Now, the rich PAY to go to good schools, and the poor can't afford anything. greeeaat
That's a lie. My household, along with Bethany's, would be considered lower-middle class, and at best, middle class, but barely. Both Bethany and I went to private schools, and we're two very intelligent people. Bethany's mom paid for all her schooling by herself, and not with a stunningly high income. It honestly depends on how the people want to spend the money. Either you buy a nicer house and a shiny new car, or you save up and pay for private schooling. Both of our families did, and I can say that I am happy we did. I am glad I didn't have to put up with public schooling.
I faced death. I went in with my arms swinging. But I heard my own breath and had to face that I'm still living. I'm still flesh. I hold on to awful feelings. I'm not dead... My chest still draws breath. I hold it. I'm buoyant. There's no end.
Corey wrote:I'll also like to add to that. Because the quality of life in the US is so high, less and less priority is placed on education. American students don't realize the importance of education because they aren't afraid of living a crummy life. Change our focus to China as Narbus pointed out. The competition is extremely higher than in the US. What with a high paying job at 20 cents an hour. Also, to say that the average student in China is more intelligent than the average student in the US is a bit misleading. First of all, they comprise of about 1/4-1/3 of the World's population. Because the schools are so crowded, several children aren't even attending. The illiteracy rate is staggering. The reports you'll see are of those kids that actually GO to school where the US figures is fairly representative of all kids (because it is law that they all receive an education).
maybe i'm being lazy and misinterpretting what you say but. If you saying that Chinese chidren do better due to their less hospitable style of life and family morals and traditions i totally agree with you. BUT it's not just china beating America and Canada. In most cases in Gr. 12 (where it actually matters) it's almost ALL countries with very high standards of living. Infact most of the countries beating us are the Left Leaning Scanadnavians, who according to studies have beat out canada and america in standards of living. In these countries the govermnet holds you hand and does almost EVERYTHING for you. And children still seem to have teh motivation to do well in school, even if they will never know a hard life no matter what
one problem i can think of is this. HUGE STANDARDIZED TESTS. As a gr. 12 student a couple months away from my final english and math exams, i've come to realize that almost all we've done all year is do mock exam questions and prepare for the exam. Should i be learning english and Math first and foremost? But instead we're taught how to do well on our exam, even my gr/ 11 year concentrated alot on preparing me for my exams in gr. 12. what happned to old fashioned, putting kids in a room andteaching them as much as you coudl in the time you were given?
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
There's a whole lot of problems in the public school system.
Teacher Pay is way too low for the people responsible for the advancement of childrens future. It's because of this lack of pay that 1/3 of teachers leave the profession after 5 years here in Texas. and then this leads to Teacher morale issues. If the teacher is lacking materials and has to deal with maintenence frequently, they are not going to preform at their best.
The school distrcts themselves can be a wasteful non-efficient system too though. Look at the following:
let's say for a particular school district, they have like 500 kids. and for every kid that attends class in this school district, the state gives them 30 bucks everyday. usually, this money is given in advance, and taken away when the attendence at the end f the year is adjusted. In other words, your sick and in bed, the school misses out on 30 bucks.
your average school year is about 180 days, multiplied by the amount of kids 500, and the payment per head of kid you cram into a class room 30 bucks, and you have.....$2,700,000.
they have $250,000 worth of taxes that they are rightfully entitled to. But the actual cash flow from tax revenue is somehwat lower. let's say $175,000, cause people don't pay their taxes, and despite what people think, the IRS doesn't catch on to these dead beats until they have amassed a substancial amount of back taxes owed. well, until the IRS takes land away from the deadbeat, your not getting the $75,000.
this makes your beginning school budget $2,875,000.
So automatically your school district is short $75,000. Here's the problem. Administration sees a lack of funds and for some reason loses any or all brain power they have ever had. They get desperate and instead of telling the state....hey, instead of 500 kids, we have 700. Well, the state gives them money for 700 kids and it's more than enough to make up for the 75,000 in missing revenue. at least a while. At the end of the year, the state does an audit, and they find out that you only had 500 kids going to school in the district, and furthermore, that the attendence average is at 50%. (looked down upon by any state) well, next year, they are going to withhold the 200 kid add on you made, and they are going to subtract the 30 bucks for every student that did not show up for class. (this is why they told you if you have to leave wait till after second period, after second period, your counted as a student that is present in the state's eyes)
your school district has gone from a 75,000 dollar deficit to start the year into a deficit that goes into the millions. and we haven't even taken into account the expenditures of the school year.
this type of deficit can only be fixed by claiming you have less students, and at the end of the year when the state adjusts your income, they cut you a check instead of taking money from you. and of course raising taxes, but most budget stricten school have already maxed out their tax percentage, which is usually 1.50% on property.
Whenever death may surprise us,
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
"How can we justify spending so much on destruction and so little on life?" Matthew Good
"The white dove is gone, the one world has come down hard, so why not share the pain of our problems, when all around are wrong ways, when all around is hurt, i'll roll up in an odd shape and wait, untill the tide has turned.....with anger, i'm dead weight, i'm anchored"- IME, God Rocket (Into the Heart of Las Vegas) ^ Some say this song is about a terrorists thoughts before 911
"Pray for the sheep" Matt Good
"But it's alright, take the world and make it yours again" Matt Good
I felt it in the wind, and i saw it in the sky, i thought it was the end, i thought it was the 4th of July.
"Hold on, hold on children, your mother and father are leaving, hold on, hold on children your best freind's parents are leaving, leaving,.......*AHHH*! " - Death From Above - Black History Month
J-Neli wrote: Here's the results from the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. You'll see that American student progress declines over the eight year span between grades 4-12 and that by grade 12 they are below the average international standards. You would hope that the people who police the world would also be the brightest, but obviously that isn't the case.
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We're in first place in Grade 12
It isn't really about how much money you put into education, but more what you do with it and the level of education. I found that the problem with the North American school system is that they basically only have one level of high school, which is too hard for the lesser intelligent people and not challenging enough for the really smart ones. In Holland we have a different system, with different levels of education, so everyone can choose something that fits their intelligence and gives them the opportunity to gain the most from the education. They're not de-motivated because it's either too hard or too easy.
Thank you! That's something I've been saying for a long time In NYS, all students are REQUIRED to receive the same education. This is silly because everyone has different skills. Also, it reduces the prestige of MY degree if it is the same one an underachiever is able to acquire.
That's pretty good Reno, but at least from what I've read about Ontario schools, only 10% of students aren't in class every day.
I think we can all agree that the money is being spent in the wrong places. I'm willing to bet that administration salaries are nearly double those that a teacher in their first 5 years of teaching receive.
Most people don't realize that the teacher has to take money out of her paycheck to pay for things like pencils, chalk, and other supplies which aren't supplied by many schools, or are supplied but in low quantities.
Just in regards to what Corey said above, it should be the job of the school boards to provide extra work, or more programs which can be used for those students who are considered gifted. In Ontario they administer a test for all grade 4's. After that test any student with a certain high score is deemed "gifted". They're given the opportunity to go to special conferences, participate in special workshops, or even attend a school with a specific program geared towards gifted students. I personally was able to take advantage of many of these, and its a great way to give the student a chance to explore their abilities.
If you say that in NY they aren't doing anything like that, than that is why students are scoring low. The ones who should be scoring high are being forced to dumb it down so they stick with the rest of the population and when you act dumber long enough, you're bound to be less intelligent than your potential. There should be specific money taken to provide these superior students with a special education. They do it with those kids who can't read and write, why not do it with kids who are way beyond the norm?
I can't wait until the day schools are over-funded and the military is forced to hold bake sales to buy planes.
"It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about"
I was in GEAR (a program for gifted students) and in accelerated Math and a few other programs. But when you get down to it, my degree is the same as everybody else's. The education itself is the same regardless of the side little projects. In India, everyone goes to the same elementary schools. When you reach a certain level, depending on your scores you are given the option to choose which High School you would like to attend. Naturally some are better than others. By having an iterative plan like this, everyone is able to achieve their abilities. In the US, we do a good job with this with Universities but not with High School. They merely train us all for standardized tests instead of trying to get us to learn as much as possible. By the time you reach college, it may be too late and there is no going back.
yeah, for the most part, school attendence is around 85% and up. (and 85% are the schools with attendence trouble) it was just an exageration of the adjustment states make on their schools at the end of the year. but when you add an extra 200 kids, those 200 kids are always absent in the states eyes. so if this school was in ontario, the state recognises that 250 kids are missing from school of 700, but it's really 500 kids. everyday, your losing almost 1/2 of the schools actual state funding this way.
Here's an interesting side note though. Here in the sticks, the state titles schools by their test scores. you have titles like:
Exempleary
Recognised
Good
Acceptable
Poor
Now if a school is Exempleary, shouldn't it get a little more funding for it's outstanding preformance? Funding that can be put to use for further developing the minds of it's students. It wouldn't hurt the other schools by taking money from them, the state is still going to give them their flat rate. It will however, increase the desire for such titles, and boost teacher morale when an extra X amount of dollars comes on their checks for their preformance.
Whenever death may surprise us,
let it be welcome
if our battle cry has reached even one receptive ear
and another hand reaches out to take up our arms.
Nobody's gonna miss me, no tears will fall, no ones gonna weap, when i hit that road.
my boots are broken my brain is sore, fer keepin' up with thier little world, i got a heavy load.
gonna leave 'em all just like before, i'm big city bound, your always 17 in your hometown
But assuming that it works on a type of bell scale, since not every school can be exemplary, wouldn't that cause some schools to be permanently deemed poor?
I think each school should get equal funding, but send students to schools in which they're with students of the same learning calibre. If a student excels at one school send him to the next highest calibred school. Of course there's always the social issue, but when you consider just the educational aspect, this is a great method.
By giving each school equal funding you're allowing them to put money towards specifics, rather than having to give some to the "gifted" programs, and some to the "challenged learning" class. It's as though they're comprimising a student's education. That's not how it should be.
I do agree that the American university system is great. They just put too much money into those, rather than at the grassroots.
I can't wait until the day schools are over-funded and the military is forced to hold bake sales to buy planes.
"It's a great thing when you realize you still have the ability to surprise yourself. Makes you wonder what else you can do that you've forgotten about"
Corey wrote: In India, everyone goes to the same elementary schools. When you reach a certain level, depending on your scores you are given the option to choose which High School you would like to attend.
thats not entirely true.. the elemantary schools are FAR from "the same" ... i mean.. last time i was there.. my 4 yr old cousin had a tutor .. not so much due to intelligence or anything but because of the competitiveness and because he was going to whats considered to be a better school.. he couldve gone to another school nearby but it was horrible compared to the one he went to
BRAVO
We're in first place in Grade 12
