Are Teachers Unions To Blame For Failing Schools?

[nutmeg]

Quote from achilles28:

The answer?

Private system, public voucher. Funded at the State Level.

Incentivize results. Let teachers sink or swim based on their own performance.

Let innovative schools/methodology fail or flourish based on RESULTS.

The wild card is the classified kids.

"Private system, public voucher" would work but is not going to happen because no one wants the classified kids. Unless of course the private school could do it their way. Private schools cannot afford 1 teacher for 6 kids, essentially daycare.

I was surprised to find out urban schools don't even test (very restrictive guidelines) or want to label kids because according to standards the entire school population is dysfuntional at some level and qualifies for additional services.

 

[achilles28]

Quote from nutmeg:

The wild card is the classified kids.

"Private system, public voucher" would work but is not going to happen because no one wants the classified kids. Unless of course the private school could do it their way. Private schools cannot afford 1 teacher for 6 kids, essentially daycare.

I was surprised to find out urban schools don't even test (very restrictive guidelines) or want to label kids because according to standards the entire school population is dysfuntional at some level and qualifies for additional services.

Voucher amount could be tiered based on disability. Relative to the general population, the cost of 'educating' serious disabilities should be manageable. I'm not even certain educating the retarded is possible. But that's a separate issue. I'm highly suspect of these catch-all diagnosis educators and psychiatrists throw around that pathologize every human nuance or weakness. Each human has unique cognitive strengths and weaknesses, and that's entirely normal for the species. I suspect I'm mildly dyslexic because I read slow and tend to skip words. That's life. Once we clean up our food and water supply - get the fluoride, chlorine, heavy metals out of the water; hormones, preservatives, additives, pesticides out of the crops and meat; BPA out of the plastic; mercury and aluminum out of the vaccines - I think we'll see a big drop in learning disabilities.

The general thrust of incentivizing performance based on results is what drives innovation and progress in free markets. Why shouldn't a free market exist for education, as well?

Entire schools of thought revolve around catering methodology to distinct personality/cognitive types and learning disability. Instead of having private schools tailor curriculum and methodology to a "preferred" learning style, everyone gets lumped together in the public education system and content is reduced to the lowest common denominator. It's totally backward and just another brick in the wall for the collapse of America.

 

[seneca_roman]

data/studies show unions as non factor, eg:

full report:

http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q...ppj8br&sig=AHIEtbRqmctb6ECL0G17-SmI7QArDT68wA

S

 

[jem]

Quote from traderNik:

It seems like we wouldn't disagree about everything, but the above is absolutely untrue. You think that 98% of U.S. kids are functionally literate? I can guarantee you that that's not the case. Here in Canada, the crisis in literacy is an open secret. Post secondary instructors are in disbelief at the lack of basic writing and reading skills in the kids that the high school system has seen fit to graduate. A part of the problem is the PC (Politically Correct) police movement of the Nineties which still persists. Remember? When it was 'unfair' and 'discriminatory' to grade a kid because it might hurt her 'self esteem'? Remember the movement for high schools where there's no marking? Do you know what a Bell Curve is?

Have you not noticed anything about these boards? Most of the participants here are a product of the American school system. The spelling and grammar here is atrocious. Many of them have serious literacy problems and I can assure you that they've never read a book by choice in their lives, and not at all after 'graduating' high school. Confused thinking leaves clues in the manner in which it's expressed. Disorganized thought and disorganized writing often go hand in hand.

More generally, though, the problem is that (Western) kids aren't held to the same academic standards as kids from different cultures. You clearly haven't spent much time on a good University campus lately. If you had, you'd know that it's the United Nations, with North American born-and-bred badly underrepresented on a per capita basis.

I do agree that it isn't necessarily the federal government that has failed kids. I kind of like the idea of abolishing the Department of Education, and leaving things in the hands of the States.

Let's just keep the facts in front of us. U.S. and Canadian students are being failed somewhere along the way and there is a massive crisis of literacy in North America

In honor of your first conservative post, I will take my time and avoid typos.

We agree on something.

It is truly a interesting moment when you take a step back, observe, and question the leftist party line for the first time.

Welcome to the thinking side of things.

 

[jem]

I noticed a typo. My first drafts suck.