Issues in Education

Thank you, Huck. We need more teachers like you — focused on transfer of knowledge of their subject matter, as opposed to transfer of personal beliefs.

BTW — what do you teach, and how old are your students?
Thank you. I honestly think the great majority of teachers approach the job this way. No matter our personal political views, the focus stays on the curriculum, social development, and creating an environment grounded in respect and acceptance.

I'm currently teaching middle school science.
 
This is a really astonishing claim: Students in Mississippi & Louisiana score higher on reading tests than students in California & New York despite spending way less money per pupil and having higher child poverty rates. Decided to double check the data because, if true, this should be alarming for blue state leaders. And yup, it checks out.

Reading performance (NAEP 2024, Grade 4 reading, average scale score):
Mississippi: 219
Louisiana: 216
New York: 215
California: 212

Child poverty (SAIPE; “estimated percent of people age 0–17 in poverty,” 2023):
Louisiana: 25.2%
Mississippi: 24.3%
New York: 18.6%
California: 15.0%

Per-pupil spending (public K–12 “current expenditures per pupil,” FY2023, inflation-adjusted to FY2023 dollars)
New York: $29,588
California: $18,568
Louisiana: $14,822
Mississippi: $12,238

It should be unacceptable to spend that much more taxpayer money while delivering worse results for students.

 
I'm currently teaching middle school science.
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"This Is Purely Political": Alabama Lawmakers Spar Over School Prayer Proposal​

A bill that could have changed the daily routine in Alabama public schools was voted down in committee Tuesday after an extended and emotional debate.

House Bill 43, a proposed constitutional amendment, would have required public schools to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day. The pledge requirement was passed years ago, but the bill’s sponsor, Representative Reed Ingram (R), argued some schools and districts are not following the law.

“This is bill is kind of like what we started the meeting with. A little bit of prayer never hurt anyone," Ingram said during committee discussion.

Beyond the pledge, the proposal would have required local school boards to vote on whether to allow students and staff, with consent, to participate in daily prayer and a reading of religious texts outside of instructional time.

Schools that failed to meet the requirements could have had up to 25 percent of state education funding withheld.
 
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"This Is Purely Political": Alabama Lawmakers Spar Over School Prayer Proposal​

A bill that could have changed the daily routine in Alabama public schools was voted down in committee Tuesday after an extended and emotional debate.

House Bill 43, a proposed constitutional amendment, would have required public schools to conduct the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of each school day. The pledge requirement was passed years ago, but the bill’s sponsor, Representative Reed Ingram (R), argued some schools and districts are not following the law.

“This is bill is kind of like what we started the meeting with. A little bit of prayer never hurt anyone," Ingram said during committee discussion.

Beyond the pledge, the proposal would have required local school boards to vote on whether to allow students and staff, with consent, to participate in daily prayer and a reading of religious texts outside of instructional time.

Schools that failed to meet the requirements could have had up to 25 percent of state education funding withheld.
Congrats to the committee for showing some guts...
 
Thank you. I honestly think the great majority of teachers approach the job this way. No matter our personal political views, the focus stays on the curriculum, social development, and creating an environment grounded in respect and acceptance.

I'm currently teaching middle school science.

Science related and might be of interest to your students, @Huckleberry .......

 
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Stop asking me about how my homeschooled kids socialize and start asking how our country allowed this to happen:


·Feb 25
JUST IN - Rapid declines in childhood literacy rates across the U.S. are prompting Nationwide Children’s Hospital to begin screening for literacy skills. Nationally, just over 30% of fourth graders are considered proficient in reading, meaning about 70% are incompetent — AP

 
Stop asking me about how my homeschooled kids socialize and start asking how our country allowed this to happen:


·Feb 25
JUST IN - Rapid declines in childhood literacy rates across the U.S. are prompting Nationwide Children’s Hospital to begin screening for literacy skills. Nationally, just over 30% of fourth graders are considered proficient in reading, meaning about 70% are incompetent — AP


It’s called COVID and distant learning.

It’s also why I’m not as sure homeschooling is the cure that many of these entitled “home” teachers believe it is. Yeah if you have the resources and commitment to it then it’s great but as COVID proved not everyone has the resources or the commitment to keep their kid on task. It’s the true argument that public education is making against these new era alternatives but yet we see fields of strawmen popping up with cherry picked facts without context.
 
It’s called COVID and distant learning.

It’s also why I’m not as sure homeschooling is the cure that many of these entitled “home” teachers believe it is. Yeah if you have the resources and commitment to it then it’s great but as COVID proved not everyone has the resources or the commitment to keep their kid on task. It’s the true argument that public education is making against these new era alternatives but yet we see fields of strawmen popping up with cherry picked facts without context.
I know some pretty dumb homeschooled kids. They brag about how little schooling they do each day, maybe an hour or two, and then get to play video games.

My kids came home from church one day last year and told us about a homeschooled young lady who was supposed to be a senior and did not understand what ovaries were. Her parents are extremely religious, so they have obviously avoided all types of sexual/reproductive schooling. A "12 grader" who didn't know the basics of female anatomy.

These types of homeschooling parents are doing a disservice to their kids.
 
I know some pretty dumb homeschooled kids. They brag about how little schooling they do each day, maybe an hour or two, and then get to play video games.

My kids came home from church one day last year and told us about a homeschooled young lady who was supposed to be a senior and did not understand what ovaries were. Her parents are extremely religious, so they have obviously avoided all types of sexual/reproductive schooling. A "12 grader" who didn't know the basics of female anatomy.

These types of homeschooling parents are doing a disservice to their kids.
but homeschool kids always win the spelling bee !1!!1!1!1!!1!1! /s
 
I know some pretty dumb homeschooled kids. They brag about how little schooling they do each day, maybe an hour or two, and then get to play video games.

My kids came home from church one day last year and told us about a homeschooled young lady who was supposed to be a senior and did not understand what ovaries were. Her parents are extremely religious, so they have obviously avoided all types of sexual/reproductive schooling. A "12 grader" who didn't know the basics of female anatomy.

These types of homeschooling parents are doing a disservice to their kids.

There are some really productive homeschooling families that are actually superior to public education but ever since the “they are teaching all the crazy leftist agenda” phase came into the culture mixed with the “let’s pay people to go to homeschool” bills we have seen a crazy increase of kids that can’t do anything academically or take any push back on failure.


But I’m tired of slaving away trying to teach in tough schools, but I have some snarky religious nut job say that their kid knows their ABCs makes them an effective teacher.
 
Thank you. I honestly think the great majority of teachers approach the job this way. No matter our personal political views, the focus stays on the curriculum, social development, and creating an environment grounded in respect and acceptance.

I'm currently teaching middle school science.
As a parent of a middle schooler, you have my utmost respect!
 
There are some really productive homeschooling families that are actually superior to public education but ever since the “they are teaching all the crazy leftist agenda” phase came into the culture mixed with the “let’s pay people to go to homeschool” bills we have seen a crazy increase of kids that can’t do anything academically or take any push back on failure.


But I’m tired of slaving away trying to teach in tough schools, but I have some snarky religious nut job say that their kid knows their ABCs makes them an effective teacher.
One of the most important features of a public education is that the kids graduating high school have some common ground of understanding or basis of reality with the rest of the country. With homeschooling, too many kids just don't get that foundation, starting from socialization, to fundamentals of science, through history. Too many parents (but not a majority) I've talked to and read about want to cut out some part of the education system for their own political or religious beliefs. A good deal of these kids come out overly-sheltered in some way and are a fish out of water when they are in college or in the real world.
 
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It’s called COVID and distant learning.

It’s also why I’m not as sure homeschooling is the cure that many of these entitled “home” teachers believe it is. Yeah if you have the resources and commitment to it then it’s great but as COVID proved not everyone has the resources or the commitment to keep their kid on task. It’s the true argument that public education is making against these new era alternatives but yet we see fields of strawmen popping up with cherry picked facts without context.
I'm afraid it goes way back before COVID. We've been pushing "screens" over paper for a long time.

The U.S. spent $30 billion to ditch textbooks for laptops and tablets: The result is the first generation less cognitively capable than their parents
 
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One of the most important features of a public education is that the kids graduating high school have some common ground of understanding or basis of reality with the rest of the country. With homeschooling, too many kids just don't get that foundation, starting from socialization, to fundamentals of science, through history. Too many parents (but not a majority) I've talked to and read about want to cut out some part of the education system for their own political or religious beliefs. A good deal of these kids come out overly-sheltered in some way and are a fish out of water when they are in college or in the real world.
If colleges would back to stringent entrance exams the home schools would dry up quickly -- or they would all go to Liberty University.
 
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Chicago has a public school with space for 912 kids, yet only 28 students are enrolled. The school is 97% empty. It spends $93,787 per student. It's staff to student ratio is 1:1. ZERO of the kids are proficient in reading.
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That list is appalling! Apparent fiscal malfeasance like that is perfect ammunition for an anti-public education mouthpiece like DeAngelis. It hurts educators and students everywhere to have such examples in place.
 
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Stop asking me about how my homeschooled kids socialize and start asking how our country allowed this to happen:


·Feb 25
JUST IN - Rapid declines in childhood literacy rates across the U.S. are prompting Nationwide Children’s Hospital to begin screening for literacy skills. Nationally, just over 30% of fourth graders are considered proficient in reading, meaning about 70% are incompetent — AP

As an educator now for 39 years, I was retired last year for one year. The reason we have such a rapid decline in reading is because everything is done on a chromebook, laptop or desktop computer. Bottom line, kids do not read!!!!

In Ohio, we have the 3rd grade reading guarantee. Kids can take the test in the fall and spring of their 3rd grade year and again during the summer between 3rd and 4th grade with more intense tutoring. If they fail the reading test, the ONLY way they can go to forth is if the parent, principal and teacher all sign off for placement in 4th grade. As an elementary principal during the first few years of this test, I cannot tell you how many parents would come up with every excuse in the book why their 3rd grader could not read. We held to our core values by and large and did not allow students to go on to the 4th grade with very few exceptions ie; multi-handicapped. It was not fun but it is amazing the number of kids who passed the test in the following years.

We get kids 6 hours a day in elementary school. I am 100% convinced that nothing should be taught except Reading and Math K-2nd and then add in a little science or History with the Math and Reading.

Rant over.
 
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