POLITICAL THREAD

[JStaff2187]

We have some asinine policy in Alabama where strugglin inner city schools get shit tons of money... so much they don't k ow what to do with it.

So they build these huge new amazing schools.. spending millions and millions on them. They all get personal ipads to take home.

The attendance rate hasn't increased. There are shootings at and near them. And they are trashed within a few years.

Such a waste.

I work at a school in central Kentucky. They’ve sunk millions into a school building... that is only for behavioral students and board meetings. The school I work at hasn’t had a renovation since being built. We have constant leaks, cracked floor tiles and are understaffed. They spend millions on a building barely being used and tell us we don’t have the money to spend to fix our issues.

Waste is what schools do it seems.

 

[cat_chaser]

I graduated from the KY public HS system with a math level of maybe a 7th grader. I did terrible on that part of my SAT and took me a ton of tutoring and hard work to get somewhat caught up in college, but I still struggled with it. Mind you this was 25 years ago. At that time it was all about passing the state test and that was it.

My teachers were terrible and did the bare minimum to teach us. Had one math teacher who only gave out group tests where we could share answers and a lot of times would put on a movie instead of teaching. I loved it at the time because I got good grades and the classes were easy, but I learned nothing and it kicked my butt later on. I always felt like I was just being processed through the system with no real help from teachers and my guidance counselor was a joke. Did nothing to help me apply for colleges or scholarships.

Thankfully I had enough self motivation and was able to put myself through college with zero help from anyone else except some pell grant money. That is why I do not have much empathy for folks who make excuses on not being educated or why they are poor. I grew up poor as hell and found a way out simply because I refused to fail.

Very good point. There aren't enough great teachers to bring everyone along for the ride. Sometimes, you have to find a set of keys and drive yourself.

 

[screwduke1]

 

[FusterCluck]

I graduated from the KY public HS system with a math level of maybe a 7th grader. I did terrible on that part of my SAT and took me a ton of tutoring and hard work to get somewhat caught up in college, but I still struggled with it. Mind you this was 25 years ago. At that time it was all about passing the state test and that was it.

My teachers were terrible and did the bare minimum to teach us. Had one math teacher who only gave out group tests where we could share answers and a lot of times would put on a movie instead of teaching. I loved it at the time because I got good grades and the classes were easy, but I learned nothing and it kicked my butt later on. I always felt like I was just being processed through the system with no real help from teachers and my guidance counselor was a joke. Did nothing to help me apply for colleges or scholarships.

Thankfully I had enough self motivation and was able to put myself through college with zero help from anyone else except some pell grant money. That is why I do not have much empathy for folks who make excuses on not being educated or why they are poor. I grew up poor as hell and found a way out simply because I refused to fail.

Man, I got very lucky. Most of my primary education came from Indiana. When I moved back to Hopkins Co KY in 8th grade, I was literally years ahead of all classes I was placed in until about my sophomore year. The difference was staggering. In sophomore biology 2, we dissected an earthworm and a frog. In 6th grade science at River Valley MS, we dissected fetal pigs. Shit like that. Sad, really.

Oh, and I had to take pre-algebra in 8th grade, even though I'd already had an algebra1 class in 7th grade, but the KY school system wouldn't allow/recognize an 8th grader credit for an algebra class w/o first having pre-algebra. So, I had to take it all again.

 

[DSmith21]

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That is some awful tax Armageddon raining down on 1.5 million Americans who work for the nation's largest employer (Walmart). Clearly the tax cuts only benefit the richest.

 

[cat_chaser]

Dgraphics...?

EKY educated?

If it makes you feel better, it's my wife that's the teacher and not me.

But seriously, it's always weird seeing numerous EKY schools ranked so highly.

 

[krazykats]

View embedded media

Well this certainly sounds a lot more fun than I think he intended!

 

[WKBlu]

I graduated from the KY public HS system with a math level of maybe a 7th grader. I did terrible on that part of my SAT and took me a ton of tutoring and hard work to get somewhat caught up in college, but I still struggled with it. Mind you this was 25 years ago. At that time it was all about passing the state test and that was it.

My teachers were terrible and did the bare minimum to teach us. Had one math teacher who only gave out group tests where we could share answers and a lot of times would put on a movie instead of teaching. I loved it at the time because I got good grades and the classes were easy, but I learned nothing and it kicked my butt later on. I always felt like I was just being processed through the system with no real help from teachers and my guidance counselor was a joke. Did nothing to help me apply for colleges or scholarships.

Thankfully I had enough self motivation and was able to put myself through college with zero help from anyone else except some pell grant money. That is why I do not have much empathy for folks who make excuses on not being educated or why they are poor. I grew up poor as hell and found a way out simply because I refused to fail.

Grew up Western part of the state, there were 4-5 true educators in my high school and the rest of the teachers were mostly jokes. My freshman English teacher could have taught anywhere in the country. So there were a handful of real teachers.

It's a good thing I was naturally inclined to reading history from a young age, cause my history/social studies teachers in high school were pathetic. One was an assistant football coach who probably played 10-12 movies in one semester. And the other was a girls basketball head coach, who was so irritated that the boys varsity got all the attention/crowds, that his history test of like 40-50 questions would have 6-7 questions about his team. Something like:

Name three starters on the girls varsity basketball team?

Did the girls team win more than 20 games last year or less?

Honestly, how do you consider yourself a true teacher doing nonsense like that? Think it was the historian David McCullough who a few years back lamented how awful our high schools were doing at teaching civics. But also said we have to many people with education degrees who are teaching certain subjects they have little knowledge about or love for...think he walked those comments back a bit after being criticized but he was right. Your high school history teacher ought to have a degree in history, not some lame education degree which is the easiest to get. And then that guy spends a couple decades teaching a subject he has no passion for, just waiting for summer break like his students.

 

[FusterCluck]

Somebody robbed Whittakers. Broke in and got 40-50 guns.

Ballsy move, Cotton. Those Whittakers boys are the hunt-you-down type.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

I hope it's not Austin. We've got enough dweebs and other POS here as it is.

I think Austin is already liberal enough... even tho it's in Texas.

Amazon wants a city where they can shape the whole state IMO. Why I'm worried they'll come to Birmingham. I hope to god they don't.

Grew up Western part of the state, there were 4-5 true educators in my high school and the rest of the teachers were mostly jokes. My freshman English teacher could have taught anywhere in the country. So there were a handful of real teachers.

It's a good thing I was naturally inclined to reading history from a young age, cause my history/social studies teachers in high school were pathetic. One was an assistant football coach who probably played 10-12 movies in one semester. And the other was a girls basketball head coach, who was so irritated that the boys varsity got all the attention/crowds, that his history test of like 40-50 questions would have 6-7 questions about his team. Something like:

Name three starters on the girls varsity basketball team?

Did the girls team win more than 20 games last year or less?

Honestly, how do you consider yourself a true teacher doing nonsense like that? Think it was the historian David McCullough who a few years back lamented how awful our high schools were doing at teaching civics. But also said we have to many people with education degrees who are teaching certain subjects they have little knowledge about or love for...think he walked those comments back a bit after being criticized but he was right. Your high school history teacher ought to have a degree in history, not some lame education degree which is the easiest to get. And then that guy spends a couple decades teaching a subject he has no passion for, just waiting for summer break like his students.

To be fair, many really good teachers do that also.. it's kind of like free bonus points. That's not to say the teacher didn't suck..but i had a a few questions like that on my AP statistics tests.

 

[screwduke1]

I think OKeefe redeemed himself with these twitter videos. Good stuff but terrifying.

 

[PhattyJ4UK]

Dolly parton renaming Dixie stampede to dolly parton stampede due to PC culture.

 

[FusterCluck]

Dolly parton renaming Dixie stampede to dolly parton stampede due to PC culture.

Jones made the point on his show yesterday talking about the 90's country group 'Confederate Railroad" and how that band could never exist in today's climate.

Dixie Chicks are on notice.

 

[ukalumni00]

Grew up Western part of the state, there were 4-5 true educators in my high school and the rest of the teachers were mostly jokes. My freshman English teacher could have taught anywhere in the country. So there were a handful of real teachers.

It's a good thing I was naturally inclined to reading history from a young age, cause my history/social studies teachers in high school were pathetic. One was an assistant football coach who probably played 10-12 movies in one semester. And the other was a girls basketball head coach, who was so irritated that the boys varsity got all the attention/crowds, that his history test of like 40-50 questions would have 6-7 questions about his team. Something like:

Name three starters on the girls varsity basketball team?

Did the girls team win more than 20 games last year or less?

Honestly, how do you consider yourself a true teacher doing nonsense like that? Think it was the historian David McCullough who a few years back lamented how awful our high schools were doing at teaching civics. But also said we have to many people with education degrees who are teaching certain subjects they have little knowledge about or love for...think he walked those comments back a bit after being criticized but he was right. Your high school history teacher ought to have a degree in history, not some lame education degree which is the easiest to get. And then that guy spends a couple decades teaching a subject he has no passion for, just waiting for summer break like his students.

I did have a few good teachers that I learned a lot from but we are talking about a handful out of dozens over the years. I dabbled with education in college and I was shocked how easy the classes were. I kept asking myself how in the world the classes were preparing anyone to be an "expert" at the subject they were going to teach. I quickly figured out I was not real thrilled of having to deal with others kids on a daily basis and being paid peanuts. So, I decided to get a Business Degree which was the best decision I have ever made.

 

[the nail at the foul line]

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2018/01/08/armed-carjacking

16-year-old Darian Maurice Hicks has been charged as an adult with attempted second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, armed carjacking, carjacking, and theft charges.

Taizjuan Eliza Waddell, 16, and Kimani William Graham, 16, each face charges of armed carjacking, carjacking, armed robbery, robbery, first-degree assault, second-degree assault, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, and theft charges.

Taizjuan Eliza

Smart .... that way if kid is trans it can go by middle name. Instead of the masculine Taizjuan.

Same with Kimani.

 

[WKBlu]

 

[Bill Cosby]

Love when Thomas Sowell quotes himself on Twitter.

 

[WayneDougan]

Why would you assume I'm liberal? Where did I advocate increased taxes?

Why wouldn't we want to have a populace that was well educated across the
board?

It's a problem that needs to be addressed, not excused.

How? That's what should be up for civil debate.

What if it can't be addressed? There are a lot of stats that show on the average, demographics are destiny.

 

[Bill Cosby]

Somebody that was banned from Twitter needs to sue the hell out of them.

We can force bakers to manually bake a special cake for gays, but Twitter will not allow their platform to be used for people posting content they disagree with.

Sessions needs to stop being such a useless pussy and go after these tech companies for the systemic corruption and discrimination.

 

[BlueThruAndThru]

Even the greatest country on earth has a tipping point. What, exactly, do you expect when we don't ask the people overrunning this country to assimilate. Many of them can't even speak our language, For f*cks sake

'Bring everyone along for the ride'. What a load of liberal utopian bullshit. That's not how life works.

Go ask any teacher how hard it is to 'bring everyone along for the ride'.

No one said it was going to be easy.

Everyone in this thread believes our education system is sub-par.

We need to find what works in education and focus our resources on those things.

As for parental involvement, we need to have an open discussion about that without being demonized for the truth.

 

[CrittendenWildcat]

As for parental involvement, we need to have an open discussion about that without being demonized for the truth.

This. Face the facts head-on and stop making excuses / obfuscating the obvious / accepting that it's just the way it is and things will never change. Parents need to be engaged and involved in their child's education, and that needs to be driven home repeatedly. When parents don't care, educators aren't held accountable, and you tend to get teachers who are distracted with more discipline issues and /or they are going through the motions.

 

[qwesley]

Myopic unaccountability that the GOP is getting raked for not connecting with.

Matt Stoller‏Verified account@matthewstoller
You should be able to be lazy and have fun and experiment with stuff and make mistakes. Real freedom means being able to choose to do that stuff, or not do it, without having to be rich.

 

[WKBlu]

Love when Thomas Sowell quotes himself on Twitter.

Not sure if you are being serious, it's a fan account

 

[CrittendenWildcat]

Myopic unaccountability that the GOP is getting raked for not connecting with.

Matt Stoller‏Verified account@matthewstoller
You should be able to be lazy and have fun and experiment with stuff and make mistakes. Real freedom means being able to choose to do that stuff, or not do it, without having to be rich.

I don't care what you do with your life, as long as you don't expect me or my tax dollars to subsidize your lazy @ss.

 

[JohnKBA]

Man, I got very lucky. Most of my primary education came from Indiana. When I moved back to Hopkins Co KY in 8th grade, I was literally years ahead of all classes I was placed in until about my sophomore year. The difference was staggering. In sophomore biology 2, we dissected an earthworm and a frog. In 6th grade science at River Valley MS, we dissected fetal pigs. Shit like that. Sad, really.

Oh, and I had to take pre-algebra in 8th grade, even though I'd already had an algebra1 class in 7th grade, but the KY school system wouldn't allow/recognize an 8th grader credit for an algebra class w/o first having pre-algebra. So, I had to take it all again.

Schooling is a real case of haves and have nots. My son goes to Frederick Douglass - brand new school, all the kids have laptops, everything is state of the art. Meanwhile many schools are old, overcrowded, etc. And this is a public school - not to mention the advantage that kids whose parents can afford to send them to private schools. I saw a video posted a couple of weeks ago where they had 2 groups of students on a stage, with a curtain between them, asking them quiz style questions. 1 group had a bunch of school texts on the table, the other had a laptop and internet access. Not hard to figure which group had the advantage.

 

[KingOfBBN]

This is ridiculous. So Christians are sued out of existence because they don’t want to endorse gay marriage with piping on a cake but it’s totally okay to not allow conservatives (or in Rubin’s case- classic liberal) to share info or make money?

It’s a private company but you can’t have it both ways. Either we can all pick and choose what we do and serve in our own business or we can’t. You can’t have one set of rules for Chelsea Handler and then suspend and shadow ban conservatives for less or no violations. Pol/ has been banned for nothing several times. YouTube allowed disgusting content toward kids to stay up but demonetize conservatives regularly.

You should be forced to admit and advertise that you don’t allow full disclosure of info from conservatives because right now, the left gets to do whatever it wants and sue people.

 

[WayneDougan]

Somebody that was banned from Twitter needs to sue the hell out of them.

We can force bakers to manually bake a special cake for gays, but Twitter will not allow their platform to be used for people posting content they disagree with.

Sessions needs to stop being such a useless pussy and go after these tech companies for the systemic corruption and discrimination.

Pretty sure political affiliation is not a protected class

 

[KingOfBBN]

Pretty sure political affiliation is not a protected class

It absolutely should be. What’s really the difference in religion and politics? Both are belief systems. I’d say you’re much more likely to be discriminated over political views than religion.

 

[screwduke1]

Sessions needs to stop being such a useless pussy and go after these tech companies for the systemic corruption and discrimination.

Probably more of a thing Ajit Pai should do, but yes, something has to be done IMO. The people who run twitter are extremely fascist. Really is terrifying just how un American some of these people are who run these tech companies.

 

[screwduke1]

This same guy probably thinks Trump is crazy...

A crazed man jumped onto the subway tracks and threatened to kill himself — all while ranting for “equality” and “social justice,” a witness said.

https://nypost.com/2018/01/11/crazed-man-jumps-on-subway-tracks-for-social-justice/

 

[thabigbluenation]

That's such bullshit. Some of the most undereducated parts of the U.S. are family values true blooded white americans. Ky is a shining example of a state with terrible education across every demographic. We have a handful of counties where everyone with the means moves their kids and the other 90% of the state is abysmal. We stopped educating kids and started only teaching how to pass yearly tests that determine the schools funding. Ever since that became the norm in public schools we have fallen way behind as a country. My wife is a teacher and we get in many debates about how dumb our school system has become. You are right about family involvement, one of the biggest factors that determines whether a kid succeeds in school is having a family member involved in their education.

i never included race, you railed on in your very first sentence attacking white people, so that was strike one on your liberal bias. sry bud. and you believe in some utopia b.s. and not in facts. then you went on in the rest of your post actually agreeing with everything i said.

The part about schools teaching kids about passing yearly tests is absolutely true and absolutely pathetic. The amount of time used to teach kids to best guess, skip it and come back, and the preparation only for math, grammar and reading that will be on the test is insane. They could be teaching these kids about math skills they’ll need to survive, managing money, and how to make it in the world. It’s all about money for the schools and teachers being judged on test scores. It’s a very sad state of affairs.

On top of that the kids get to behave like animals if they choose to. I realize parents or guardians are probably equally responsible on this front, but I’m not in their house to witness it. I am however at a school and see it everyday. I know a kid that has kicked teachers, hit other students and constantly distracts the class by throwing temper tantrums. Rather than being dealt with the kid gets to go to a special teacher and play games and sleep... yet he passes each grade. At this point and how these schools handle things now, the future looks dim.

my aunt was a lifelong elementary school teacher, and spends retirement substitute teaching and volunteering in the system. my mother was a lifelong social working and now spends her reitirement substituting and volunteering in the system. she actually subs for these same classes and programs like you mention where troubled kids just get shipped off to behavioral units where they are shufflled through the system and allowed to continue on with their issues unchecked. she talks about how sad it is, the schools and teachers are handcuffed in how to deal with these kids in fear of losing funding. parents are not held accountable. if you attempt to punish kids you become more liable to a law suit from parents than help and parental engagement in their kids problems. W. Bush's no child left behind policy was horrible legislation.

 

[JStaff2187]

i never included race, you railed on in your very first sentence attacking white people, so that was strike one on your liberal bias. sry bud. and you believe in some utopia b.s. and not in facts. then you went on in the rest of your post actually agreeing with everything i said.



my aunt was a lifelong elementary school teacher, and spends retirement substitute teaching and volunteering in the system. my mother was a lifelong social working and now spends her reitirement substituting and volunteering in the system. she actually subs for these same classes and programs like you mention where troubled kids just get shipped off to behavioral units where they are shufflled through the system and allowed to continue on with their issues unchecked. she talks about how sad it is, the schools and teachers are handcuffed in how to deal with these kids in fear of losing funding. parents are not held accountable. if you attempt to punish kids you become more liable to a law suit from parents than help and parental engagement in their kids problems. W. Bush's no child left behind policy was horrible legislation.

Your aunt is 1000% correct. It’s ridiculous. I see kids move from grade to grade while doing no class work, not learning a thing and playing with toys. It’s tragic the way schools are now.

 

[Pelosigalore]

My question is where does personal responsibility begin and circumstances end? I mean how much of how we turn out is based on effort vs. socio-economics. I’m white, went to a terrible public school district, lived in a single wide trailer for most of my childhood where I had a disabled father(legit). I would guess that our household income was around $18-20,000 per year. Went to college where I paid for a good portion myself and worked while I was there. I’m 42 now.

Not bragging at all, but I will have $1 million net worth in about 3 years. The point is, it can be done.

 

[JohnKBA]

My question is where does personal responsibility begin and circumstances end? I mean how much of how we turn out is based on effort vs. socio-economics. I’m white, went to a terrible public school district, lived in a single wide trailer for most of my childhood where I had a disabled father(legit). I would guess that our household income was around $18-20,000 per year. Went to college where I paid for a good portion myself and worked while I was there. I’m 42 now.

Not bragging at all, but I will have $1 million net worth in about 3 years. The point is, it can be done.

I read one of O’Reilly’s books about 15 years ago - can’t remember which one, but it talked a lot about this. There is no question that socio economic upbringing is the #1 factor in how people turn out in life. If you’re born poor, whether it’s in the inner city ghetto or in Appalachia, chances are you’re going to end up poor and probably stay close where you were born.

There are certainly exceptions - yours is a good example. We all have that friend who was the first or only one of his family to ever go to college and leave the trailer park behind.

 

[Pelosigalore]

I read one of O’Reilly’s books about 15 years ago - can’t remember which one, but it talked a lot about this. There is no question that socio economic upbringing is the #1 factor in how people turn out in life. If you’re born poor, whether it’s in the inner city ghetto or in Appalachia, chances are you’re going to end up poor and probably stay close where you were born.

There are certainly exceptions - yours is a good example. We all have that friend who was the first or only one of his family to ever go to college and leave the trailer park behind.

You could be correct. I think that attitude is huge! Bad attitude and blaming problems on circumstances will cause people not to live up to potential.

 

[KingOfBBN]

 

[KingOfBBN]

I read one of O’Reilly’s books about 15 years ago - can’t remember which one, but it talked a lot about this. There is no question that socio economic upbringing is the #1 factor in how people turn out in life. If you’re born poor, whether it’s in the inner city ghetto or in Appalachia, chances are you’re going to end up poor and probably stay close where you were born.

There are certainly exceptions - yours is a good example. We all have that friend who was the first or only one of his family to ever go to college and leave the trailer park behind.

Ben Shapiro cited some stats about the percentage of people who joined the Middle Class and didn’t stay poor. Can’t recall them but will go find it.

Said the Brookings Institute cites three things to not be poor- Graduate high school, don’t have kids until you’re married, get a job.

Those three things make a huge economic difference.

 

[DSmith21]

Four more of Trump's federal district judges have been confirmed this week. The Senate has been on a roll recently.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_judges_appointed_by_Donald_Trump

 

[screwduke1]

Sarah Sanders just destroyed Acosta lol

 

[JohnKBA]

Ben Shapiro cited some stats about the percentage of people who joined the Middle Class and didn’t stay poor. Can’t recall them but will go find it.

Said the Brookings Institute cites three things to not be poor- Graduate high school, don’t have kids until you’re married, get a job.

Those three things make a huge economic difference.

Who knew being employed was so important in terms of economic success?