I’m not a teacher, but my wife was until she got fed up with it. I’ve also volunteered in a lot of kid’s activities while my kids were growing up. I firmly believe that the majority of the problems in education are the result of poor or no parenting. If you look at the number of kids from broken homes (divorce, unknown or absent fathers, incarcerated parent, addicted parent, etc), most get little to no support at home. I don’t care how good a teacher is, he/she can only do so much in the limited time they have them. That’s not to excuse the education system. It has its problems as well. Too many administrators, performance not incentivized, too many extracurricular activities, to name few. Public, private, charter - all will fail without parental support.
KY school test scores results are out. They are pathetic
- Thread starter Bill - Shy Cat
- Start date
Hard to expect KY kids to test well when 90% of them are spawn ofReality TV watching, MiniVan driving, FlipFlop wearing, Trump loving parents.
Teachers Unions make it to hard to bring in new teachers for certification. A PHD in math would not be able to teach without taking a bunch of useless education courses and then would have a problem getting a job Their are such teacher shortages around the USA that states are now certifying foreign teachers who speak English barely. 8 years of Obama has dumbed down the students because if you don’t do your work you still get a 50% grade.
Only kids who’s parents can afford private school will be educated and everyone else is being taught in public school think socialism is another word for free health care, free housing, and a guaranteed income.
Only kids who’s parents can afford private school will be educated and everyone else is being taught in public school think socialism is another word for free health care, free housing, and a guaranteed income.
I’m 54 years old and I remember when other countries would come to the USA to see how our schools were run. Maybe it’s time for our education leaders to try that in reverse.
As a teacher I see that it is obviously the parents. When the parent is involved the kid does well . If the parent is not then the kid struggles.
Sick of people beating up on teachers who spend their whole day trying to teach a kid who was broken by their knucklehead parent.
Sick of people beating up on teachers who spend their whole day trying to teach a kid who was broken by their knucklehead parent.
How many PHD’s in math are wanting to work at half their worth to teach in a public school? I understand your point but that’s not a realistic example.
I realize this is sarcasm, but in some ways, you might be more right than wrong in my humble opinion. But, it depends on how the money is spent. In front offices, on new athletic facilities, and things of that sort? Not gonna help much in my opinion.
To solve a problem, first gotta identify the problem(s). Seems like most people agree that a lot of school problems start at home. Others might say it's hard to recruit/keep good teachers with limited pay and questionable working conditions/support. Some people might say lack of discipline in schools. There are many other issues too. But is more money the answer? Well actually, it might be if it is spent wisely. It's an investment after all, not just an expense. It's an investment in our kids, communities, and society at large. I would be willing to pay more taxes towards our schools if it was spent in ways that made sense towards the betterment of our kids. And in my humble opinion, that spending would simply look like this.
1. Limit class room size of students. This might be one hard number such as no more than 15 students per class. Or maybe it's scaled depending on the performance levels and needs of the students in the subject class. Bottom line though is to have more teachers and fewer students per teacher. I'd love to see classes never have more than 15-20 students per class. Try it for say 10 years and see what happens. I think we'd see discipline problems go down, student learning go up, teacher stress go down, teacher satisfaction go up, and for the test score geeks the test scores would go up. But it would take more money.
2. To get more teachers and better teachers, better pay has to be part of this. At least better pay down the road so a teacher can see a brighter future in front of them. With better working conditions (smaller class sizes), good teachers would have higher job satisfaction and stay around for the long haul.
That's really about it. Smaller class sizes would allow for more one-on-one teaching, fewer kids feeling like they are falling through the cracks, student problems/needs/issues could be more easily and readily identified and dealt with, and school safety concerns would (hopefully) go down.
But it would take more $ and it would have to be invested wisely in our students.
And for full disclosure, I went to private high school back in the 80's, my child goes to public school now, and my wife and I fully support public education 100%.
Not reading all that crap.
Did you know Fayette Co has a twenty million dollar SURPLUS. And they just taxed yo ass an extra 5% because they can. That 5% ain't even going towards education. They are rich as hell. Great business.
Yes, the real problem is at home. The real problem is the majority of children now barely have a "home" - meaning 2 parents, stable life, solid foundation. And we've decided that the govt will be their parents, and I guess I can't really refute that. If the family and society has failed children to the point that government is the last hope for them, that is incredibly sad and bleak, but I guess don't have any better ideas.
(really, i would put govt kids in work programs ASAP and give them purpose, money, work ethic ASAP. This weird idea that every kid needs to go to college and waste other people's money doing so instead of working is very weird, and I don't really understand the motivation behind that...because most jobs, a ton of GOOD paying jobs don't require that education)
Did you know Fayette Co has a twenty million dollar SURPLUS. And they just taxed yo ass an extra 5% because they can. That 5% ain't even going towards education. They are rich as hell. Great business.
Yes, the real problem is at home. The real problem is the majority of children now barely have a "home" - meaning 2 parents, stable life, solid foundation. And we've decided that the govt will be their parents, and I guess I can't really refute that. If the family and society has failed children to the point that government is the last hope for them, that is incredibly sad and bleak, but I guess don't have any better ideas.
(really, i would put govt kids in work programs ASAP and give them purpose, money, work ethic ASAP. This weird idea that every kid needs to go to college and waste other people's money doing so instead of working is very weird, and I don't really understand the motivation behind that...because most jobs, a ton of GOOD paying jobs don't require that education)
Why not take 2 minutes to "read all that crap"? In some if not many ways I agree with you. I don't think every kid needs to go to college. But that doesn't really address helping improve our elementary, middle, and high schools.
This is a very good and well-thought out response. I wish it were realistic and maybe someday it will be. I don't hear many KY teachers complain about pay (cutting benefits is another story, but we'll see how that plays out). Smaller class sizes would take care of many woes and you're right in saying that teacher would have higher job satisfaction. It's much easier to reach theeeese keeeeeeds when there aren't so many of them sitting in front of you. It might even make the crappy teachers (and there are some out there) be able to handle their job a little better. There would have to be a LOT more teacher accountability to pull that off, though.
And before the Charter/Private School folks start piping up again, of course they have smaller class size, but.they.aren't.the.kids.that.need.it.
It's a contingency fund. Not a surplus to spend. It's for when the state inevitably cuts a bunch of funds to the schools and they have to, y'know, keep the doors open.
First, you'd have to define "improve". Then, if you cut out waste/fat and tailored schools towards helping kids - identify who needs what, and then send them down what path helps them to succeed.
but that's not fair! that's not equal! every kid deserves the same exact education!
^ and that's not reality. Everybody is different. Kids have different needs and skills that lead to different futures. Help them make the most of their skills. Lil Johnny ain't going to college, but lil Johnny could make more money than his college graduated peers. Help him realize that. Our school system has equated success with education...because that helps the school system! Not the kids.
Yes, their is a basic level of education that every child deserves to have, and needs in order to make a living. I believe today you could teach that basic level of education on a computer in the span of months or a few years. elementary and middle school is a huge waste of 8 years, tbh. Technology can cut that in half at the very least.
There's so much wrong with out school system/govt. Reality is totally lost, and it's a very antiquated POS system that really only serves itself.
but that's not fair! that's not equal! every kid deserves the same exact education!
^ and that's not reality. Everybody is different. Kids have different needs and skills that lead to different futures. Help them make the most of their skills. Lil Johnny ain't going to college, but lil Johnny could make more money than his college graduated peers. Help him realize that. Our school system has equated success with education...because that helps the school system! Not the kids.
Yes, their is a basic level of education that every child deserves to have, and needs in order to make a living. I believe today you could teach that basic level of education on a computer in the span of months or a few years. elementary and middle school is a huge waste of 8 years, tbh. Technology can cut that in half at the very least.
There's so much wrong with out school system/govt. Reality is totally lost, and it's a very antiquated POS system that really only serves itself.
I don't know the overall data, but my child (8th grade now) has usually had around 30 - 35 kids in a class for the past few years.
I personally can't imagine trying to work with that many kids all at once. A good teacher is worth their weight in gold.
I like some of what you're saying. I don't think that reality is totally lost though in all sense of the needs for public schools/education. Reality for most is that parents work, aren't home, aren't available, or whatever, so the kids have to go to school (or somewhere) to do even what you are saying. One way or another, public school for most is a need. I think some of your ideas could be part of the "toolbox" to help improve it.
Smaller classes could help identify students needs along with their talents. And I think you're right, technology could help speed that up or at least improve on it. Then students could be directed towards "classes" (even working classes as they get older) that will help them fulfill their talents.
I taught at a school where 178 kids passed through my door in any given week.
I now teach at a school where I have 80 kids come through my door each week.
Guess which school has better test scores?
I love both schools and the kids I had at each. But man, it was WORK teaching 178 kids a week. Granted, a lot of that was due to the scheduling (A-B block), but most of those classes were maxed out at 31 kids per class - including 2 Pre-AP classes with 31 in both. Throw in being the head coach of a high profile sport and I was a walking zombie that year.
At my current spot, the biggest class size I have is 23. I have a couple where there are only 14-15 kids. That’s how you build relationships. That’s all most of these students want. Build a solid, trusting relationship then these kids will work their tails off for you.
I now teach at a school where I have 80 kids come through my door each week.
Guess which school has better test scores?
I love both schools and the kids I had at each. But man, it was WORK teaching 178 kids a week. Granted, a lot of that was due to the scheduling (A-B block), but most of those classes were maxed out at 31 kids per class - including 2 Pre-AP classes with 31 in both. Throw in being the head coach of a high profile sport and I was a walking zombie that year.
At my current spot, the biggest class size I have is 23. I have a couple where there are only 14-15 kids. That’s how you build relationships. That’s all most of these students want. Build a solid, trusting relationship then these kids will work their tails off for you.
The truth is we only need 5% of the kids in any given school to actually grow their intellect and have a positive effect on future society. The rest of the kids will get by just fine as total morons, don’t really need to learn anything, and will be just fine because they live in the greatest country in the history of mankind, IMO.
