Comments (48) (Please sign in to comment)

1. 

   NebulousRikulau said, 9 months ago

   And that’s the problem with basing all of the funding for schools, teachers, etc. on the basis of one test.
   I’m not saying that the Teacher’s Unions don’t have their own biases, but they do understand THAT.
2. 

   Robert Landers said, 9 months ago

   @NebulousRikulau

   The truly great and educated generations of the past had no such testing (although individual tests were made for advancement in grades), and yet they produced highly educated and enabled generations of people!

   Now we have all of these tests, and we are losing the education battle with countries that have no such tests. How can that possibly be???
3. 

   narrowminded said, 9 months ago

   @Robert Landers

   Unions don’t like performance tests of any kind. Unions don’t believe in merit, a job is a right.
4. 

   walruscarver2000 said, 9 months ago

   The successful people of the past valued education. Today -eh. As to the teachers, they might object less if the test wasn’t a farce designed to blame someone (“but not me”) for our kids failure to appreciate education and willingness to work hard. Nut then, we DID want them to have an easier time than we did…so…
5. 

   Kylie2112 said, 9 months ago

   @walruscarver2000

   The other underlying issue is that one bad student can ruin it for everyone in the class.
6. 

   walruscarver2000 said, 9 months ago

   @ lonecat. Sorry, bro, but you’ve got it made. Your students generally WANT too be there and if they fail you aren’t accused of poor teaching. I taught college level for a while but I missed watching the “ahha” moment that I saw in so many juniors and seniors at the HS level.
7. 

   zoidknight said, 9 months ago

   @Robert Landers

   Because we have dumbed down the public school education so anyone can pass. They are not allowed to give F’s because that might emotionally scar the students. They are not allowed to give A’s for the same reason. They are no longer allowed to hold back any child who is too lazy or too stupid to pass. All brought to you by psychologists and the political correctness nazis.
8. 

   zoidknight said, 9 months ago

   @walruscarver2000

   In a number of school districts you have those who do not want to learn or succeed because they know that they will be taken care of like their parents and families before them. Look at the school districts with alot of kids on wellfare.
9. 

   cdward said, 9 months ago

   @narrowminded

   What utter nonsense. Since you continue to prattle on about things you don’t understand, perhaps you should go back to school yourself.
10. 

    cdward said, 9 months ago

    @Robert Landers

    One thing to remember about the “good old days” is that schools before the 1930s had a much smaller percentage of the population to deal with. Generally, very few went on to high school because the rest were on the farm or in the trades. Those options aren’t open anymore. In fact, with the Depression, things started to change because young people had nowhere else to go but school.
    These days, schools have to deal with countless unfunded mandates – which are one of the biggest sources of rising budgets. They have to take and accommodate everyone – regardless of physical or mental disability. Not saying that this is bad, but it IS very different from the past, and makes for a much more difficult teaching climate.
11. 

    mikefive said, 9 months ago

    Although we use the phrase “raising children”, the goal is to wind up with adults. I think educators and psychologists involved in education have forgotten what the goal is.
12. 

    lonecat said, 9 months ago

    @walruscarver2000

    I wasn’t complaining — just the reverse. I admire and support the teachers at the primary and secondary levels. It’s a hard job. We still do get our AHHA moments, even at the university level. I’m supervising an MA student right now, one of the smartest I’ve ever worked with, who had never read a whole book through until she came to university. I’ve taught her from first year on, and it’s been such a delight watching her blossom.
13. 

    lonecat said, 9 months ago

    @mikefive

    Interesting comment. I think about this a lot. What does it mean to be an adult? I think partly it means being ready — and willing — to accept responsibility for what you do. Other thoughts?
14. 

    Jase99 said, 9 months ago

    @cdward

    “These days, schools have to deal with countless unfunded mandates – which are one of the biggest sources of rising budgets. They have to take and accommodate everyone – regardless of physical or mental disability. Not saying that this is bad, but it IS very different from the past, and makes for a much more difficult teaching climate.”
    
    You forget constant budget cuts. Increasing student population plus inflation divided by constant budget freezes or cuts equals a crappy education for your kids.
15. 

    Omnius said, 9 months ago

    republicans can’t pass classes without cheating.
16. Load 15 more comments. | Load the rest (33).