family.

The latest Royal Wedding

Mike Tindall is the husband of Zara, granddaughter of the Queen. Within weeks of the wedding he was caught on CCTV in a bar with his team mates. Tindall was seen fondling a blonde who turned out to be a former girlfriend. He left with her but lied about that – until he was seen again on CCTV in another bar with her. Later three other players were reprimanded for luring a hotel worker to their room, then verbally abusing her, all in the name of fun of course.

Cheating spread to the team officials. Two were suspended for switching a ball in a plan to make it easier for star Johnny Wilkinson to kick goals. He missed. 

Following this England were trounced by France and left the tournament early. Their response to the various humiliations will be to blame the media, the management, and the expectations of their supporters.

The country the defeated, spiritless team return to is suffering from the same financial crisis as Europe and America. But it is made worse by the policies of Eton schoolboy, Prime Minister David Cameron. He has seized the opportunity to further support the top 1% of the nation – at the expense of everyone else.

That’s just the way it has always been with the Tory party. Their sense of entitlement and privilege is taught at public school – and never leaves them. They live in a society formed by the haves – and the have yachts.

To quote George W Bush, their American counterpart. 

Image via Wikipedia

Kopp took the Peace Corps as her model and goes into America’s low income, failing classrooms. She sends Ivy League whiz kids into communities and cultures as foreign to them as Calcutta and the Congo. These young people are trained and supported by the organization but it still takes gumption and staying power. Even so after this trial by fire 60 percent find it so rewarding that they choose to make teaching their life’s work.

Kopp says we can’t hinge a students success on teachers willing to work 15 hours a day, there are only so many out there. The solution is hiring principals who are good leaders, who as teachers themselves, succeeded in raising achievement levels in uninspired students. Public schools can take a lesson from charter schools, their most important task is finding good leadership, which is the glue that holds the whole system together.

When you as a teacher, have once taught successfully, you know that every child has potential. We have no room for failure in public schools. Losing one student is one too many. These kids deserve teachers who can teach and inspire students to their highest potential. And by the way, every student in Marice Thomas’ class went to college.

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Tulan’s Articles:

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http://socyberty.com/education/student-motivation/

http://socyberty.com/education/colleges-alcohol-and-drugs/

http://socyberty.com/history/president-richard-nixon-tricky-dick/

http://socyberty.com/people/georgias-own-byron-herbert-reece/

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In military programs students are allowed to take tests at their own pace and immediate feed back is provided to students and teachers. It makes for stronger accountability and plans can be altered for student performance. When compared to overall schools, students in the Army cadet programs fared better than other students. The army alone provides more than 70 programs for students, parents and teachers.

Many of these programs can be used in classrooms to help students prepare for exams, such as the SAT, or to improve their performance in other areas. Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley, head of he Army’s Accessions Command writes, “Educators, business and community leaders, and military leaders and other major stakeholders need to act quickly and with conviction to address the current crisis in education. Now is the time for the military and education to partner.”

When compared to current failure, dropouts rates, and graduation military education is way ahead of other schools. All parents and educators should take note and follow the example of military techniques. Our children deserve an education and a chance in life to be the best they can be.

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More articles by Tulan:

http://socyberty.com/languages/the-english-language/

http://socyberty.com/issues/opium-for-the-people/

http://socyberty.com/government/u-s-a-government-offices-on-the-internet/

http://socyberty.com/issues/america-a-volatile-nation/

http://socyberty.com/issues/china-and-americas-take-on-climate-change/

Enrichment programs were introduced into the public schools for gifted students but now, many underprivileged children are now benefiting from the programs which help them to overcome some academic difficulties.  These programs serve to develop character in the children.

 The generations before us involved their children in work with the hands believing that it enhanced the development of the intellect and character.  Accordingly, parents taught their children the various arts and crafts which they had learned.  These arts and crafts were very popular during the Industrial Revolution in the United States.

 
After the Industrial Revolution, the Digital Age began and has changed the way that we work and communicate.  As a result, there is less of an emphasis on working with the hands and more of an emphasis on working with the minds.  While this mental exercise may be good for the mind, the ability to solve problems creatively may be limited because of the use of highly technical equipment that people are using.

Image by Powerhouse Museum Collection via Flickr

One woman, Deb Winsor, has created interest in her workshops which involve teaching kindergartners how to use power tools.  After introducing the program a few years ago, parents expressed an interest in enrolling their preschoolers in her Brooklyn, New York studio as a substitute for surfing on the Internet.  Many other similar programs have sprung up all over the country as a result.

After school programs in the schools give children an opportunity to develop creativity in the arts, such as music programs, art programs, and dance and drama programs.  However, it is questionable whether wood working programs for preschoolers have the dexterity and maturity to work with wood working power tools and whether the programs may endanger them, even though responsible adults are available to supervise the activities.    

While young children enrolled in the Boys Scouts learn how to carve with Popsicle sticks and soap, some health experts assert that young children lack mature decision-making skills in working with power tools, and that children should be supervised while using the tools to avoid injury.

Parents enjoy watching their children derive satisfaction and self-esteem from creating furniture and other woodworking projects.  The children enjoy using their creativity to construct a work of beauty.  However, there are other safer forms of expression.

In conclusion, while there are benefits to children using power tools to create beautiful works of art, there is also a chance that the child could experience a devastating permanent injury as a result of the use of power tools.

Homeschooling gives the parents control of who and what influences the learning experience of their children and they can tailor the curriculum to benefit the needs and interest of each child.

Individual attention is another excellent benefit of homeschooling because you can control the pace needed for the students to absorb the lessons. English lessons may come easy for an individual student, therefore, more time could be devoted to math, science, geography or other studies. There is not a time requirement per subject which gives the student the advantage of learning without the stress of competing with others.

Homeschooling can become an extended family activity with parents and siblings involved in the learning process. Field trips can be quality family time where everyone learns to make decisions without negative peer pressure.

Parents can tailor the curriculum to instill confidence in the child without competition for individual attention. Each student is different, some learn from reading or writing while others comprehend better from seeing things in action. Parents can decide when the student needs more help or offer rewards on major accomplishments.

Students in the public school environment are exposed to the moral values of the teachers, coaches and the other students. Parent educators can teach respect for others, morals and religious rites that help the students develop character and values that will make them become responsible and respected adults.

Public school has its place and it is the most economical and convenient educational choice for most students. However, some parents are concerned that their children are being either pushed to hard or are being held back from their full potential by waiting for other students to catch up with the class. Other issues concern discipline, health requirements and grouping children by age rather than ability.

If you can provide an income sufficient for one parent to devote the time required, to follow through with your children’s education, homeschooling may be the best way to accommodate the individual needs and interest of your family.

You should contact your local school board, county or state officials concerning the requirements for homeschooling. They can help you with curriculum and provide the information needed to be successful with your child’s education.

Back in my days of being a student in a special education center in New Jersey, Halloween was a fun and fancy celebration. We start the revels by coming to school dressed in costumes ranging from Disney Princesses to goblins. (At one Halloween before moving to Florida, I dressed up as one of the former types: Mulan.) Then, we walk around the school grounds, singing this merry tune:

We march along in a Halloween parade,
We march along in a Halloween parade,
Witches in tall hats,
Ghosts and black cats,
Tra-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la,
Boo! Boo! Boo!

After that merry parade, we’d come inside the gymnasium for a costume ball – with party dances a majority of us know from time to time. Virtually everyone neither complained about the religious nature of the event nor griped about how it disrupted the learning process. We just had fun each October 31 (or if that day fell on weekends, on the Fridays before).

But when I moved from New Jersey, things drastically changed when I entered the public school system. Halloweens were just ordinary days – days of learning the usual reading, writing, and arithmetic. I asked myself why there were no happy Halloween parades and no costume balls to throw. (The only one of the latter I attended was the one in which I’m dressed as a fine arts icon or person in middle school.) The occurrences of October 31 on weekdays seemed so dull to me, but why?

Public schools have minimal times for celebrations for the curricular part. Such celebrations like masquerades of goblins and ghouls disrupt the learning process and are non-essential to the curriculum. Also, schools are way too busy to celebrate Halloween because they want their students to be prepared for standardized tests. (In Florida’s case, it’s the dreaded FCAT.) Do algebra and Halloween go together? In the real world, yes, but in the context of the public school system, no.

Religious factors play a role in the public schools’ shunnings of Halloween. A majority of Fundamentalist Christians, Muslims, and Jews heavily focus on the reasons for the ban in terms of Celtic pagan roots. In days of old, Druids in Ireland celebrate their own New Year: Samhain. That holiday signals the end of their harvest season and opens doors for the evil spirits and the dead to enter into the living world.

Centuries later, Pope Gregory III moved the date of All Saints Day from its initial date of May 31 to November 1. Thus, the day before November 1 is known as the Halloween we associate. But schools don’t bother observing it with fancy costume balls and parades around the schools thanks to those roots.

I’m a Catholic, and I celebrate Halloween not just because I’m observing the eve of All Saints Day, but I’m also doing this for the fun of it. If schools want to make a concession to kids who love celebrating the holiday without sacrificing the learning process, why don’t they give them coloring pages, have them write scary stories using vocabulary words, or make Day of the Dead sugar skulls?

If they want their costumes, how about handing them out some great alternatives to a distracting, sacrilegious (to those who strongly associate Halloween with the roots of pagan Samhain) holiday? There’s no need to eradicate Halloween from the face of the earth – let those who celebrate it, well, celebrate it!

As for me, I continue to march along in or watch Halloween parades, with ghosts, black cats, and witches in tall hats.

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     Upon reading the welcome pages of three different private schools’ websites in the area, I was excited to learn more.  The success rates and test scores were outstanding, and the instructor to child ratio was low.  I thought I had hit the mother lode.  A few clicks later, I found myself staring at tuition rates, and I was blown away.  They were high enough to put a down payment on a new car!  Being a middle class citizen in the economy today, I knew that there would be no way my husband and I could afford such a price.  I looked into the financial aid options and even those were limited and could only cover up to 60% of the tuition.  Even with that kind of help, which isn’t guaranteed, we couldn’t afford it.  As I kept reading I noticed something in the contracts of all of the schools stating that they do not discriminate against race, sex, religion, or socioeconomic status.  I was outraged!  How can a school state that they do not discriminate against socioeconomic status, yet have a tuition rate equal to an annual mortgage payment?  Ridiculous!  My smile quickly faded at the realization that we could not send our child to private school.

     Reviewing the websites got me thinking about paying for my college education.  If it weren’t for Pell Grants and Commonwealth Grants, I would not be attending college.  You would not be reading this article for it would have never been written.  Offering grants like these give people who otherwise could not afford to go to college the chance to enhance their futures.  Why must we wait until we are adults to get this chance at a quality education?  Why aren’t these grants offered to elementary aged children?  Better yet, why can’t public and private schools have the same quality of education?  I know it may seem like an adolescent question, but the fact remains that we have closed gaps in every aspect of discrimination except for socioeconomic status.  This just proves to be a real world example of the gap between the rich and the poor.   

On the subject of school vouchers, they can give advantages to some students in regards to a better education when the public school does not offer for example, accelerated classes for students with higher than normal IQ’s.  I am speaking from first hand experience in regards to public schools not all being the same when my sons were in school in Orlando they attended several different elementary schools, two different middle schools and two different high schools.  All the elementary schools were on the same level, although the middle school in the worst neighborhood had a better education system than the school in a high-class neighborhood that we lived in for a year.  The same was true of the High Schools, in Orange County my son was attending college level classes and then we moved to Osceola County and he wasn’t even able to continue his algebra 1 class because at Kissimmee High School you had to be a junior to take Algebra or biology for that matter.  Needless to say, if there had been a voucher program in place at that time I would have tried my best to get one for Sean to attend a school that allowed him to continue the biology and algebra classes he had started taking in Orange County before we moved to Osceola.

I myself didn’t attend public school except for a summer course of Driver’s Ed.  From first to tenth grade I attended a private church affiliated school and in eleventh grade I switched to an Central Adult high school in Sanford where in 12 months I would have enough credits to graduate a year sooner than anyone I had attended first grade with.  And from the people I encountered at Central Adult I found that I had received a much better education at Forest Lake than kids who had gone to say Bear Lake or Lyman. How I came to that conclusion was I breezed through every class because it seemed like a review of classes I had already had at Forest Lake with the exception of Spanish 1 and 2.  I didn’t feel I had a higher IQ than anyone else attending Central Adult I just seemed to have had a better education than the rest of the students. 

Therefore if a voucher system would allow kids from a school district with inferior educational standards to get a better education at a private school than a voucher should be used for the child that is not being taught at IQ level they are at, especially if the public school doesn’t offer accelerated classes. 

    As Kerri Toloczko (Senior VP of Policy, Institute for Liberty) stated, “Criticisms of merit pay are numerous, and most of them have little to do with what is best for kids…Merit pay provides incentives to attract energetic younger teachers and experienced professionals considering career change, and to retain good teachers.” Merit pay is key to attracting and retaining the best teachers and it is the only way to justly compensate these teachers. Furthermore, merit pay has come out with outstanding success in numerous cases.

Merit pay is is key to attracting and retaining the best teachers

    As Michael Podgursky (Department of Economics, University of Missouri‐Columbia) said, merit pay would make teacher turnover a virtuous cycle of quality improvement, because a policy that ties payment to student performance will eventually pull many more high productivity teachers into the teaching workforce, and low productivity teachers will leave for non-teaching positions.

    Also, some performance-based schemes can help correct problems in a teacher’s method that result from the lack of incentive in her pay. A teacher might fail to assign homework even though she knows its educational value for her students because correcting and grading assignments is boring and troublesome. Yet, if her pay was tied to their performance, she would be more likely to do it, as now she would have a tangible incentive to.

    With a pay system based on merit pay, better teachers are pulled into the educational system, worse teachers leave for more appropriate non-teaching positions, and the kids receive a stronger education. Everyone wins, students and teachers alike.

Merit pay is the only way to justly compensate teachers

    Frederick M. Hess (Director of Educational Studies, American Enterprise Institute) described the current teacher compensation system perfectly when he stated that it encourages career‐squatting by veteran teachers tired of their labors, discourages talented young college graduates from entering the profession, frustrates those educators who pour their weekends and summers into their work, and attracts candidates who are often less motivated than those who got away. He refers to the fact that the current compensation system rewards the mediocre teacher as much as it does the most gifted teacher. It does not take into account whether students actually learn or improve in the class; it defies logic to equally reward the mediocre teacher and the outstanding teacher.

Merit pay has been very successful in multiple respects

    Research performed by Venkatesh Sundararaman (Senior Economist at World Bank) found that at the end of the merit pay program studied students in incentive schools performed significantly better than those in comparison schools in math and language tests. The Pro-Comp model implemented in Denver public schools had many components, including pay for performance tied to test scores. A four-year pilot study of it found “significant learning gains” among students of participating teachers.

     In 2007, a pilot program in Arkansas’s Little Rock School District provided researchers an opportunity to discover the effects of merit pay. According to a research team led by Gary Ritter at the University of Arkansas’s Department of Education Reform, the merit pay bonuses led to significantly greater learning gains than had been achieved by the same students prior to the program. Students in schools where the program operated in 2005-06 showed a gain of nearly 7 percentile points for the average student.

The Other Half of the Debate

If you liked this article, you may want to check out a flip-side perspective to the idea of merit pay:

http://socyberty.com/education/why-merit-pay-plans-based-on-student-achievement-are-bad/