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Delusions of Adequacy
Picture of zoom6zoom
posted Hide Post
The left screams about free choice but locks us into no choice of schools without choosing to pay twice to send your kids to private schools.

If a private school is underperforming, you can fire them and go elsewhere. Public school teachers (while there are many good ones) are almost impossible to fire and many coast once tenure is achieved.




I have my own style of humor. I call it Snarkasm.
 
Posts: 17944 | Location: Virginia | Registered: June 02, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Big Stack
posted Hide Post
A big part of the problem now is that the parent are too busy and/or disinterested to care.

I might use the same mechanism used to rate the schools, and rate individual students. At that point I might penalize the parents of kids that don't perform. That might get them more interested.

quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
I wouldn't have a problem with this, with one caveat. There must be some independent, objective, quantifiable way of making sure the students for whom vouchers are issues, are actually getting a sound basic education. Otherwise, as is often the case now, we'd just be flushing the money down the shitter. I wouldn't trust the private schools any more than the public schools (and in some ways even less.) There must be some level of accountability.

quote:
Originally posted by JALLEN:
For years, I have harrassed friends and associates, in real life as well as here on SF, with the idea that public schools have descended to such a pitiful state that we would do well to be done with it, close them, fire the teachers, sell the real estate and at least initially provide for the education of our children with vouchers redeemable by private institutions offering whatever educational programs parents demanded, from basic literacy and trade courses to Rhodes Scholar preparatory programs.



That’s the parents job. It is their responsibility to educate their children, or to see to it. As it is, we shift the apparent responsibility to the village it takes. That is the problem.

There will be abuses, kids fall through the cracks, but the overall result ought to be much much better.

If the standard to select a solution to a problem is perfection, we may as well quit now, and just go back to sipping margaritas and bitchng.
 
Posts: 21240 | Registered: November 05, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of maladat
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
I might use the same mechanism used to rate the schools, and rate individual students. At that point I might penalize the parents of kids that don't perform. That might get them more interested.


This kind of thing can have unintended negative consequences.

The obvious way to evaluate student performance is standardized testing of students. After all, you can't use grades or anything from the school itself, because you're trying to determine if the school is better or worse than other schools.

Then you start penalizing schools (or parents) for having students do poorly on the standardized tests.

So then the schools don't focus on teaching all the stuff they're supposed to, they start focusing on teaching students to pass the standardized tests.

That might seem like a flimsy chain of suppositions, but it has actually been a real problem across the United States for years.
 
Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Lawyers, Guns
and Money
Picture of chellim1
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by maladat:
There is one big, glaring hole in this argument. What about the people who just don't give a shit about the quality of education their kids receive? Shouldn't someone else be responsible for making sure their kids get a decent education? It's a nice idea. The only problem is, we've tried it for a long, long time, and it hasn't worked. The public schools that serve populations where that sort of attitude is common are terrible, and even if you magically replaced every one of those terrible schools with a great one, most kids that have been taught not to value education or hard work and that get no support and encouragement (and, if necessary, punishment!) at home will not succeed, no matter how good the school is.

Bingo. That deserves a repeat.

That's exactly why we shouldn't have public schools. They don't do much good for kids whose parents/family don't give a shit about the quality of education their kids receive.

And... furthermore, they pull everyone else down. If you have caring parents they are going to see to it that you get the best education they can possibly afford to give you. Competition works. If parents have choice, most are going to use it to give their kids what they think is best for their kids.



"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor
 
Posts: 23945 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: April 03, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
principle of
Due Process
Picture of JALLEN
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by maladat:
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
I might use the same mechanism used to rate the schools, and rate individual students. At that point I might penalize the parents of kids that don't perform. That might get them more interested.


This kind of thing can have unintended negative consequences.

The obvious way to evaluate student performance is standardized testing of students. After all, you can't use grades or anything from the school itself, because you're trying to determine if the school is better or worse than other schools.

Then you start penalizing schools (or parents) for having students do poorly on the standardized tests.

So then the schools don't focus on teaching all the stuff they're supposed to, they start focusing on teaching students to pass the standardized tests.

That might seem like a flimsy chain of suppositions, but it has actually been a real problem across the United States for years.


I don’t think so. The reason is, I’m now reading about, that students are not equal in academic ability. If your 100 4th Graders do worse, it may be not because you aren’t performing, but that those 100 can’t perform any better. It’s more complicated than that of course.

The reason is that we continue to insist on the same fallacy, that all are equal in ability.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Big Stack
posted Hide Post
So make the test encapsulate everything the students are supposed to be learning. If they can do well on the test, they should be able to perform all the basic functions they're supposed to be able to perform in society.

Yes, I know it would be good if they could do more than that. And that's where the parents could come in, at least the ones that care. But there are too many useless adults around now because they never got a least a basic education. That has to be stopped.

quote:
Originally posted by maladat:
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
I might use the same mechanism used to rate the schools, and rate individual students. At that point I might penalize the parents of kids that don't perform. That might get them more interested.


This kind of thing can have unintended negative consequences.

The obvious way to evaluate student performance is standardized testing of students. After all, you can't use grades or anything from the school itself, because you're trying to determine if the school is better or worse than other schools.

Then you start penalizing schools (or parents) for having students do poorly on the standardized tests.

So then the schools don't focus on teaching all the stuff they're supposed to, they start focusing on teaching students to pass the standardized tests.

That might seem like a flimsy chain of suppositions, but it has actually been a real problem across the United States for years.
 
Posts: 21240 | Registered: November 05, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of maladat
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by BBMW:
So make the test encapsulate everything the students are supposed to be learning. If they can do well on the test, they should be able to perform all the basic functions they're supposed to be able to perform in society.

Yes, I know it would be good if they could do more than that. And that's where the parents could come in, at least the ones that care. But there are too many useless adults around now because they never got a least a basic education. That has to be stopped.


Now you have two problems:

1. How do you actually design a standardized test that evaluates "everything the students are supposed to be learning?" Beyond that, taking the test can only use a tiny fraction of the amount of time given over to teaching everything, how do you ensure that studying for the test produces worse results than studying "everything?"

That one's a big problem, but it's tiny in comparison to the second one, so let's call that one a solved problem.

2. Now the government is essentially mandating school curriculum at a very detailed level. Maybe someone that you really like and are in perfect agreement with writes the first version of the test, but what happens in five or ten years when someone else takes over and <insert left-wing progressive ideal that you find particularly abhorrent> becomes part of the test, and therefore something all the schools are teaching?
 
Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Lawyers, Guns
and Money
Picture of chellim1
posted Hide Post
^^^
1. And private education solves both problems quite well. The SAT and ACT provide testing, outside of school time and compete with one another.

2. Competition solves the problem of the government essentially mandating school curriculum by getting the government out of the education business. Schools compete, based on results, writing whatever curriculum works best for student performance.

Let the parents be the judge of what is best, not the government.



"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor
 
Posts: 23945 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: April 03, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Political Cynic
Picture of nhtagmember
posted Hide Post
I'm with J

going to find the book and read it - sounds like it will be enjoyable



[B] Against ALL enemies, foreign and DOMESTIC


 
Posts: 53086 | Location: Tucson Arizona | Registered: January 16, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of maladat
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
^^^
1. And private education solves both problems quite well. The SAT and ACT provide testing, outside of school time and compete with one another.

2. Competition solves the problem of the government essentially mandating school curriculum by getting the government out of the education business. Schools compete, based on results, writing whatever curriculum works best for student performance.

Let the parents be the judge of what is best, not the government.


1. The SAT and ACT are only for high school. They only cover a tiny fraction of what students should learn (basic reading comprehension, vocabulary, basic writing, basic math). They can absolutely be effectively studied for without getting a general education.

2. I more or less agree with you, my statements were in response to BBMW's post that "someone" should hold schools accountable for their performance and that "someone" should hold students' parents accountable for their children's performance. The only entity that can mandate something like that is the government.
 
Posts: 6319 | Location: CA | Registered: January 24, 2011Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of fatmanspencer
posted Hide Post
Ive been to public and private school, and private and public colleges. I can confirm that private is better. And so I made the smart choice to live in a county, since living in a county meaning that not all the tax money goes to schools. And I enjoy that.


Used guns deserve a home too
 
Posts: 783 | Location: North Ga | Registered: August 06, 2016Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ammoholic
Picture of Skins2881
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by zoom6zoom:
The left screams about free choice but locks us into no choice of schools without choosing to pay twice to send your kids to private schools.

If a private school is underperforming, you can fire them and go elsewhere. Public school teachers (while there are many good ones) are almost impossible to fire and many coast once tenure is achieved.


Very annoying. I currently have no kids, but if I did I wouldn't let them attend the elementary, middle, or high schools that are in my area, and I attended the middle and high schools myself. They have been overran with children of illegals and ESL students. When my ex-girlfriend went to introduction before her son started at the elementary school near me they held the intro in Spanish and provided her with an English translator. I was so relived I worked late that night, I would have caused a scene.

I got my tax bill last night tad over $1,800 for six months, of which 66% goes to the schools. So I pay $200.00 per month for schools yet I have no children. If I did have children I would still spend the $200, but then have to double pay and pay for private school, or move.

This is totally unacceptable to me, when I attended these same schools they were well rated, now I wouldn't feel comfortable going into the highschool unarmed.

100% for vouchers and choice. Get a voucher good for average school and you pay nothing, if you want a school for gifted and talented then pay cost minus voucher amount. Under this scenario average kids or poor parents still get the same education option, those with gifted students can pay extra for it, or receive scholarships to bring the cost back average/standard costs.

15% of my monthly mortgage payment goes to schools, that I wouldn't let my children attend. How fucked up is that? That doesn't even account for state or fed taxes, just property tax.



Jesse

Sic Semper Tyrannis
 
Posts: 20756 | Location: Loudoun County, Virginia | Registered: December 27, 2014Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
principle of
Due Process
Picture of JALLEN
posted Hide Post
Here’s an idea.

quote:
Our schools should get five years to get back to where they were in 1963. If they're still bad maybe we should declare educational bankruptcy, give the people their money and let them educate themselves and start their own schools. William Bennett




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Lawyers, Guns
and Money
Picture of chellim1
posted Hide Post
Obama Education Secretary Tells Students To 'Boycott School' Until Congress Passes Gun Control

Arne Duncan thinks he has a bright idea.

The Obama Administration's Secretary of Education has a brilliant plan to push gun control in Congress: a nationwide school boycott that keeps kids out of class until legislators commit to passing stricter gun control regulations.

He initially Tweeted the idea Friday, perhaps to test the waters among progressive activists.


Arne Duncan @arneduncan

Arne Duncan Retweeted Peter Cunningham

This is brilliant, and tragically necessary.
What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe?

My family is all in if we can do this at scale.
Parents, will you please join us?


But Duncan thought the idea was so good that he gave an interview to the Washington Post on Saturday doubling down on his commitment to back parents who pulled their children out of school over the issue. He even said that if other parents and students participated, he would pull his kids out of school, too.

There's a reason Arne Duncan was spectacularly ineffective as Education Secretary and it's because he clearly forgets to consider the practical implications of his idea.

"It's wildly impractical and difficult," Duncan told WaPo. "But I think it's wildly impractical and difficult that kids are shot when they are sent to school."

Duncan, it should come as no surprise, is currently at the helm of a non-profit called Chicago Cred that "aims to curb gun violence" in an intensely violent city. Duncan was the former head of Chicago Public Schools before being promoted to Education Secretary, but Chicago was done with him long before he moved up. Duncan is most famous, perhaps, for taking a wholly incorrect approach to Chicago's failing schools, and running the system far further into debt.

https://www.dailywire.com/news...oycott-emily-zanotti

I think Arne Duncan is on to something....
Can we just abolish government schools? They will be empty anyway, right?
So we sell them off to the highest bidder and let private schools spring up in their place!



"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible."
-- Justice Janice Rogers Brown

"The United States government is the largest criminal enterprise on earth."
-rduckwor
 
Posts: 23945 | Location: St. Louis, MO | Registered: April 03, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
I believe in the
principle of
Due Process
Picture of JALLEN
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by chellim1:
Obama Education Secretary Tells Students To 'Boycott School' Until Congress Passes Gun Control

Arne Duncan thinks he has a bright idea.

The Obama Administration's Secretary of Education has a brilliant plan to push gun control in Congress: a nationwide school boycott that keeps kids out of class until legislators commit to passing stricter gun control regulations.

He initially Tweeted the idea Friday, perhaps to test the waters among progressive activists.


Arne Duncan @arneduncan

Arne Duncan Retweeted Peter Cunningham

This is brilliant, and tragically necessary.
What if no children went to school until gun laws changed to keep them safe?

My family is all in if we can do this at scale.
Parents, will you please join us?


But Duncan thought the idea was so good that he gave an interview to the Washington Post on Saturday doubling down on his commitment to back parents who pulled their children out of school over the issue. He even said that if other parents and students participated, he would pull his kids out of school, too.

There's a reason Arne Duncan was spectacularly ineffective as Education Secretary and it's because he clearly forgets to consider the practical implications of his idea.

"It's wildly impractical and difficult," Duncan told WaPo. "But I think it's wildly impractical and difficult that kids are shot when they are sent to school."

Duncan, it should come as no surprise, is currently at the helm of a non-profit called Chicago Cred that "aims to curb gun violence" in an intensely violent city. Duncan was the former head of Chicago Public Schools before being promoted to Education Secretary, but Chicago was done with him long before he moved up. Duncan is most famous, perhaps, for taking a wholly incorrect approach to Chicago's failing schools, and running the system far further into debt.

https://www.dailywire.com/news...oycott-emily-zanotti

I think Arne Duncan is on to something....
Can we just abolish government schools? They will be empty anyway, right?
So we sell them off to the highest bidder and let private schools spring up in their place!


Maybe parents should boycott schools until we quit electing Democrats.

Or start eating broccoli.

Or what other idiotic “social improvements” our betters dream up.




Luckily, I have enough willpower to control the driving ambition that rages within me.

When you had the votes, we did things your way. Now, we have the votes and you will be doing things our way. This lesson in political reality from Lyndon B. Johnson

"Some things are apparent. Where government moves in, community retreats, civil society disintegrates and our ability to control our own destiny atrophies. The result is: families under siege; war in the streets; unapologetic expropriation of property; the precipitous decline of the rule of law; the rapid rise of corruption; the loss of civility and the triumph of deceit. The result is a debased, debauched culture which finds moral depravity entertaining and virtue contemptible." - Justice Janice Rogers Brown
 
Posts: 48369 | Location: Texas hill country | Registered: July 04, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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